1964 European Nations Cup - Spain

Spain go right to the wire

By the time the second edition of the European nations Cup came to be hosted in Spain, public interest in the tournament had grown.

As opposed to 17 in the inaugural competition four years earlier, 29 teams took part in the preliminary rounds, with the same rules applying as regards the final phase - organised in Spain and featuring four teams : the holders USSR, Denmark, Spain and Hungary.

In the first semi-final in Madrid it took until extra time after a somewhat charged encounter for the home team to dipsose of Florian Albert's Hungary (2-1). Spain's winning goal came from Real's little winger, Amancio, five minutes from the end.

As if destined, Spain, who had forfeited the competition in 1960 due to political reasons - refusing to meet the USSR in the quarter-final - finally got to meet its Soviet adversary in the final.

The Yashin-inspired Soviets had easily conquered the Danes in Barcelona with a convincing 3-0 victory. Denmark would go on to salvage some pride, however, taking third place by beating the Magyars 3-1 (after extra time).

Watched by Franco

In a packed Santiago-Bernabeu stadium (79,115 spectators) and in front of General Franco - sitting in the official box but ever anxious about the possibility of having to hand over the trophy to the Soviets - the final took place under storm-threatening black skies.

Despite the tension, the action was forthcoming almost immediately with Spain's Pereda scoring inside five minutes, only for Khousseinov to reply with the USSR's equaliser two minutes later.

The crowd would have to wait until the 84th minute before the match came to life once more, a centred cross from Pereda providing Marcelino with a perfect heading opportunity for Spain's second.

(FILES) - Portrait taken in the early 60's of Luis Suarez who played for the Spanish national soccer team.

The win was a fair result for Jose Villalonga's Iberians, a team which included among others the young Basque goalkeeper Iribar and Real Madrid winger, Amancio.

But one man stood head and shoulders above the rest : Luis Suarez, the former Barcelona playmaker who had been transferred to Inter Milan. The same Inter who had won the European Cup at the expense of Real in 1964.

In the Spanish capital, the home side inscribed their name in the history of the European championships, a competition that was gradually beginning to find some prestige. This remains a highly significant triumph, since it is, after all these years still Spain's only victory in a major international competition.

Did you know ? - 1964

FLAG

The organisers had to quickly produce a Soviet flag to mount in Barcelona's stadium. Since 1939 and the Franco regime, all symbols of the Soviet empire had disappeared from the Iberian peninsula.

MUSIC

The organisers also met difficulty in trying to obtain the sheet music for the Soviet anthem. Finally, they found a musician in Barcelona - and only one - in possession of the precious paper. This particular music-lover was then given the task of copying out the music by hand on to a separate piece of paper for use by around 50 musicians.

(FILES) - Portrait taken in 1970 in Mexico, of goalkeeper Lev Yachine who played for the Soviet Union's national soccer team during the 1970 World Soccer Cup.

EARLY TO BED

On learning the time of his team's semi-final match against Denmark, Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin declared : "It's the first time that I will start a match at 10.30pm. Normally, I'm in bed by that time."

COLOURS

The four teams involved in the semi-finals all traditionally played in the same colours : red and white. The Spanish and the Danes played in red for the semi-final while the Hungarians and the Soviets played in white shirts. In the final Spain finally donned a blue shirt and the USSR played in red and white.

REPORTING

Accompanying the Soviet delegation was a journalist from the newspaper "Pravda", a non-sports specialist who was listed as an "observer".

TOURISM

The organisers thought they had done well to reserve rooms for the Danish players in a hotel which was outside the centre of Barcelona. The Danish delegation politely refused and instead chose to take up residence in the President hotel, the last-built of Barcelona's palaces. "We're nothing but amateurs on holiday and so we're not going to deprive ourselves of the pleasure of visiting the city under the pretext that we have a game of football to play," they explained.

AGE

For the Spain-Hungary semi-final, the difference between national appearances for both teams sat at a ratio of almost 1-4, with 109 caps for the Spanish and 396 for the Magyars. However, on this particular day youth won over experience, with Spain winning the match 2-1 after extra time.

DRAMA

The Hungarian coach, Lajos Baroti, was unable to watch his team's group match against Denmark (3-1 for Hunagry after extra time). He had to return urgently to Budapest because his son was involved in a serious accident.