When Spain beat the Reds and Franco was a happy general
The win over Germany four years ago is well remembered, but perhaps less so the 1964 triumph over the USSR — billed in Madrid as another battle in the continuing struggle between fascism and communism.
Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco was a lifelong football fan, and certainly knew the propaganda value of the sport. He was delighted by Real Madrid’s all conquering 1950s side, but then frustrated when club success did not automatically translate to the Spanish national team.
A good performance was especially important when Spain hosted the final stages of the 1964 European Nations Cup, at the height of the Cold War. The hosts qualified by outclassing an Irish team including Alan Kelly, Charlie Hurley and John Giles 7-1 over two quarter-final legs. They then squeezed past Hungary 2-1 to set up a final against the USSR, at Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. This match-up stirred memories in Spain of the Civil War of three decades before, when the Soviets had backed the republican side against Franco’s nationalist rebels. The Spanish had withdrawn from the 1960 competition rather than pass through the Iron Curtain to play in Moscow, but were more confident la Furía Española could win at home, under coach José Villalonga, a former nationalist soldier.
To make sure a senior official within the regime plotted to drug the Soviets, but el Caudillo vetoed that plan. Franco himself attended the final, and his entrance was greeted by an estimated 125,000 supporters chanting his name.
He was smiling on just six minutes when Luis Suárez set up Pereda for the opener. The Soviets soon equalised through Galimzyan Khusainov and the game became tight and physical, only settled when Real Zaragoza centre-forward Marcelino headed past legendary keeper Lev Yashin late on. UEFA president Stanley Rous presented the trophy to Spanish captain Ferran Olivella, who quickly dedicated the victory to Franco.
