In 1988 the European Championships were held in West Germany, and there was no doubt that the Germans were favourites; they had come second in the 1986 World Cup and had a team of superstars that would go on to become world champions only two years later. At the same time the Netherlands, who after their greatness of the 1970s had not been at the top since, not playing the world cups of 1982 and 1986, nor qualifying for the Euro 1988. But the Dutch had nevertheless not stopped developing players in their great clubs. PSV Eindhoven had been the leading club who just a couple of weeks earlier had taken the European Champions title. The Netherlands star player, Ruud Gullit, had played for PSV before changing to AC Milan that same year. Ajax Amsterdam had also been able to develop a hugely talented generation that had won the European Cup Winner's Cup in 1987, with two notable players: Marco Van Basten, who had also changed to Ajax Amsterdam, and Frank Riijkaard, who was now playing for Zaragoza in Spain, but would eventually join his compatriots in AC Milan.
The Dutch had qualified with style ahead of Greece, Hungary, Poland and Cyprus, but had started the tournament by losing their first match 0-1 to the USSR, a victory that could be creditted to Rinaat Dasaev on the Soviet goal. But two victories in the following two matches, 3-1 against England (with three goals by Van Basten) and 1-0 against Ireland, put the Netherlands in the semi-finals where they would face the winners of group A: West Germany.
Coach Rinus Michels built his side based on a PSV defense, with Hans Van Breukelen on goal, and the solid Ronald Koeman, Barry Van Aerle, and complemented by Anderlecht's veteran, Adri van Tiggelen. The midfield revolved around Gullit and Frank Riijkaard, PSV's Gerald Vanenburg, Mechelen's Erwin Koeman and Ajax's Arnold Muhren and Jan Wouters. Up front was the great Marco Van Basten.
As hosts West Germany had not had to qualify. The team was still managed by the legendary Franz Beckenbauer, who had taken them to the World Cup final of 1986 with strength and at times cynical play. Still, the side had a hugely talented generation. A strong defense with Uerdingen's Mathiass Herget, Werder Brehme's Uli Borowka, and two of the world's best defenders, FC Cologne's Jurgen Kohler and Bayern Munich's Andreas Brehme stood in front of the Stuttgart goalkeeper Eike Immel. In midfield was the team captain and general, Lothar Matthaus from Bayern Munich. Along him he had the young Olaf Thon from Schalke 04, Leverkusen's Wolfgang Rolf, and then a strong attack with Borussia Dortmund's Frank Mill, Stuttgart's young supertalent Jurgen Klinsmann and the experienced and dangerous Rudi Voller from AS Roma.
West Germany won their group with a tie against Italy and victories over Denmark and Spain, and awaited to face the Netherlands in the semi-finals.
The Dutch had developed a hateful rivalry to the Germans. In 1974, when West Germany took the World Cup title against the Dutch in the final, this hate had resonated throughout the match, as memories of WWII were evoked again and again. The Dutch saw themselves as the small and beautiful, facing the mighty and evil Germans. After 1974 this rivalry had become more and more acute, and for the Netherlands it was seen as almost more than a football match. As the Dutch coach had said: “Football is war”.
The first half was somewhat of a footballing disappointment. Both teams seemed overly cautious, and chances were few and limited. But at the same time there was an enormous intensity, and the individual duels were dramatic. For instance Frank Riijkaard and Rudi Voller, or Jurgen Kohler and Marco Van Basten, all fought hard in direct confrontations, sometimes going beyond fair play.
Ten minutes into the second half came the first goal. Jurgen Klinsmann made it into the area where he was tackled by Frank Riijkaard. Klinsmann was clearly going for the foul as Riijkaard touched him only lightly, but the Romanian referee gave the penalty to the home team amid massive Dutch protests. It had been a clear dive by Klinsmann.
Lothar Matthaus made it 1-0 for West Germany.
Perhaps it was as compensation for the first penalty that the Netherlands got a penalty 20 minutes later. Marco Van Basten, who had been dangerous the entire match elegantly fought himself into the area, where he was tackled by Jurgen Kohler. Kohler barely touched the ball, but Van Basten, as Klinsmann, fell easily, although not as theatrically.
The hard-hitting Ronald Koeman shot the penalty and made it 1-1.
With few open chances and two strong defences, most people were getting ready for extra time when Marco Van Basten scored one of the most memorable goals in Dutch football history.
