UEFA Euro 1972 final
Event | UEFA Euro 1972 | ||||||
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Date | 18 June 1972 | ||||||
Venue | 1976 → |
The UEFA Euro 1972 Final was a
The final was played in front of 43,437 spectators and was refereed by Ferdinand Marschall from Austria. West Germany had several early chances to score but the Soviet Union goalkeeper Yevhen Rudakov made numerous saves. The deadlock was broken in the 27th minute when Franz Beckenbauer passed to Günter Netzer whose dipping shot rebounded off the cross-bar. Yuriy Istomin's attempted headed clearance fell to Jupp Heynckes whose half-volley was pushed out by Rudakov but Gerd Müller scored from the rebound to give West Germany a 1–0 lead. In the 52nd minute, Murtaz Khurtsilava lost possession of the ball to Herbert Wimmer who, after numerous West Germany passes, struck a left-footed shot past Rudakov to make it 2–0. Six minutes later, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck ran into the Soviet Union penalty area with the ball before being tackled by Khurtsilava, but the ball fell to Müller who scored. West Germany were 3–0 winners and secured the first European Championship title in their history.
Background
The
Route to the final
West Germany
Round | Opposition | Score |
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Qualifying group | Turkey | 1–1 (H), 3–0 (A) |
Albania | 1–0 (A), 2–0 (H) | |
Poland | 3–1 (A), 0–0 (H) | |
Quarter-final | England | 3–1 (A), 0–0 (H) |
Semi-final | Belgium | 2–1 (A) |
West Germany commenced their UEFA Euro 1972 campaign in
There, West Germany faced their
The match was held at the Bosuilstadion in Antwerp on 14 June 1972 in front of a crowd of 55,669.[19] Helmut Schön, the West Germany manager, described the pitch as "an unplayable stone desert" but despite that, his side took the lead midway through the first half through Müller. Netzer crossed the ball into the centre and Müller rose to head the ball past Christian Piot, the Belgium goalkeeper who had attempted to punch the ball clear.[20] The second half saw Maier make saves from both Georges Heylens and Léon Semmeling but with less than 20 minutes remaining, Müller scored, once again from a Netzer pass, to make it 2–0 to West Germany. In the 83rd minute, Jean Dockx's pass found Odilon Polleunis who held off Herbert Wimmer and struck the ball into the roof of the West Germany goal. Late in the match, Belgium's Erwin Vandendaele headed a Raoul Lambert corner wide of goal and the game ended 2–1 to West Germany who qualified for their first European Championship final.[21]
Soviet Union
Round | Opposition | Score |
---|---|---|
Qualifying group | Cyprus | 3–1 (A), 6–1 (H) |
Spain | 2–1 (H), 0–0 (A) | |
Northern Ireland | 1–0 (H), 1–1 (A) | |
Quarter-final | Yugoslavia | 0–0 (A), 3–0 (H) |
Semi-final | Hungary | 1–0 (N) |
The Soviet Union's first match in
The Soviet Union's opposition there were Yugoslavia, against whom they had won in the
There, they faced Hungary with the match taking place at Émile Versé Stadium at the same time as the Belgium–West Germany game. As a result, it was attended by fewer than 2,000 people, as of 2020[update] the smallest crowd at a European Championship finals match.[a] The pitch was saturated and first-half opportunities to score were limited to Sándor Zámbó's shot and an István Kocsis free kick both being saved by Rudakov. Eight minutes after half-time, the Soviet Union took the lead.[31] Anatoly Baidachny won a corner and took it himself: the ball was headed cleared by Miklós Páncsics but fell to Anatoliy Konkov whose shot took a deflection off Péter Juhász and ended in the Hungary goal. Although Hungary had late chances to score, Zámbó's free kick was kept out by Rudakov and Július Szöke struck the rebound into the side netting. The match ended 1–0 and the Soviet Union progressed to their third final in four European Championships.[20]
Match
Pre-match
Between the quarter- and semi-finals, West Germany and the Soviet Union played a friendly at the Olympiastadion in Munich on 26 May 1972. After a goalless first half, the game ended 4–1 to West Germany with Müller scoring all of his side's goals while Kolotov scored the Soviet Union's consolation.[34]
The referee for the final was Austrian Ferdinand Marschall.[35] Byshovets was out injured for the Soviet Union with a problematic knee while West Germany's defender Berti Vogts was overlooked in favour of Höttges.[36]
Summary
The final was played at Heysel Stadium on 18 June 1972 in front of 43,437 spectators.[35] West Germany had several early chances to score: first Netzer passed to Müller but Rudakov came out to clear, then Jupp Heynckes saw his shot blocked by the Soviet Union defence before the ball fell to Müller whose shot was saved by Rudakov. Netzer then passed to Heynckes whose cross-shot was also kept out by Rudakov.[36] Paul Breitner played a one-two with Hoeneß before striking across the goal and then Hoeneß himself struck the crossbar with a header from an Erwin Kremers cross. The deadlock was broken in the 27th minute: Franz Beckenbauer ran past two Soviet Union defenders with the ball before passing to Netzer whose dipping shot rebounded off the cross-bar. Yuriy Istomin's attempted headed clearance fell to Heynckes who half-volleyed the ball back into the box. It was pushed out by Rudakov but Müller scored from the rebound to make it 1–0.[37]
