June 5 – Heads or Tails? | On This Football Day

June 5 – Heads or Tails?

FOR the neutral, penalty shoot-outs are one of the best things in football. Anything that makes John Terry and Christiano Ronaldo cry in the space of seconds is worth it’s weight in gold. However, the dreaded shoot-out has only been around since 1970, so before then stalemates were all down to lady luck and the toss of a coin. Today in 1968 a place in the European Championship final was decided with a simple ‘head or tails’ as Italy and the USSR couldn’t be separated.

The 1968 version of the championships was a fair bit different to what we’ll be seeing in Austria and Switzerland this summer. Only four teams participated in the final tournament in Italy, as the qualifying campaign was even more long-winded and stressful than the one England fans had to endure last autumn. Back then though, England were the world champions, so they made the final four, pitting themselves against Yugoslavia in the other semi-final.

At the Stadio San Paolo in Naples neither the Soviets nor the Italians could find the net, playing out a 0-0 draw after extra time. With the final scheduled to be played in three days a replay was not an option, so both sides were at the mercy of the coin.

The Soviet captain Albert Shesternyov was tasked with the responsibility of winning the match for his side. He was nicknamed ‘Ivan the Terrible’ and this was an apt description of coin predicting skills, as he got it wrong and Italy had the most fortuitous semi-final win in major tournament history.

This all took place in the dressing room, so when Italian captain Jacinto Facchetti emerged out onto the pitch to tell the fans, he sparked scenes of celebration among a crowd that didn’t care how hollow their victory was. And it’s a good job they won because, as the stereotypes suggest, the Italian nation love a good conspiracy, so the press and public alike would have surely had a field day had the Italians lost out.

Italy went on to win in the final, although this time they triumphed after a replay against Yugoslavia, as the organisers wouldn’t risk another coin toss after the sides drew 1-1. The poor old Soviets had to settle for fourth place, as Bobby Charlton and Geoff Hurst gave England a 2-0 win in the third place play-off.

As there’s no dressing room footage of Italy riding their luck, so here’s a clip from the game where karma hit back. Like a Sven Goran Eriksson pay-off, we’ll be back tomorrow, so join us then for more footy facts to bore your mates with.