This Day in History: 2023-05-08

Nr. 452

REPLAY CLINCHES EUROPEAN CROWN (1968)

Jubilant Italy needed a second attempt to win the 1968 European Championship and the game went into the history books as the only international final ever to be decided on a replay. Italy, desperate to end their 30-year gap between major international titles, had frustrated a dominant Yugoslavia in the first match in Rome on 8 June, which ended 1-1. The teams returned to the same stadium two days later where the hosts took advantage of a tired Yugoslavian side and strolled to a 2-0 win with a goal from Luigi Riva in 12 minutes – the fastest goal of the tournament – and Pietro Anastasi on 31 minutes.

Italy’s Luigi Riva opens the scoring beating Yugoslavia goalkeeper Pantelic with a fierce drive to set Italy on the way to victory in Rome.