Maier then tipped a 30-yard (27 m) strike from Revaz Dzodzuashvili over the West Germany crossbar in a rare opportunity for the Soviet Union, but Rudakov then saved a header from Heynckes before keeping out a Netzer free kick. In the 44th minute, Volodymyr Kaplychnyi fouled Netzer, who reacted to the challenge, and both were shown a yellow card.[37] At half-time, the Soviet Union made one change to their side, with Oleg Dolmatov coming on as a substitute for Konkov.[35] In the 52nd minute, Murtaz Khurtsilava lost possession of the ball to Wimmer who, after numerous West Germany passes, struck a left-footed shot past Rudakov to make it 2–0. Six minutes later, Schwarzenbeck ran into the Soviet Union penalty area with the ball before being tackled by Khurtsilava, but the ball fell to Müller who scored.[37] Khurtsilava's shot from 30 yards (27 m) hit the West Germany crossbar, and after a brief pitch invasion, Marschall blew the final whistle. West Germany were 3–0 winners and secured the first European Championship title in their history.[35]
Details
West Germany
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Soviet Union
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Post-match
All but one of UEFA's team of the tournament had featured in the final, including seven West Germany and three Soviet Union players.[3] The top three in the 1972 Ballon d'Or were also West Germany players: Beckenbauer won the title while Müller and Netzer shared the runner-up position.[38] Belgium player Paul Van Himst who had faced West Germany in the semi-final suggested that they were "the best ever German team".[39] Müller later noted that "we didn't fear the Russians in the final ... Everything worked well. The team worked, the coach worked, it was great. The team was on a roll and we won. That final was the best of the lot."[40] With his four goals in the previous month's friendly, Müller had scored six times in two matches against the Soviet Union.[41]
West Germany finished the next international tournament, the
See also
- Germany at the UEFA European Championship
- Soviet Union at the UEFA European Championship
Notes
- ^ The attendance has been erroneously reported as 16,590, but the crowd was contemporaneously described by Vernon Leslie in the World Soccer magazine as "... about 32 Belgians at the start, 1,000 Hungarians, and the members of an obviously overstaffed Soviet embassy".[31][32][33]
References
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- ^ O'Brien 2021, pp. 73–79.
- ^ a b "EURO 1972: all you need to know". UEFA. 13 February 2020. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ O'Brien 2021, pp. 54–55, 57.
- ^ Stokkermans, Karel; Tabeira, Martín (7 February 2007). "European Championship 1968". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ Glanville 1993, p. 187.
- ^ "Germany national football team: record v USSR". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Germany v Turkey, 17 October 1970". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Albania v Germany, 17 February 1971". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Turkey v Germany, 25 April 1971". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Germany v Albania, 12 June 1971". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Poland v Germany, 10 October 1971". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Germany v Poland, 17 November 1971". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ a b Stokkermans, Karel; Tabeira, Martín (31 January 2007). "European Championship 1972". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ O'Brien 2021, p. 70.
- ^ McIlvanney, Hugh (30 April 1972). "England shown the way out". The Observer. Archived from the original on 26 June 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ "Germany v England, 13 May 1972". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ O'Brien 2021, p. 67.
- ^ "Belgium v Germany, 14 June 1972". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ a b O'Brien 2021, p. 74.
- ^ O'Brien 2021, pp. 75–76.
- ^ "Cyprus v USSR, 15 November 1970". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "USSR v Spain, 30 May 1971". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "USSR v Cyprus, 07 June 1971". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "USSR v Northern Ireland, 22 September 1971". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Northern Ireland v USSR, 13 October 1971". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Yugoslavia v USSR, 30 April 1972". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ O'Brien 2021, pp. 69–70.
- ^ "USSR v Yugoslavia, 13 May 1972". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ O'Brien 2021, pp. 70, 73.
- ^ a b O'Brien 2021, p. 73.
- ^ "USSR v Hungary, 14 June 1972". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ Kier 2018, p. 282.
- ^ "West Germany v USSR, 26 May 1972". 11V11.Com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ a b c d O'Brien 2021, p. 79.
- ^ a b O'Brien 2021, p. 77.
- ^ a b c O'Brien 2021, p. 78.
- ^ "1972 at a glance". UEFA. 2 May 2011. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ Henson, Mike (12 May 2012). "Euro 1972: West Germany sweep the continent on finals debut". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ Malone, Emmet (12 May 2016). "Euro Moments: Was the unstoppable 1972 force the best German team ever?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ "Müller strikes twice as West Germany beat USSR in 1972 Euro final". UEFA. 3 October 2003. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ Murray, Scott (19 September 2008). "On Second Thoughts: the 1974 World Cup final". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ Stokkermans, Karel; Henrique Jarreta, Sergio (17 March 2016). "World Cup 1974 Qualifying". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 24 February 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ Worswick, Carl (9 September 2015). "Playing under Pinochet: how Chile's stars of the 1970s feared for their lives". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-571-16979-5.
- Kier, Richard (2018). The European Championship – A Complete History (Part 1: 1960–1976). Rowanvale Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-9115-6967-1.
- O'Brien, Jonathan (2021). Euro Summits: The Story of the UEFA European Championship. Pitch Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78531-849-8.