Euro 2012: No-one has ever repeated a win consecutively

To be proclaimed champions once is hard enough. To win it twice is something that no-one has ever achieved.

Spain could become the first national team to win the European Championships twice in a row as they take on Italy in Kiev on Sunday.

History says that no country has ever celebrated such an achievement. But two countries had that opportunity to win the Henry Delaunay cup in a second successive occasion: the Soviet Union and West Germany both failed their second attempts.

In 1960, the Soviets won the trophy, but they couldn’t lift a second time in 1964... thanks to Spain. Later, in 1972, West Germany took the trophy home, but lost to Czechoslovakia in the final four years later.

Italy have proven to be hard to beat in Euro 2012. Spain couldn’t get past them in the opening match, settling for a 1-1 draw. In about 24 hours, we will know if they crashed like the West Germans and the Soviets, or if they added one more brilliant page to their history.