Jan Wouters kicked a through-ball towards Marco Van Basten, who rushed into the area after the ball in close contact with Jurgen Kohler. Just as it seemed the ball was getting away Marco Van Basten slid down and more tackled than kicked the ball towards the far corner out of range of a surprised Eike Immel.
2-1 and the Netherlands were in the final, and the country exploded into celebrations that had not been seen since the end of WWII. As if they had taken the title itself.
Of course they did go on to win the Euro, defeating the USSR 2-0 in the final.
Only two years after this match West Germany defeated the Netherlands in the World Cup quarterfinals and went on to take the world title. This match exorcised much of the Dutch complex about the Germans and WWII, but the rivalry has continued as intense as ever.
Hamburg, 21st June 1988
Volksparkstadium
Attendance: 56,115
Referee: Ioan Igna, Romania
West Germany-Netherlands 1-2
West Germany: Eike Immel; Mathias Herget (Hans Pflugler, 44), Jurgen Kohler, Ulrich Borowka, Andreas Brehme, Lothar Matthäus, Wolfgang Rolff, Olaf Thon, Frank Mill (Pierre Littbarski, 79), Jurgen Klinsmann, Rudi Völler. Coach: Franz Beckenbauer
Netherlands: Hans Van Breukelen; Berry Van Aerle, Ronald Koeman, Frank Rijkaard, Adri Van Tiggelen, Jan Wouters, Arnold Mühren (Wim Kieft, 58), Gerald Vanenburg, Erwin Koeman, Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten.
Coach: Rinus Michels
Goals:
1-0 Lothar Matthaus (pen) (55)
1-1 Ronald Koeman (pen) (74)
1-2 Marco Van Basten (88)
Showing posts with label Lothar Matthaus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lothar Matthaus. Show all posts
Friday, March 18, 2016
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Greatest World Cup matches: Croatia-Germany (1998)
The sad dismemberment of Yugoslavia in the 1990’s also led to the dismemberment of one of the best national football teams in Europe. Yugoslavia was already a footballing power when a golden generation of players emerged in the late 80s. The team did well in the 1990 World Cup, eliminating Spain and reaching the quarter-finals, and was set for glory for the 1992 European Championship, when the UN boycott forced the Yugoslavs to withdraw. Their replacement, Denmark, won the tournament…
In the 1996 European Championship Croatia was the first ex-Yugoslav republic to participate, and made it to the quarter-final, establishing themselves as a power to be reckoned with. And the team was indeed full of physically strong and technically extraordinary players which included: the team’s captain Zvonimir Boban was a star at AC Milan (and a hero in his country after he had attacked a policeman in a match in the Yugoslav league in 1990 to defend a fan of his team Dinamo Zagreb); the extraordinary young defender Dario Simic from Dinamo Zagreb, who was soon to change to Inter Milan; the ageing Robert Prosinecki who had represented Yugoslavia in 1990 and had a successful career in among others Red Star Belgrade and Real Madrid, was now in Dynamo Zagreb; and the veritable goal-making machine from Real Madrid, the extraordinary Davor Suker.
The Croatian side had started its first World Cup with two victories against the rather weaker sides of Jamaica and Japan respectively, and already qualified for the next round, had lost 0-1 to Argentina. In the last-16 the Croatians defeated another Balkan team, Romania, and were now to face Germany in what would be the true test of their strength. Two years previously, when Croatia had played their first major tournament as an independent nation at the 1996 European Championships, they had been eliminated by Germany in the quarterfinals, and the Germans had gone on to win the tournament.
After a disappointing exit from the 1994 World Cup, the Germans had risen to the top of Europe in 1996, and were now again considered a serious contender for the world title. The team had a number of veterans from their last title, in 1990, notably their captain, the legendary Lothar Matthäus, who was playing his record-breaking fifth World Cup. But other veterans included the Borussia Dortmund defender Jurgen Kohler, Karlsruhe’s small midfielder Thomas Hässler, and Tottenham’s now legendary striker Jürgen Klinsmann.
In spite of the advanced age of the team, they had not had major difficulties continuing from the first round: they had started by defeating the USA, and then tying Yugoslavia 2-2 before defeating Iran in the match that gave them the top spot in the group. In the last-16 the Germans had shown that they should never be written-off: 1-0 down against Mexico until 15 minutes before the end of the match, Klinsmann and Udinese’s Oliver Bierhoff both scored to give Germany the spot in the quarterfinals against Croatia in what many obviously expected to be a repeat of the Euro 1996 quarterfinal.
