8. UEFA Euro 1964 – Spain finally get their shot at the Soviets in Madrid
4 years earlier, the Soviet Union had triumphed over Yugoslavia in an all-communist final in France. For the Spanish players, that victory would have come as a major disgust, seeing as they could’ve been in their stead had it not been for General Franco’s refusal to let them play. At the time, teams would play home-and-away matches until the semi-finals when a host nation would be picked. As the Spanish weren’t allowed to travel to the Soviet Union due to political bickering, the Soviets got a straight passage into the semi-finals; and they won it.
This time, the Spaniards were hosting the tournament, but they were a young team with few genuine superstars. Jesus Pereda opened the scoring in the semi-final in the first-half, but the Spaniards were pegged back at the Santiago Bernabeu with just 6 minutes to go by a Bene strike. The first-half of extra-time wore on, but an Amancio Amaro goal on the 112th minute send the crowd into raptures and the nation into the final – to meet who?
You guessed it – the Soviets, who were defending champions and had demolished Denmark 3-0. In front of 79,000 fans in Madrid, Jesus Pereda once again scored the opener – this time on the 6th minute, to give the Spanish a rapid head start. Just two minutes later however, Khusainov’s goal reminded the Spanish who were the defending champions.
For over an hour, the two teams struck at each other in a highly-charged encounter before Marcelino Martinez beat the mighty Lev Yashin with an 84th minute header to seal their first and last major trophy until the golden generation we know today.
