EURO 1968 Italian Football Championship

In 1968 Italy held UEFA European Football Championship final tournament. This was the third European Football Championship. The final tournament took place between June 5 and June 10, 1968.
This year the tournament changed its name from European Nations Cup to European Championship.31 teams entered with the Finals held in Italy.
There were also some changes in the tournament's qualifying structure, with the two-legged home-and-away knock-out stage being replaced by a group phase.
The 1960's were a mixed period for the Azzurri. Although Inter and Milan were conquering the club scene, La Nazionale never got into their stride and they were disappointing during the World Cup in 1966. However, the Italians saw a great opportunity to rise back to the pinnacle of European football when they were awarded the tournament and they never looked back.

According to new rules only four countries could play the final tournament which meant that there were only the semi-finals, the final and the third place match.
The hosts were only announced after the qualifying round.So now hosts were in the same conditions as the other teams, they had to qualify along with all the others for the final stage. In qualifying there were few surprises and the quarter-final line-up to determine the four qualifiers was strong. Hosts Italy qualified by beating Bulgaria 2-0 at home after losing in Sofia 3-2, whilst Yugoslavia brushed aside France 5-1 after drawing the away leg. The USSR lost 2-0 away to a strong Hungarian side but overturned that deficit at home, scoring three times without reply.

England beat Spain home and away and qualified for their first ever European Championship Finals. With the same squad that had won the World Cup.

The semi-finals, then, saw hosts Italy defeat the Soviet Union, remarkably on the toss of a coin, whilst England were drawn to play Yugoslavia in Florence.

Yugoslavia looked dangerous through the tournament. Never more so than in the opening minutes of the second half when twice they were within inches of scoring. England hit back and a Bobby Charlton shot was only a foot over the bar. Then Charlton shot into the side-netting when a pass from Alan Ball had put him clear of the Yugoslav defence.
Yugoslavia broke from defence to score the only goal of the game. Dzajic chested down a centre from Petkovic and drove it past Gordon Banks into the roof of the net. One minute from the end, Alan Mullery was sent off for retaliating after receiving a kick from Trivic.

Two days later, thousands turned out in the Olimpico to witness Italy's triumph. Valcareggi changed things up and he replaced Ferrini, Castano, Juliano and Lodetti with Rosato, Salvadore, Mazzola and De Sisti to give the side more attacking prowess. The rotation worked and the Azzurri wasted no-time as in-form Cagliari striker Gigi Riva struck on 12 minutes to send the Stadio Olimpico berserk.

Twenty minutes later Varese striker Pietro Anastasi struck to seal the win for Valcareggi's talented side. Italy were crowned Champions of Europe for the very first time to add to their previous two World Cup victories.

England beat the USSR 2-0 to claim third place in a match which saw Tommy Wright win his first full cap at right-back. After the Russians had controlled most of the first twenty minutes, England went into the lead through Charlton, when he thundered a pass from Geoff Hurst into the net.
Stadium:

Stadio Olimpico, Rome - 86,500 capacity
Stadio San Paolo, Naples - 72,800 capacity
Stadio Comunale, Florence - 47,000 capacity

Qualification

The qualification competition was played in 2 stages: a group stage (taking place from 1966 until 1968) and the quarter-finals (played in 1968). Eight qualifying groups consisted of 4 teams with the exception of group 4, which only had three. The matches were played in a home-and-away basis. Only one team winners from the group could qualify for the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals were played in two legs on a home-and-away basis. The winners of the quarter-finals would take part in the final tournament.

The following teams participated in the final tournament:

• England
• Italy
• USSR
• Yugoslavia

Semi-finals

1968-06-05 Italy - USSR 0 – 0, Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Attendance: 68,582
Referee: Kurt Tschenscher (West Germany)

1968-06-05 Yugoslavia - England 1 – 0, Stadio Comunale, Florence
Attendance: 21,834
Referee: José María Ortiz de Mendíbil (Spain)

Džajić 87'

Third place play-off

1968-06-08 England - USSR 2 – 0, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Attendance: 68,817
Referee: István Zsolt (Hungary)

Charlton 39'
Hurst 63'

Final

1968-06-08 Italy (a.e.t.) - Yugoslavia1 – 1, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Attendance: 85,000
Referee: Gottfried Dienst (Switzerland)

Domenghini 80' / Džajić 39'

Replay

1968-06-10 21:15 Italy - Yugoslavia, 2 – 0 Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Attendance: 55,000
Referee: José María Ortiz de Mendíbil (Spain)

Riva 12'
Anastasi 31'

Euro 1968 Champions - Italy.

Fastest goal

12 minutes: Luigi Riva (Italy vs Yugoslavia, Replay)