It became a great football match which Germany started best: in the first half they completely dominated and had some big chances, including a couple of great shots by Thomas Hässler and a close header by Bayern Munich’s Didi Hamann that was spectacularly saved by the Croatian goalkeeper Drazen Ladic.
But in the 40th minute of the match one event changed the match: the Croatians sent a long ball to Davor Suker, who was clumsily tackled by the German defender from Bayer Leverkusenn Christian Wörns. Wörns had until this point undoubtedly been one of the best players of the tournament; an incredibly stable sweeper on the last line of defence for the Germans. But his clumsy tackle on Suker (who completely overdid his acting as well) earned him a direct red card, and was a huge weakening of the German team that had otherwise looked nearly unbeatable until then. It was obvious that Wörns’ exit immediately gave the Croatians more space, and within the next five minutes they had their first chances.
In the 45th minute, the Germans gave the Parma midfielder Mario Stanic a lot of room to run down toward the German area. He passed the ball to the Real Betis’ winger Robert Jarni, who was given plenty of time outside the German penalty area. His shot was not particularly hard, but was out of range for the German goalkeeper Andreas Köpke.
It was a big surprise, but Croatia was ahead 1-0 at halftime.
Second half was extremely entertaining as a 10-man German team showed their best side by attacking well and never giving up, but the Croatian side being extremely dangerous in the counter-attack and the increased space they were getting by the German offense.
The Germans had some extraordinary chances, among which was an incredible shot by Oliver Bierhoff and a shot on the post on a free-kick by Didi Hamann. On the other side there were excellent chances to Davor Suker and to Valencia’s Goran Vlaovic in what had become a very entertaining match.
Ten minutes before the end of the match Croatia finally scored in what seemed to seal their victory on a shot out of range for Köpke from Goran Vlaovic. As the Germans stubbornly pushed forward, Davor Suker scored a third for the Croatians five minutes later, after expertly controlling the ball inside the German area and placing the ball under Köpke.
Suker was to become the most scoring player of the tournament.
This was one of the most painful defeats Germany had ever suffered, and the following years caused a renewal in the German national team. Croatia on the other hand had arrived on the world stage and were to play the hosts from France in the semi-final. They lost 2-1, but in the match for bronze they defeated the Netherlands. Croatia was ranked 125th in the world in 1995 when they were admitted to FIFA, and was third three years later, making the team the best mover in ranking in World Cup history.
The result also meant a lot for the evolving identity of the newly independent Croatia: the wave of national pride that swept the country, and was also summarized by the Croatian coach Miroslav Blazevic, who said that his small and valiant country had found its identity through football.
Match Stats:
Goals: 1-0 Jarni (45), 2-0 Vlaovic (80), 3-0 Suker (85)
Teams:
Croatia: Ladic; Stimac, Bilic, Asanovic, Soldo, Jarni, Simic, Boban, Stanic, Suker, Vlaovic (Maric)
Germany: Köpke; Wörns (RC, 40), Heinrich, Kohler, Tarnat, Jeremies, Matthäus, Hässler (Kirsten), Hamann (Marschall), Klinsmann, Bierhoff
In the 1996 European Championship Croatia was the first ex-Yugoslav republic to participate, and made it to the quarter-final, establishing themselves as a power to be reckoned with. And the team was indeed full of physically strong and technically extraordinary players which included: the team’s captain Zvonimir Boban was a star at AC Milan (and a hero in his country after he had attacked a policeman in a match in the Yugoslav league in 1990 to defend a fan of his team Dinamo Zagreb); the extraordinary young defender Dario Simic from Dinamo Zagreb, who was soon to change to Inter Milan; the ageing Robert Prosinecki who had represented Yugoslavia in 1990 and had a successful career in among others Red Star Belgrade and Real Madrid, was now in Dynamo Zagreb; and the veritable goal-making machine from Real Madrid, the extraordinary Davor Suker.
The Croatian side had started its first World Cup with two victories against the rather weaker sides of Jamaica and Japan respectively, and already qualified for the next round, had lost 0-1 to Argentina. In the last-16 the Croatians defeated another Balkan team, Romania, and were now to face Germany in what would be the true test of their strength. Two years previously, when Croatia had played their first major tournament as an independent nation at the 1996 European Championships, they had been eliminated by Germany in the quarterfinals, and the Germans had gone on to win the tournament.
After a disappointing exit from the 1994 World Cup, the Germans had risen to the top of Europe in 1996, and were now again considered a serious contender for the world title. The team had a number of veterans from their last title, in 1990, notably their captain, the legendary Lothar Matthäus, who was playing his record-breaking fifth World Cup. But other veterans included the Borussia Dortmund defender Jurgen Kohler, Karlsruhe’s small midfielder Thomas Hässler, and Tottenham’s now legendary striker Jürgen Klinsmann.
