West Germany line up prior to the second leg
of their quarter-final against England.
The qualifying competition for the 1972 championship finals
saw few surprises. In Group 7, however, the multi-skilled Dutch side came
only second to 1968 runners-up Yugoslavia. They would have to wait until
the World Cup two years later to show us how good they were.
In the quarter-finals, which again acted as play-offs for Finals qualification,
Hungary and Romania were drawn together and were difficult to separate.
After 1-1 and 2-2 draws, and this being in the time before the away goals'
rule, a third match was required which Hungary won 2-1 at home.
Belgium, hosts for the Finals, delighted everyone by knocking out holders
Italy. Having secured a 0-0 draw away, the Belgians played wonderfully
well at home and knocked the Italians out 2-1 on aggregate. Similarly,
the USSR drew 0-0 away to Yugoslavia before knocking them out at home
3-0.
England, meanwhile, met West Germany once again and, on a rain-sodden
night at Wembley in the first leg, English hopes of European Championship
success more or less "drowned".
The match had a capacity crowd on its feet throughout but it was evident
early on that England had a tough task if they were to overcome a talented
German team which, despite playing away, did not take on a defensive outlook.
Fast, attacking football often had England reeling. In midfield Netzer
and Wimmer frequently tore holes in the English defence. The home team
also had its fare share of the play but Beckenbauer, Breitner and Schwarzenbeck
remained supremely cool, quick and tenacious.
After 26 minutes West Germany went ahead when a shot from Uli Hoeness
was deflected out of the reach of Banks and found its way into the net.
At this period of the game, the class and skill of the Germans was apparent
but one felt that England had plenty in reserve to stay in the match.
Whereas in the opening half the Germans had held sway, England swept forward
time and time again after the interval.
Their play, however, lacked imagination and it seemed impossible to outwit
Sepp Maier in the German goal. When Francis Lee finally equalised after
Maier had only been able topalm away a Bell cross-shot, it seemed that
England had saved the day.
The last six minutes, however, were disastrous. Firstly, Bobby Moore gave
away a needless penalty which was converted by Netzer (although Banks
was unfortunate not to bring off a great save); and secondly, Emlyn Hughes
presented Muller with his one golden opportunity which he converted into
the best goal of the match.
In the return match, a dreary game played in Berlin, both goalkeepers
had a relatively trouble-free afternoon and the game was remarkable for
the failure of either side to mount a credible attack on goal.
The Finals, in Belgium, drew the hosts against the favourites, West Germany,
who duly won with two goals by the prolific Gerd Muller and the Soviet
Union prevailed against Hungary in the other semi to reach their third
Final in four tournaments.
The Germans won the Final comfortably, 3-0, thanks to another two goals
from Muller, which brought his total, including qualifying, to 11 in the
tournament.
1972 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
QUALIFYING
Group winners qualified for finals.
Group 1
07/10/1970 Czechoslovakia 1 - 1 Finland (1-1)
11/10/1970 Romania 3 - 0 Finland (2-0)
11/11/1970 Wales 0 - 0 Romania (0-0)
21/04/1971 Wales 1 - 3 Czechoslovakia (0-0)
16/05/1971 Czechoslovakia 1 - 0 Romania (0-0)
26/05/1971 Finland 0 - 1 Wales (0-0)
16/06/1971 Finland 0 - 4 Czechoslovakia (0-2)
22/09/1971 Finland 0 - 4 Romania (0-2)
13/10/1971 Wales 3 - 0 Finland (1-0)
27/10/1971 Czechoslovakia 1 - 0 Wales (0-0)
14/11/1971 Romania 2 - 1 Czechoslovakia (1-0)
24/11/1971 Romania 2 - 0 Wales (1-0)
Team P W D L GF GA GDIF PTS %
1 ROMANIA 6 4 1 1 11 2 +9 9 75.0
2 Czechoslovakia 6 4 1 1 11 4 +7 9 75.0
3 Wales 6 2 1 3 5 6 -1 5 41.7
4 Finland 6 0 1 5 1 16 -15 1 8.3
