UEFA Euro Championship lineups through history (1960)

The Final Four lineups of the first Euro ever, the European Nations Cup, held in France, in Paris, Parc des Princes (the Final was played here) and Marseille, Stade Vélodrome.

European Champion, U.S.S.R :

SOVIET UNION 1960

Spain withdrew in the quarter-finals in front of the Soviet Union. The Spanish team will be champion four years later, in Spain.

Runner-up, Yugoslavia :

YUGOSLAVIA 1960 (Final)

As they lined in the Final against the USSR. Jerkovic was a false right winger... and a true centre-forward. Galic could withdraw a bit behind him at times. The constituted the real front-two of the team. There was simply no right winger, and preparing attacks from this zone on the right of the field was the task of Sekularac, the free electron of the team, who could by the way bring the number anywhere on the front line, or of the right half Zanetic and even the right back Durkovic until the half-way line, mainly, concerning the latter (and in some occasions it could be Jerkovic too, or Matus if this one had exchanged positions with Sekularac). Kostic was a real #11, and if he could take his chance with his ( precise) shoot, it was almost always from his left side. Into that configuration, Matus was before all at the junction between the defense and the attack.

If Vidinic, Miladinovic and Matus were the starters in the Final, that was not the case in the semi-finals against France, a match into which Yugoslavia lined as follow :

YUGOSLAVIA 1960 (Semi-final)

A match won by 5 goals to...4.

 

Czechoslovakia, 3rd place :

CZECHOSLOVAKIA 1960

4th of his - Frenchmen created the competition, the trophy was, le trophée Henri Delaunay, and it was on home soil, for this first - Euro, the French Team :

FRANCE 1960

One more time loosing to Yugoslavia in a hell of a match (1-0 for France, 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2 then 4-5 in 5 minutes, maybe the off-side fourth French goal by Heutte, which was allowed, revolted the Sekularac's team), France would eventually take a true revenge a quarter of a century after, at the 1984 Euro, in France, with Platini.

In the meantime, Les Bleus met Czechoslovakia in a quite hostile environment for them in Marseille, after their defeat in Paris, for a place on the podium. 

The team which is presented is the one which was beaten by Yugoslavia. For the third place match, Jonquet get back to his position of starter in the centre-half role, instead of the very green Herbin previously preferred to him. A sad ending for the veteran international player who knew here his last cap. As for Wisniewski, he did what he could at the centre of the attack in the absence of the duo Kopa-Fontaine, without forgetting Piantoni, and if his international career doesn't stop here as he is still a young player, he'll know all the difficulties of the "after-Kopa" when Jonquet will content himself to serve RC Strasbourg which will be very grateful to the former Stade de Reims and France captain, as he was a last time in this game, against Czechs very pleased to win the honours of a third place before a completely demoralized, devastated team despite half of it was redrafted by the staff.