In spite of the advanced age of the team, they had not had major difficulties continuing from the first round: they had started by defeating the USA, and then tying Yugoslavia 2-2 before defeating Iran in the match that gave them the top spot in the group. In the last-16 the Germans had shown that they should never be written-off: 1-0 down against Mexico until 15 minutes before the end of the match, Klinsmann and Udinese’s Oliver Bierhoff both scored to give Germany the spot in the quarterfinals against Croatia in what many obviously expected to be a repeat of the Euro 1996 quarterfinal.
It became a great football match which Germany started best: in the first half they completely dominated and had some big chances, including a couple of great shots by Thomas Hässler and a close header by Bayern Munich’s Didi Hamann that was spectacularly saved by the Croatian goalkeeper Drazen Ladic.
But in the 40th minute of the match one event changed the match: the Croatians sent a long ball to Davor Suker, who was clumsily tackled by the German defender from Bayer Leverkusenn Christian Wörns. Wörns had until this point undoubtedly been one of the best players of the tournament; an incredibly stable sweeper on the last line of defence for the Germans. But his clumsy tackle on Suker (who completely overdid his acting as well) earned him a direct red card, and was a huge weakening of the German team that had otherwise looked nearly unbeatable until then. It was obvious that Wörns’ exit immediately gave the Croatians more space, and within the next five minutes they had their first chances.
In the 45th minute, the Germans gave the Parma midfielder Mario Stanic a lot of room to run down toward the German area. He passed the ball to the Real Betis’ winger Robert Jarni, who was given plenty of time outside the German penalty area. His shot was not particularly hard, but was out of range for the German goalkeeper Andreas Köpke.
It was a big surprise, but Croatia was ahead 1-0 at halftime.
Second half was extremely entertaining as a 10-man German team showed their best side by attacking well and never giving up, but the Croatian side being extremely dangerous in the counter-attack and the increased space they were getting by the German offense.
The Germans had some extraordinary chances, among which was an incredible shot by Oliver Bierhoff and a shot on the post on a free-kick by Didi Hamann. On the other side there were excellent chances to Davor Suker and to Valencia’s Goran Vlaovic in what had become a very entertaining match.
Ten minutes before the end of the match Croatia finally scored in what seemed to seal their victory on a shot out of range for Köpke from Goran Vlaovic. As the Germans stubbornly pushed forward, Davor Suker scored a third for the Croatians five minutes later, after expertly controlling the ball inside the German area and placing the ball under Köpke.
Suker was to become the most scoring player of the tournament.
This was one of the most painful defeats Germany had ever suffered, and the following years caused a renewal in the German national team. Croatia on the other hand had arrived on the world stage and were to play the hosts from France in the semi-final. They lost 2-1, but in the match for bronze they defeated the Netherlands. Croatia was ranked 125th in the world in 1995 when they were admitted to FIFA, and was third three years later, making the team the best mover in ranking in World Cup history.
The result also meant a lot for the evolving identity of the newly independent Croatia: the wave of national pride that swept the country, and was also summarized by the Croatian coach Miroslav Blazevic, who said that his small and valiant country had found its identity through football.
Match Stats:
- 4th July 1998, Stade Gerland, Lyon
- Attendance: 39,000
- Referee: Rune Pedersen (Norway)
Goals: 1-0 Jarni (45), 2-0 Vlaovic (80), 3-0 Suker (85)
Teams:
Croatia: Ladic; Stimac, Bilic, Asanovic, Soldo, Jarni, Simic, Boban, Stanic, Suker, Vlaovic (Maric)
Germany: Köpke; Wörns (RC, 40), Heinrich, Kohler, Tarnat, Jeremies, Matthäus, Hässler (Kirsten), Hamann (Marschall), Klinsmann, Bierhoff
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Greatest World Cup matches: Bulgaria-Germany (1994)
After the victory of West Germany and the reunification of the two Germanies it would seem that the 1990s would be poised to be the era where German football would dominate. Although the unified German team had not managed to defeat Denmark in the final of the 1992 European Championships, the team was strong and motivated to defend its title at the 1994 World Cup in the USA. The team was indeed very strong, still captained by Lothar Matthäus who was now playing in Bayern Munich; and including the strong veteran defenders such as Juventus’ Jurgen Koehler, Stuttgart’s Guido Buchwald and Andreas Brehme (now in Kaiserslautern), the small creative Thomas Hässler from AS Roma and a now legendary forwarding duo of Jurgen Klinsmann and Rudi Völler.
