What a tremendous victory this was by a depleted England side. Without five of their World Cup-winning team, they defied all the odds to come home with the prize of a semi-final place in the European Nations Championship. It was a triumph of guts, endeavour and no little amount of skill.

In a torrid atmosphere with 120,000 hot-blooded Spaniards baying for the 'scalps' of the English, the visitors' temperament was thoroughly tested. Two things were in England's favour though, typical English weather and the form of their skipper Bobby Moore. His was the ice-cool head that carried them through the ferocious early stages and then on past further 'mountains' to their final goal.

England survived some very hairy moments early on. Twice goalkeeper Peter Bonetti failed to dominate his six-yard area as crosses came in. He was lucky to get away with his errors of judgement, but gradually Moore sorted out the defensive problems, calming things down in that unfussy style of his. With Brian Labone giving solid support at the heart of the defence, Spain searched in vain for an opening.

The big danger to England was the superb Amancio, who was always in the thick of the action. Of course, he was the darling of the home crowd but England remained in control and they reached half-time with their one-goal lead from the first leg still intact.

The two contrasting styles saw England in their 4-3-3 formation with Spain preferring 4-2-4. Midfielders Pirri and Grosso kept things buzzing for Spain and only three minutes into the second half, the stadium erupted. The move began with a bad cross-field pass by Norman Hunter. The ball was intercepted and moved on at speed by Gento. He skipped around Keith Newton's tackle and squared the ball to Amancio, who joyfully hit a shot past Bonetti.

For a moment the Spanish 'tails were up' and it looked ominous for England but Sir Alf Ramsey's sides have never buckled under pressure and six minutes after Amancio's goal the visitors deservedly equalized.

Roger Hunt's fine shot, after good work by Hunter and Martin Peters, was tipped away for a corner by Sadurni, and from Alan Ball's kick, Peters stormed in to out-leap everyone to head home. The goal was greeted by a 'deafening' silence and England were back 'in the driving seat'. Their somewhat predictable game was, nevertheless, extremely effective with Alan Mullery tireless, along with Ball, and the front-men always prepared to chase. Amancio was finally stifled by the combined efforts of Peters, Hunter and Moore. Bobby Charlton still looked jaded but did just enough, and the 'icing on the cake' came with only eight minutes to go.

A long throw by Mullery sent the ever-willing Hunt chasing away down the right wing. He worked his way forward before pulling the ball back diagonally. It ran behind Charlton but there was Hunter, 'steaming in', to crash a shot wide of the helpless Sadurni.

England still had to survive some 'narrow squeaks' as Spain tried desperately in the remaining minutes but they had earned the right to a share of good fortune. Their economical movement and pattern had suited the night better and they ran out worthy winners. Now England went to Italy to meet the semi-final challenge from Yugoslavia.
  

When Geoff Hurst pulled out of this European championship quarter-final second leg at the last minute with a damaged toe, Sir Alf Ramsey juggled his team and summoned Norman Hunter as an extra containing player. Amancio brought the scores level on aggregate in the first minute of the second-half of a match played with a fierce determination. Martin Peters quickly restored England's advantage when he headed in an Alan Ball corner. Ten minutes from the end Roger Hunt collected an Alan Mullery throw, and his cross was thrashed into the net by, of all people, Hunter, scoring a rare goal with one of the most under-used right boots in football. The victory clinched England's place in the European Championship semi-finals in Italy.
  

Source Notes

TheFA.com
UEFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG