The fifth edition of the European Nations Cup was organised in Yugoslavia, and was the last to feature four teams in the final phase of the competition. As of 1980, eight teams would feature in a slightly more ‘respected’ final stage of the tournament. The surprise of this particular edition was the manner in which Czechoslovakia dominated Holland before beating title-holders Germany in a penalty shoot-out.

What gave the competition increased validity was the balance between the teams. All four matches proved their worth by going beyond the full 90 minutes, three into extra time and one decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Holland, Yugoslavia, West Germany and Czechoslovakia, who had beaten England in the eliminators and put the Soviet out in the quarter finals, were the four finalists.

In the first semi-final, Yugoslavia called upon the services of its ‘mercenaries’, most of whom were spread throughout Europe, to confront the Germans. Yugoslavia zipped into an early two-goal lead before a late German fightback sent the match to extra time.

FC Cologne forward Dieter Muller was the hero of the day. Coming on in the 81st minute, he scored West Germany’s equaliser before netting twice more during extra-time to gift wrap his nation a 4-2 semi-final win.

Many fans were hoping to see Holland gain revenge for their 1974 World Cup final loss to Germany, but the Czechs scored a resounding 3-1 semi-final win over them in Zagreb.

Czechoslovakia grabbed a 2-0 lead in the final before Germany again clawed back with another goal from Muller and then Bernd Holzenbein, sending the match to extra time and ultimately penalties.

In the end, the more relaxed Czechs won 5-3 as Masny, Nehoda, Ondrus, Jurkemic, and Panenka all slotted their efforts home while Uli Hoennes missed his penalty for West Germany.

THE STARS

Antonin Panenka

The poet laureate of Czechoslovakia, a strapping figure with a moustache and roguish smile, Antonin Panenka was dubbed the ‘poet’ by a French journalist for the courageous and beautiful way in which he converted a deciding penalty in the final of the 1976 European Championships in Belgrade. Following a final score of 2-2, both sets of players from Czechoslovakia and West Germany went about their penalty shoot-out duties in impeccable fashion, until the fourth round of attempts at which Uli Hoeness missed.

Up stepped Panenka, but instead of blasting the ball into the back of the net, as it appeared he might do, he coolly feigned and tapped the ball straight in the middle of the goal, leaving German goalkeeper Sepp Maier stranded helpless on the ground. Replays of this audacious and decisive goal were repeated on television around the world. Panenka was the Czechoslovak national side’s undisputed leader. He imposed his superiority on the pitch, thanks to excellent technique and an ability to dictate and adapt the rhythm of a game. In addition he was deadly at free kicks.

But he also enjoyed a golden era at club level too, though he had to leave the Bohemians of Prague to do so. He joined Austrian outfit Rapid Vienna in 1981 where he won two Championships, a domestic Cup and helped the club reach their first European final where they were beaten by Everton in the 1985 Cup Winners’ Cup. Voted Czechoslovakia’s Player of the Year in 1980, he made his own special contribution to numerous national squad exploits, such as a third-place finish in the European Championships in Italy in 1980, and qualification for the World Cup in Spain in 1982, where he scored two goals. He is currently employed as the assistant coach at his beloved Bohemians of Prague and reportedly takes part in 12 different sports on a regular basis.

Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff was the star of the 1976 competition... for the wrong reasons. His team actually played better without him than with him. Perceived as a true ‘superstar’, he even took his breakfasts separately from the rest of the Dutch team. Coach Georges Knobel made the most of Cruyff's departure after a semi-final elimination by modifying the team for their third-place match against Yugoslavia. The Dutch re-found their form and won to finish third in the competition.

If Holland was the team that gave the world Total Football, then Cruyff was the Total Footballer. Cruyff was one of a number of players who started with clubside Ajax Amsterdam in the Sixties and came to dominate European and world football in the early Seventies. He won a hattrick of European Cups with Ajax, the World Clubs’ Cup and was three times European Footballer of the Year.

At their peak, the Dutch side he captained were the most exciting and talented team in international football. Yet, strangely, they never won a major trophy during his reign.The idea was to build a team in which all of the players had equal levels of technical ability and physical strength. In its execution it meant that all the players were capable, at any point in a game, of switching into each other’s roles as circumstances demanded. Strictly speaking, Cruyff played centre forward in this system.

But he would drop deep to confuse his markers or suddenly move to the wing with devastating effect. Once there, according to the reference book Soccer: The World Game, “a favourite trick out on the left-wing was to drag the ball behind him with his right foot, turn through 180 degrees and accelerate away outside a bemused defender.” No one had seen a centre forward like that before.

SIDE-KICKS

Cesar Luis Menotti

HATTRICK: Dieter Muller carried on where his namesake Gerd left off by scoring four goals in the finals. The Cologne striker had come into the competition as a virtual unknown, but scored with what was his first touch in the semi-final, and added two more in extra-time to send Germany into the final.

EXPERT: The first impressions of the Argentine coach, Cesar Luis Menotti, who had come to observe the Europeans, proved uncannily precise : “I came to watch the cream of European football. I’ve admired the discipline of the Germans and the Czechs and the physical condition of most of the players. On the other hand, I haven’t seen any players who are technically superior to my Argentines. That’s why I remain confident for the following World Cup.” In 1978 Argentina won its first World Cup.

RULING: Until 1976, if the two finalists had not managed to impose their superiority after extra-time, the match was replayed, as was the case for Italy-Yugoslavia in 1968. An hour before kick-off for the 1976 final, it was decided to modify the rules. In case of a draw after extra-time, the two teams would proceed to a series of penalty kicks.

EXTRA-TIME: All final four matches in the competition (the two semi-finals, the final and the third-place match) needed more than the regulation 90 minutes to decide the winner. In terms of ability, the four teams were close and three of the matches went to extra-time, with the final being decided by penalties.

(AFP)