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The 13th edition of the UEFA’s European Soccer Championship, the Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, starts June 7th in Basel, Switzerland and the expectations surrounding one of the most prestigious continental national soccer championships in the world are growing each day.
Historical overview of the competition
The “Euro” is being held every four years since 1960, when it was known as the European Nations Cup. In 1968, the name was changed to European Football Championship.
The European Nations Cup was conceived by French Football Federation secretary Henri Delaunay in 1927, but it wasn’t until 1958 that the qualifications for the tournament actually started. The trophy awarded to the winner of the tournament is named after Delaunay.
Unlike today’s final stages of the tournament that feature 16 teams divided in four groups, the first five competitions from 1960 to 1980 had just 4 teams. The number of the qualifying teams that started with 17 continued to grow each year.
The first European Champions were USSR, who beat Yugoslavia 2-1 in extra-time in the final to win the “Euro 1960" in Paris. .
The “Euro 1964" saw an increase to 29 teams qualifying for the finals held in Spain.
The hosts took the crown from holders USSR with a 2-1 win in the final at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid..
The “Euro 1968" held in Italy saw the only time in the history of the competition that the champion has been decided by a replay. After the final between hosts Italy and Yugoslavia finished 1-1, Italy won the second game 2-0 to take the honors.
The next edition of the tournament was held in Belgium in 1972 and was won by West Germany with a 3-0 victory over the USSR in Brussels.
Apart from being the last tournament with only 4 teams in the final stages, the “Euro 1976" in Yugoslavia was the last in which the hosts had to qualify. The tournament also saw the penalty shootout rule introduced for the first time and it had an impact on the final in which after a 2-2 tie Czechoslovakia beat West Germany 5-3 on penalties.
The “Euro 1980" was held in Italy for the second time and it saw an increase to 8 teams.
Also for the first time, the teams were divided into 2 groups, the winners of which progressed to the final. West Germany won their second title with a win over Belgium at the Spadio Olimpico in Rome.
France hosted the next tournament in 1984 which also included 8 teams in 2 groups, but this time the top two teams in each group went to the newly introduced semifinals. Current UEFA president Michel Platini led France to the title scoring 9 goals in 5 games.
The “Euro ‘88", held in West Germany, marked the rise of one of the best Dutch generations of players in history with names like Marco van Basten and current L.A. Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit. The Netherlands won the title beating the Soviet Union 2-0 in the final. Marco van Basten was the top scorer with 5 goals.
The “Euro ‘92" was held in Sweden in a time of great political change in Europe. Germany appeared united, the Soviet Union was no longer on the map and Yugoslavia was excluded from the competition. Denmark won their first and only European title with a 2-0 win over Germany.
The “Euro ‘96" in England saw the introduction of the current format of the competition.
For the first time, 16 teams traveled to the final stages divided in four groups of four teams, with the top two of each group going to the knockout round.
It was also the first time that a winner would be decided by the golden goal rule.
Germany made the most of it, as Oliver Bierhoff secured the win for his team against the Czech Republic after a 1-1 regulation time.
The “Euro 2000" was the first time that the tournament has been hosted by two nations.
Belgium and the Netherlands had the honor.
The winner was decided on golden goal, as David Trezeguet gave France the glory with an extra-time strike in the finals against Italy.
The last competition, the “Euro 2004" in Portugal, ended with a major surprise as Greece, coached by German Otto Rehhagel, took the honors defeating the hosts 1-0 in the final in Lisbon.
National Records:
1. Germany (3 titles)
2. France (2 titles)
3. USSR, Spain, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Netherlands, Denmark, Greece (One title each)
The Future
The “Euro 2008” kicks off on June 7th in Basel, Switzerland, while the final is scheduled for June 29th in Vienna, Austria. The games will be played on eight locations, four in Austria and four in Switzerland.
The “Euro 2012" will be held in Poland and Ukraine after these two nations beat off competition from Italy and a joint bid by Croatia and Hungary.
The host of the 2016 competition will be decided in 2010. There is a possibility for an expansion of the tournament to 24 teams, but not before 2012.
Prize money:
A total of €184 million ($CAD274.9 mil.) has been offered by UEFA to the 16 teams competing in the finals.
In total, the winner of the tournament stands to win €23 million ($CAD34.3 mil.) provided they win all three games in the group stage.
Sources: www.euro2008.uefa.com, www.uefa.com
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