HISTORY OF EURO CUP

Euro Cup HistoryJust looking at the Euro Cup history it is easy to understand why it has become so popular. The European Championships were first held in 1960 and were originally called the Uefa European Nations Cup. Initially it was hard to get many teams to compete, but by 1968 the tournament when it changed its name to the European Football Championship. Interesting fact!: Up until 1976 only four teams entered the final tournament.Euro 1960Highlights:Spain was eliminated from the tournament when Gen. Francisco Franco's government refused to let the Spanish team travel to Moscow.Winner: USSREuro 1964Highlights:Largest crowd in championship history -- 125,000 at Santiago BernabeuWinner: SpainEuro 1968Highlights:Name was changed from the Nations Cup to the European ChampionshipWinner: ItalyEuro 1972Highlights:Muller, netted a remarkable 68 goals in 62 appearances for West Germany. Winner: GermanyEuro 1976Highlights:Czechoslovakia won on penaltiesWinner: CzechoslovakiaEuro 1980Highlights:The final field was increased to eight teams from fourWinner: GermanyEuro 1984Highlights:Spanish 'keeper Luis Arconada knocked the first goal over his own line. Winner: FranceEuro 1988Highlights:Only three of the eight finalists from '84 qualified, including France. Winner: NetherlandsEuro 1992Highlights:U.N. sanctions forced out war-torn YugoslaviaWinner: DenmarkEuro 1996Highlights: First Golden Goal in a major international championshipWinner: GermanyEuro 2000Highlights:Sylvain Wiltord shocked Italy by scoring the game 3 1/2 minutes into injury time when the Italians were leading the whole match with David Trezeguet scoring the Golden Goal winner 13 minutes to win France their 2nd euro championship Winner: France