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| Vicente del Bosque Takes the Acclaim After Collecting his Winners' Medal |
Vicente del Bosque has become only the second coach to lead sides to glory at both the UEFA European Championship and the FIFA World Cup following Spain's 4-0 UEFA EURO 2012 final victory against Italy in Kyiv.
Before Sunday the only trainer to get his hands on the Henri Delaunay Cup and FIFA World Cup Trophy was Helmut Schön, who guided West Germany to European and global glory in 1972 and 1974, respectively. Only Antonín Panenka's famous penalty for Czechoslovakia in the 1976 UEFA European Championship final denied Schön, and a side featuring the likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier and Paul Breitner, a hat-trick.
Spain have now achieved that elusive treble while Del Bosque, who took the reins from Luis Aragonés after UEFA EURO 2008, has matched Schön's feat. He led La Roja to their maiden World Cup triumph in South Africa two summers ago, defeating the Netherlands 1-0 in the final to break Schön's record as the oldest winning coach. By stretching Spain's unbeaten run in competitive matches to 20 in Ukraine, the 61-year-old duly added the EURO.
Under Schön, West Germany also finished runners-up at the 1966 World Cup and 1976 UEFA European Championship. Two other coaches won continental crowns before falling at the final hurdle in the World Cup: Italy's Ferruccio Valcareggi lost to Brazil in 1970 two years after claiming the EURO and the Azzurri condemned Schön's West Germany successor Jupp Derwall to a similar fate in 1982. Del Bosque, who also won the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid CF in 2001/02 (something Schön never managed), had no such problem.
Before Sunday the only trainer to get his hands on the Henri Delaunay Cup and FIFA World Cup Trophy was Helmut Schön, who guided West Germany to European and global glory in 1972 and 1974, respectively. Only Antonín Panenka's famous penalty for Czechoslovakia in the 1976 UEFA European Championship final denied Schön, and a side featuring the likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier and Paul Breitner, a hat-trick.
Spain have now achieved that elusive treble while Del Bosque, who took the reins from Luis Aragonés after UEFA EURO 2008, has matched Schön's feat. He led La Roja to their maiden World Cup triumph in South Africa two summers ago, defeating the Netherlands 1-0 in the final to break Schön's record as the oldest winning coach. By stretching Spain's unbeaten run in competitive matches to 20 in Ukraine, the 61-year-old duly added the EURO.
Under Schön, West Germany also finished runners-up at the 1966 World Cup and 1976 UEFA European Championship. Two other coaches won continental crowns before falling at the final hurdle in the World Cup: Italy's Ferruccio Valcareggi lost to Brazil in 1970 two years after claiming the EURO and the Azzurri condemned Schön's West Germany successor Jupp Derwall to a similar fate in 1982. Del Bosque, who also won the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid CF in 2001/02 (something Schön never managed), had no such problem.
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