A Look Back From The Story of the First European Championship to Cristiano Ronaldo's Epic Numbers
Euro 2020 marks the 61st anniversary of the inaugural continental tournament. Looking back, the tournament has come a long way. The first European Championship was held in 1960, during which it struggled to generate enough entrants to kick off. In the past, Europe was a totally different place. French Football Federation secretary-general Henri Delaunay was the first to present the idea in 1927. However, it took 33 years for his vision to come to pass.
The Second World War delayed Henri's vision, and he never lived to see its implementation. In 1954 things were gaining momentum, and UEFA was formed. The European Cup was launched a year later, then came the European Nations' Cup, as it was called, in its first two tournaments in 1960 and 1964.
Despite being an ambitious project, some countries were not interested. Some of the big names in the tournament today, like Belgium, Netherlands, Scotland and England, did not bother entering the qualifying round. In the end, only 17 countries chose to take part in the competition. The Republic of Ireland played Czechoslovakia in the preliminary round tie to reduce the numbers to 16.
The first last 16 match between the Soviet Union and Hungary took place in Moscow on September 28, 1958. The match attracted a massive 100,572 fans at the Central Lenin Stadium. This remains the highest attendance for a Euros fixture. The Soviet Union went on to win the tournament with the legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin.
Four countries were due to travel to the finals in July 1960. Future Ballon d'Or winner Josef Masopust helped Czechoslovakia to beat Romania in the quarter-finals. In the other quarter-final, Yugoslavia came from behind to beat Portugal. The Soviet Union had Spain's dictator General Franco to thank for their qualification after he banned the Spanish team from heading to Moscow.
France, who had thrashed 9-4 on aggregate, had already qualified in March. They were also announced as the final's hosts. However, Les Bleus did not deliver as their fans expected. The final ended 5-4 and remained the highest-scoring game in the history of the European final as Yugoslavia won narrowly at the Parc des Princes semi-finals.
In the other semi-final, Czechoslovakia lost 3-0 to the Soviet Union. That set up a final between Yugoslavia and the Soviets. The Soviet Union became the first nation to win the European Nations tournament.
Platini's Golden Performance
Before Euros 2020, Ronaldo was the joint top-scorer for the tournament with nine goals apiece. However, all nine of Platini's goals came in one tournament, 1984 Euros. In the tournament, he played five games hosted in France. In the golden tournament, Platini scored two hat-tricks and a single goal in the finals.
The French legend was in the form of his life and went on to win three Ballon d'Or awards in the same period.
Denmark and Greece Surprises
In the history of the Euro championships, there have been surprise winners of the tournaments. Denmark won the 1992 tournament while Greece won the 2004 tournament. Their victories proved that you don't require a star-studded squad and the top coaches to win football trophies.
Marco Van Basten's Volley
The sensational Marco van Basten scored a remarkable goal in the final to help his country win their first European championship. He sealed his country's victory against the Soviet Union in a memorable way by scoring one of the best goals ever scored in the tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Epic Numbers
Until Ronaldo came to the Euros scene, it was French legend Michel Platini who scored nine times when he led France to glory back in 1984 that was the tournament's top scorer.
In Euro 2020, sports betting enthusiasts were excited for the goal scored by Ronaldo, a brace to become the European Cup's all-time top scorer. He scored two goals in Portugal's match against a resilient Hungary. Betway have priced Ronaldo 10/1 to win the golden boot at this year's tournament.
Even though commentators would have thought that it was an easy game for Portugal, Hungary made them sweat for the win. The Juventus forward has now scored 11 goals in the competition, two more than French legend Michel Platini.
Ronaldo still has time to go after Iranian Ali Daei's all-time international scoring record of 109.
Ronaldo is also a top contender for the tournaments' Golden Boot along with other top strikers.
What Next?
This year's tournament has started on a high note. All the countries are in the tournament to win it. Sports betting fans are busy looking at stats to try to predict who will take home the golden boot and who will win the tournament.
The player who seems to tick all the boxes in the golden boot prediction exercise is Cristiano Ronaldo. He has proven that he still has what it takes to compete at the top level. However, he faces tough competition from the likes of Manuel Locatelli, Romelu Lukaku, Robert Lewandowski, Kylian Mbappe, among other top strikers. Who do you think will win the Golden Boot?
As for who will win the tournament, it is still too early to call! What are your thoughts?