The Glorious Past of East at the Euros
It’s been 25 years now since a team from the east reached the final of a European Championship. Difficult socio-economic conditions, among a host of other factors, make it hard for these countries to compete against their rich Western European counterparts. This is why it might come as a surprise that there was a time when Eastern Europe dominated the Euros.
France hosted the inaugural edition of Euro as a four-team tournament in 1960. 17 countries participated in the qualifying round, with England, West Germany, and Italy being some of the notable absentees. Ultimately France, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union qualified for the main tournament. The USSR got a bye in the final qualification round when Franco refused to send the Spanish national team to play in Moscow.
While the first semi-final saw USSR dominate Czechoslovakia 3–0, the second one turned out to be a spellbinding contest between hosts and Yugoslavia. France was leading 4–2 when Yugoslavia scored three goals in a span of five minutes to win the high-scoring match. In the final, USSR came from behind to level the game 1–1 against the Yugoslavs. The match went into extra time, where Soviet striker Viktor Ponedelnik scored the winning goal. Their legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin played a key role in making the team Europe’s first champions.
Euro 1964 was more evenly fought between the East and the West. 29 teams participated in qualifying, with Denmark, Spain, Hungary, and defending champions USSR making it to the final tournament. Hosts Spain was facing a reinvigorated Hungary side that had names like Florian Albert and Lajos Tichy in their ranks. La Roja, who were pushed to their limits, won the match 2–1 in extra time with Amancio scoring the decider. In the other semi-final, USSR picked up from where they left, thumping Denmark 3–0. The occasion was set for a politically charged contest in Madrid where the hosts prevailed 2–1 over the Soviets with a late goal from Marcelino sealing the deal.
The next European Championship in 1968 saw traditional superpowers Italy (also the host) and England qualify for the first time. Eastern giants Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union completed the set. The hosts, who played a hard-fought goalless semi-final against the USSR, iconically went ahead on a coin-toss win. In the other semi-final, World Cup holders England were beaten by a goal from Yugoslavia’s celebrated left-winger Dragan Dzajic. In the final, Yugoslavia was cruising to victory courtesy of Dzajic again. But a late freekick from Angelo Domenghini saved Italy, who won the replay match two goals to nil.
Belgium, who were hosting Euro 1972, qualified by defeating holders Italy 2–1. Also making their debut at this stage was West Germany, who had stunned England 3–1 at Wembley. They were joined by Hungary and the usual suspects USSR. A scintillating volley by Anatoliy Konkov against the Magyars took USSR to their third Euro final. This was notably the last time a Hungarian side played football at such a high level. Coming to the final, USSR was completely dismantled by a West German side with Gunter Netzer at his creative peak.
Yugoslavia became the first East European nation to host the Euro in 1976. They were joined by both the finalists of the 1974 FIFA World Cup, West Germany, and the Netherlands. For the first time, the USSR failed to make it to the main tournament, but neighbors Czechoslovakia more than made up for their absence. They overcame the Netherlands, led by Johan Cruyff, in the semi-final, only to find themselves facing the defending World and European Champions, West Germany.
Things looked bleak for the incumbents when the Czechs went up 2–0 within 25 minutes. But the West Germans stayed resilient till they found the equalizer in the 89th minute. For the first time, a Euro final was going to be decided on penalties. With Czechoslovakia going up first, seven straights penalties were notched up before Uli Hoeness ballooned his shot over the bar. This was followed by one of the most iconic moments in the sport’s history. Antonin Panenka gently chipped his penalty in the middle of the net, making Czechoslovakia the champions of Europe.
Euro 1980 notably marked the shift of balance of power towards the West. While the tournament itself was expanded to 8 teams, only one side from the Eastern Bloc qualified, the reigning champions Czechoslovakia. But even they couldn’t reach the final this time, eventually finishing third ahead of Italy.
1984 was a disappointing year for the East, as Yugoslavia and Romania both ended up at the bottom of their group. Euro 1988, however, marked the return of the inaugural winners USSR after 16 years. With players like Igor Belanov, Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko, and Oleksandr Zavarov at the top of their game, the Soviet Union was putting on quite a display. They beat Netherlands and England to top their group, before earning an impressive 2–0 victory over Italy. However, they couldn’t beat the star-studded Dutch team again, losing 2–0 in the final. Nevertheless, it was a remarkable journey for the Soviets, truly marking the end of an era.
With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Euro 1992 marked a new beginning for Eastern European football. A lot of the new nations born out of the USSR were playing together under the alias of CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). But with just two points in three matches, the team finished at the bottom of their group. Yugoslavia, which also qualified for the tournament, was going through a civil war. They were disqualified and replaced by Denmark, who ended up being the surprise winners of the Euro 1992.
Euro 1996 marked another major change in the tournament format, with 16 teams qualifying instead of 8. The Czech Republic was the cinderella story of this tournament. They finished runners-up in a group consisting of heavyweights like Germany, Italy, and Russia, and defeated Portugal in the quarterfinal courtesy of a wondergoal from Karel Poborsky. The goal, which saw Poborsky run past three Portuguese players to lob the ball over the goalkeeper’s head from the edge of the penalty area, is still considered one of the best in the competition’s history. The Czechs’ dream run continued as they edged past France in the semi-final on penalties, only to lose against their old foes Germany in the final. But the brilliance of Karel Poborsky, Pavel Nedved, and Pavel Kuka captured the imagination of football fans across the world.
No team from Eastern Europe has reached the Euro final since 1996. The two sides that came close were the Czech Republic and Russia. In 2004, the Czechs had a solid core complemented by exciting new talents like Petr Cech, Tomas Rosicky, and Milan Baros. They topped Group D and dominated Denmark in the quarter-final. But in the semi-final, they suffered a defeat against eventual surprise winners Greece in extra time. 2008 marked the return of Russia to the center stage. They reached the semi-final on the back of an emphatic 3–1 victory over the Netherlands only to fall short against the all-conquering Spain. But the performances of Andrey Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko received a lot of praise.
In the ongoing European Championship, Croatia, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic have made it to the round of 16. Odds will be significantly against these teams from now on. But then again, defying odds has always been in their stride.
At the inception of this competition, teams from Eastern Europe used to be a symbol of authority and dominance. One could even say that sides like the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia made the Euros what they are today. And this was during a period when only four teams qualified for the final event out of the entire continent. Ironically, the only reason we see a lot of these countries in Euros today is because of the massive expansion of this tournament. To believe that sides like Hungary and Russia could once again be major challengers in these international tournaments would be overly optimistic. Yet, if Croatia’s performance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup was any indicator, one could always hope!
