THE PIONEERS OF UEFA EURO 1980

THE PIONEERS OF UEFA EURO 1980

By Maik,

31 Nations battled it out for the 8 spots in Italy for the UEFA European Championships of 1980.

Greece found itself in Group 6 of qualifying, along with: Finland, Hungary, who were semi-finalists at EURO 1972 and the Soviet Union, the inaugural winners at EURO 1960, runners up in 1964, 1972 and semi-finalists in 1968.

Extra spice would be there for the matches against the Soviets, as 2 years before the Qualifiers for EURO 1980 commenced, the Soviet Union was instrumental in making sure Greek superstar Vasilis Hatzipanagis would not be there for the Ethniki.

Hatzipanagis, born to Greek political refugees in Uzbekistan in 1954, then part of the Soviet Union, was a teenage sensation who at 17, was already involved with Pakhtakor, the biggest club in Uzbekistan and helped them earn promotion to the top division in the USSR, The Soviet Supreme League.

Soon he attracted the attention of the Soviet national set up, first with the U19’s & then with the Olympic team, helping them qualify for the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Hatzipanagis’ dream however, was to play for Greece, rejecting a full call up for the USSR. He instead, headed home to Greece to sign with Iraklis. The Soviets provoked & threatened him, telling him he was making a grave mistake.

Hatzipanagis’ 1^st season in Greece with Iraklis was a successful one, he was influential in Iraklis’ defeat of Olympiakos in the Greek Cup Final in 1976. Very quickly & obvious to everybody in Greece, they marvelled at the talent of this young man and he was rushed into the Ethniki, for a Friendly v. Poland.

After appearing in his one and only match for the Ethniki in May of 1976 against Poland (At the age of 45, he would play 20 minutes in a friendly match against Ghana in 1999), he was informed by officials, that he was no longer eligible to represent Greece and with that his international career was over. Details are murky as to the exact reason why, as Hatzipanagis never played a full international for the Soviets. Only for the U19’s and the Olympic team.

Rumours abound on the real reasons, that the Soviets pressured FIFA and UEFA to bar him from representing Greece, still furious at Hatzipanagis’ rejection in 1976. So with that, Hatzipanagis’ dream of a fruitful international career with Greece were over at the age of 22, a major blow to the man personally, to the Ethniki and Greek football as a whole.

It’s hard to imagine that had Hatzipanagis been English, Italian, French, Spanish, German, that this ruling would have been able to stand. Maybe it was a different time or maybe more EPO incompetence.

Back to qualification for EURO 1980, nothing separated the 4 sides during the whole campaign, as by the end of it, only 2 points separated first place from last place in the group.

Under coach Alketas Panagoulias, Greece finished top, thanks to a final round 1-0 victory over the Soviets, securing the Ethniki its spot at EURO 1980, while also condemning the Soviets to the foot of the table.

Important Greek players in this period were Captain Giorgos Koudas, but by the time EURO 1980 had commenced he was not in the XI, with Panathinaikos stalwart and veteran of their 1971 European Cup Final run Anthimos Kapsis, given the armband for the tournament.

The team also included the likes of: Thomas Mavros, Nikos Anastopoulos, Dinos Kouis, Babis Xanthopoulos, Takis Nikoloudis, Maik Galakos and goalkeeper Vasilis Konstantinou. The skilful Georgios Delikaris, who’s goals helped the Ethniki qualify for its 1^st ever major tournament, sadly missed selection due to injury, a blow at the time.

At the tournament itself, Greece was placed in Group 1, along with defending Champions from EURO 1976 Czechoslovakia, 1972 EURO Winners, World Cup Winners from 1974 and Runners-Up to the Czechs at EURO 1976, West Germany, and EURO 1976 Semi-Finalists, the Netherlands, who happened to also be runners-up at the past 2 World Cups in 1974 and 1978.

The opening match for the Ethniki at the tournament was against the Netherlands, a match where the Ethniki acquitted themselves very well.

An even match that saw skipper Kapsis have a header denied by the woodwork in the dying minutes of the game. But the match will be remembered and marred if you will, by 1 of the most despicable acts of cheating ever seen on a football field, up there with Maradona’s hand of God and Henry’s hand of Frog.

A blatant dive from one of the Dutch players inside the box hoodwinked the referee, who awarded the Dutch a penalty midway through the 2^nd half, they converted to make it 1-0 and deal the Ethniki a loss on debut at a major tournament.

In the 2^nd match, the Ethniki faced defending Champions Czechoslovakia. After going behind inside the first 10 minutes, thanks to a freekick by their star man Antonin Panenka, the Ethniki equalised not long after through Nikos Anastopoulos.

The Czechs however hit straight back and showed their class by adding a 3^rd goal in the 2^nd half, as the Ethniki went down 3-1.

The 3^rd and final match saw Greece earn its 1^st ever point at a major tournament, playing out a 0-0 draw against powerhouse and eventual tournament winners West Germany.

Overall, the Ethniki were not disgraced at all in their 1^st ever major tournament. It was a tournament where we acquitted ourselves pretty well actually. In fact, it was quite an achievement even to make it, in what was then an 8-team tournament.

And who knows, with a bit of luck, Hatzipanagis and Delikaris in the team, it may have been a different story.

Hellas Football

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