Forty years ago, on 18 June 1972, West Germany beat the USSR 3-0 in the European Championship final in Brussels. That was possibly the best German team of all time; probably one of the best international teams ever.
The timing of the victory was important for West German football, coming at the end of a season that began with the on-going revelations of the match-fixing scandal. In fact, there was little reason to expect at the beginning of the season that the Nationalelf would achieve what they did.
West Germany had drawn the first qualifying game at home with Turkey, in October 1970. Five of the 1972 finalists played in that game. They struggled to a 1-0 win against Albania (an improvement on the draw which denied them qualification for the quarter finals in 1968). Things gradually improved, but the first sign of greatness was the penultimate game in Poland, against the team that would become Olympic champions a couple of months later. Eight of the 1972 finalists played in a 3-1 victory. The return match, with qualification assured, ended 0-0.
Then came the quarterfinal against England. West Germany had some serious injury problems, with Vogts and Overath notable absentees, and Maier and Netzer going into the game with niggling injuries. The mood was one of resignation. Netzer recalls telling Franz Beckenbauer (who had only recently assumed the captaincy) that the side should be satisfied if they didn’t lose by more than five goals. At the time, Helmut Schön, not a man given to wild exaggeration or wily mindgames, commented that England were the overwhelming favourites.
In the event, West Germany put on a show of short passes and penetrating long passes (courtesy of Günter Netzer, not the most industrious of players but a man of great skill and vision). The 3-1 win flattered England. Nine of the finalists played in that game; only Held and Grabowski didn’t make the cut (neither did the injured Vogts and Overath).
So, with four finalists going through, one of them was chosen to host the three-game finals – Belgium. In the first semi, the USSR beat Hungary. In the other, in Antwerp, West Germany beat Belgium; it is said that the victory was much more comfortable than the 2-1 scoreline suggests; I don’t think a recording of the full game exists. Müller scored both goals.
German TV viewers missed the first ten minutes or so of the game: kick-off was at 8pm, the same time the terrestrial ARD station had to show its (for once abbreviated) evening news.
So the final was against the Soviet Union. By now there can’t have been any doubt about the outcome. A few weeks earlier, on 26 May, West Germany had beaten the same opponent 4-1 in the official opening match for Munich’s Olympic Stadium. Gerd Müller scored all four, in the space of 16 minutes.
A few days before the final, RAF terrorist Ulrike Meinhof had been arrested (I mention that only because the thread in World), which was huge news in West Germany. Her news cycle fizzled out with West Germany’s 3-0 win. By the time West Germany reached the next Euro final, in 1976, she was dead.
The German game was beautiful to watch; much more beautiful even than Spain’s tiki-taka (made possible of course by the kind of space given to players like Beckenbauer and Netzer). Müller scored two; the other was scored by midfield water-carrier Herbert “Hacki” Wimmer.
The game wasn’t over yet when German fans staged a pitch invasion (did they think it was all over?). They were cleared off the field, with Sepp Maier’ manhandling assistance, and spent the remaining minutes on the side of the pitch. The second the ref blew the final whistle, they stormed the field, with the players running like hell for safety. At the trophy presentation, Helmut Schön almost forgot to lift the cup.
The team: Maier, Beckenbauer, Höttges, Schwarzenbeck, Breitner, Wimmer, Netzer, Hoeness, Erwin Kremers, Heynckes, Müller.
Of those, Maier, Beckenbauer, Schwarzenbeck, Breitner, Hoeness and Müller played in the 1974 final, with all the others but Kremers in the squad. Kremers, the young Schalke winger, had been dropped from Schön’s ’74 squad for the unforgivable crime of having received a red card in a Bundesliga match…
Football has, it seems, changed a little bit since then…
The timing of the victory was important for West German football, coming at the end of a season that began with the on-going revelations of the match-fixing scandal. In fact, there was little reason to expect at the beginning of the season that the Nationalelf would achieve what they did.
West Germany had drawn the first qualifying game at home with Turkey, in October 1970. Five of the 1972 finalists played in that game. They struggled to a 1-0 win against Albania (an improvement on the draw which denied them qualification for the quarter finals in 1968). Things gradually improved, but the first sign of greatness was the penultimate game in Poland, against the team that would become Olympic champions a couple of months later. Eight of the 1972 finalists played in a 3-1 victory. The return match, with qualification assured, ended 0-0.
Then came the quarterfinal against England. West Germany had some serious injury problems, with Vogts and Overath notable absentees, and Maier and Netzer going into the game with niggling injuries. The mood was one of resignation. Netzer recalls telling Franz Beckenbauer (who had only recently assumed the captaincy) that the side should be satisfied if they didn’t lose by more than five goals. At the time, Helmut Schön, not a man given to wild exaggeration or wily mindgames, commented that England were the overwhelming favourites.
In the event, West Germany put on a show of short passes and penetrating long passes (courtesy of Günter Netzer, not the most industrious of players but a man of great skill and vision). The 3-1 win flattered England. Nine of the finalists played in that game; only Held and Grabowski didn’t make the cut (neither did the injured Vogts and Overath).
So, with four finalists going through, one of them was chosen to host the three-game finals – Belgium. In the first semi, the USSR beat Hungary. In the other, in Antwerp, West Germany beat Belgium; it is said that the victory was much more comfortable than the 2-1 scoreline suggests; I don’t think a recording of the full game exists. Müller scored both goals.
German TV viewers missed the first ten minutes or so of the game: kick-off was at 8pm, the same time the terrestrial ARD station had to show its (for once abbreviated) evening news.
So the final was against the Soviet Union. By now there can’t have been any doubt about the outcome. A few weeks earlier, on 26 May, West Germany had beaten the same opponent 4-1 in the official opening match for Munich’s Olympic Stadium. Gerd Müller scored all four, in the space of 16 minutes.
A few days before the final, RAF terrorist Ulrike Meinhof had been arrested (I mention that only because the thread in World), which was huge news in West Germany. Her news cycle fizzled out with West Germany’s 3-0 win. By the time West Germany reached the next Euro final, in 1976, she was dead.
The German game was beautiful to watch; much more beautiful even than Spain’s tiki-taka (made possible of course by the kind of space given to players like Beckenbauer and Netzer). Müller scored two; the other was scored by midfield water-carrier Herbert “Hacki” Wimmer.
The game wasn’t over yet when German fans staged a pitch invasion (did they think it was all over?). They were cleared off the field, with Sepp Maier’ manhandling assistance, and spent the remaining minutes on the side of the pitch. The second the ref blew the final whistle, they stormed the field, with the players running like hell for safety. At the trophy presentation, Helmut Schön almost forgot to lift the cup.
The team: Maier, Beckenbauer, Höttges, Schwarzenbeck, Breitner, Wimmer, Netzer, Hoeness, Erwin Kremers, Heynckes, Müller.
Of those, Maier, Beckenbauer, Schwarzenbeck, Breitner, Hoeness and Müller played in the 1974 final, with all the others but Kremers in the squad. Kremers, the young Schalke winger, had been dropped from Schön’s ’74 squad for the unforgivable crime of having received a red card in a Bundesliga match…
Football has, it seems, changed a little bit since then…
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