While some strong European nations like France and England had been unable to qualify, all eyes were on the Germans, who came in as heavy favourites. In the first round the Germans played well without being overwhelming: they defeated Bolivia 1-0 in the opening match and tied Spain in their second match. In the last match they were three goals up against South Corea, but almost threw the victory away in a match that they won 3-2. Of Germany’s five goals, four had been scored by Klinsmann who was changing club from AS Monaco to Tottenham (and he was very successful in every club where he played), so he was looking awesome as Germany faced Belgium in the last-16 and won another close 3-2 victory on two goals by Olympique Marseille’s strong veteran striker Rudi Völler (appearing in his third World Cup) and one by Klinsmann.
The Germans were feeling confident as it became clear that they were to face Bulgaria in the quarter-final.
Bulgaria was participating in their sixth world cup, and their qualification had been sensational: in their last qualifying match they had to defeat France in Paris, and after being 1-0 down, two goals by FC Porto’s Emil Kostadinov gave them a very unexpected victory, and qualification at the expense of France.
However, Bulgaria entered the tournament with the statistic that they had never won a world cup match, and it seemed a difficult thing to change as they got into a difficult group with Argentina, Nigeria and Greece. They started poorly by losing 3-0 to Nigeria, but the second match against Greece gave them a resounding 4-0 victory. An Argentinean crisis, where Maradona had been banned from playing after testing positive for illegal drugs, gave Bulgaria the upper hand in their last match, and they won 2-0 to qualify for the last-16, where they faced Mexico, and won 3-1 on penalty kicks after a very boring match.
Still, it meant nothing, as Bulgaria had already achieved their best World Cup ever. It was nevertheless not a coincidence: Bulgaria’s team was probably the most talented generation of Bulgarian footballers ever: besides Emil Kostadinov, the team also had an extraordinary goalkeeper in Boris Mihaylov, Hamburg SV’s Iordan Letchkov, Sporting Lisbon’s Krassimir Balakiv, and the star above them all, the extraordinary and temperamental Barcelona striker Hristo Stoitchkov.
The Bulgarians had already shown that it would be unwise to underestimate them, and they were ready to give the Germans a good fight.
First half was disappointing as both teams played carefully, apparently afraid to make mistakes, but the Germans having a slight overweight in possession. However, only two minutes into the second half Jurgen Klinsmann was clumsily brought down inside the Bulgarian area by Iordan Letchkov. Captain Lothar Matthäus made no mistake in scoring his first goal of the tournament.
Germany’s lead had come on a cheap background, but things seemed to be going their way. Although the Bulgarians started putting more pressure and had more possession, the German routine and organisation was not letting them through. It had to be a moment of Stoitchkov’s genius that changed this. Fifteen minutes before time, Stoitchkov himself was brought down thirty meters from the German goal. He took the free kick himself; a perfectly placed kick above the wall and into the goal, without a chance for the goalkeeper Bodo Illgner from FC Cologne.
Sensationally, Bulgaria had levelled the match which, as a tactical tightrope, seemed to be heading towards extra time. But only two minutes after the equalizer Bulgaria combined in the German half. The ball ended with the Levski Sofia midfielder Zlatko Yankov on the right side, who centered into the German area, where only Thomas Hässler was defending against Iordan Letchkov. The Bulgarian jumped forward in front of Hässler and scored on a quite spectacular header that stunned Bodo Illgner.
Bulgaria was suddenly ahead, and the Germans seemed stunned. The German veterans were unable to put pressure under the hot New Jersey sun, while the Bulgarians suddenly had extra energy, and were able to defend their lead.
All eyes were on the sensational Bulgarian dream team that had eliminated the world champions. In the semifinal they played Italy, who defeated them 2-1, and they also lost the game for bronze against Sweden, but none of this could take away that Bulgaria had taken the world with storm in 1994. Hristo Stoitchkov’s extraordinary free kick contributed to him winning the Golden Boot of the tournament (together with Oleg Salenko), as well as him on that year being awarded the title as European footballer of the year.
