Spain Could Match France 84

24 years ago, a Spanish team was headed to the European Championship final. But Luis Aragones’ Spain side will not be looking to emulate that Euro 84 squad, with the likes of Jose Camacho and Francisco Javier. Instead they will be trying to repeat the accomplishment of the team that beat Spain in that final match, the only team to ever win all of the matches on the way to a Euro title. Just a note: I know that technically, a penalty result is a draw, but to me the team that advances wins, so I call it a win by penalties.

A few points in common between this team and that one:

Top Scorer: France entered the final in 1984 with the golden boot already firmly on the foot of Michel Platini, whose boot should really be platinum for the all-time leading Euro scorer. Platini had 8 goals coming into the match, and added another for the incredible record of nine. Villa will enter the final with a much less impressive lead, but a lead nonetheless. But after the injury that took him off against Russia, he won’t play in the final, and so he’ll have to back into the title.

Breaking the Mold: France came into Euro 1984 favored, both as the host and based on the quality of their side. But they hadn’t yet won a major tournament. The closest they had come were semifinal runs in both the 1958 World Cup and Euro 1960. Spain goes into this final on a similar dry run, having amazingly not won a major since Euro 1964. It remains to be seen whether they can break that drought on Sunday.

One Group Blowout: France’s Group A performances were not all dominating, and like Spain this year, two of their three group wins were by a single goal. Also like Spain, the other match was a romp. Platini scored three on the way to a 5-0 over Belgium. Villa scored three for Spain this time on the way to 4-1 over Russia.

Three-goal semis: France got the final with a 3-2 win over Portugal (who, coincidentally, lost by that same scoreline to Germany this time). Spain has just finished their own three-goal performance against Russia, though the Russians didn’t manage a single goal in reply.