Match Stats:
Goals: 0-1 Matthäus (47) (pen), 1-1 Stoitchkov (75), 2-1 Letchkov (78)
Teams:
Bulgaria: Mihailov; Ivanov, Tzvetanov, Houbchev, Iankov, Kostadinov (Guenchev), Stoitchkov (Iordanov), Letchkov, Sirakov, Kiriakov, Balakov
Germany: Illgner; Kohler, Helmer, Buchwald, Berthold, Wagner (Strunz), Möller, Hässler, (Brehme), Matthäus, Völler, Klinsmann
While some strong European nations like France and England had been unable to qualify, all eyes were on the Germans, who came in as heavy favourites. In the first round the Germans played well without being overwhelming: they defeated Bolivia 1-0 in the opening match and tied Spain in their second match. In the last match they were three goals up against South Corea, but almost threw the victory away in a match that they won 3-2. Of Germany’s five goals, four had been scored by Klinsmann who was changing club from AS Monaco to Tottenham (and he was very successful in every club where he played), so he was looking awesome as Germany faced Belgium in the last-16 and won another close 3-2 victory on two goals by Olympique Marseille’s strong veteran striker Rudi Völler (appearing in his third World Cup) and one by Klinsmann.
The Germans were feeling confident as it became clear that they were to face Bulgaria in the quarter-final.
Bulgaria was participating in their sixth world cup, and their qualification had been sensational: in their last qualifying match they had to defeat France in Paris, and after being 1-0 down, two goals by FC Porto’s Emil Kostadinov gave them a very unexpected victory, and qualification at the expense of France.
However, Bulgaria entered the tournament with the statistic that they had never won a world cup match, and it seemed a difficult thing to change as they got into a difficult group with Argentina, Nigeria and Greece. They started poorly by losing 3-0 to Nigeria, but the second match against Greece gave them a resounding 4-0 victory. An Argentinean crisis, where Maradona had been banned from playing after testing positive for illegal drugs, gave Bulgaria the upper hand in their last match, and they won 2-0 to qualify for the last-16, where they faced Mexico, and won 3-1 on penalty kicks after a very boring match.
Still, it meant nothing, as Bulgaria had already achieved their best World Cup ever. It was nevertheless not a coincidence: Bulgaria’s team was probably the most talented generation of Bulgarian footballers ever: besides Emil Kostadinov, the team also had an extraordinary goalkeeper in Boris Mihaylov, Hamburg SV’s Iordan Letchkov, Sporting Lisbon’s Krassimir Balakiv, and the star above them all, the extraordinary and temperamental Barcelona striker Hristo Stoitchkov.
The Bulgarians had already shown that it would be unwise to underestimate them, and they were ready to give the Germans a good fight.
First half was disappointing as both teams played carefully, apparently afraid to make mistakes, but the Germans having a slight overweight in possession. However, only two minutes into the second half Jurgen Klinsmann was clumsily brought down inside the Bulgarian area by Iordan Letchkov. Captain Lothar Matthäus made no mistake in scoring his first goal of the tournament.
Germany’s lead had come on a cheap background, but things seemed to be going their way. Although the Bulgarians started putting more pressure and had more possession, the German routine and organisation was not letting them through. It had to be a moment of Stoitchkov’s genius that changed this. Fifteen minutes before time, Stoitchkov himself was brought down thirty meters from the German goal. He took the free kick himself; a perfectly placed kick above the wall and into the goal, without a chance for the goalkeeper Bodo Illgner from FC Cologne.
Sensationally, Bulgaria had levelled the match which, as a tactical tightrope, seemed to be heading towards extra time. But only two minutes after the equalizer Bulgaria combined in the German half. The ball ended with the Levski Sofia midfielder Zlatko Yankov on the right side, who centered into the German area, where only Thomas Hässler was defending against Iordan Letchkov. The Bulgarian jumped forward in front of Hässler and scored on a quite spectacular header that stunned Bodo Illgner.
Bulgaria was suddenly ahead, and the Germans seemed stunned. The German veterans were unable to put pressure under the hot New Jersey sun, while the Bulgarians suddenly had extra energy, and were able to defend their lead.
All eyes were on the sensational Bulgarian dream team that had eliminated the world champions. In the semifinal they played Italy, who defeated them 2-1, and they also lost the game for bronze against Sweden, but none of this could take away that Bulgaria had taken the world with storm in 1994. Hristo Stoitchkov’s extraordinary free kick contributed to him winning the Golden Boot of the tournament (together with Oleg Salenko), as well as him on that year being awarded the title as European footballer of the year.
Match Stats:
- 10th July 1994, Giants Stadium, New Jersey
- Attendance: 72,000
- Referee: José Torres Cárdena (Colombia)
Goals: 0-1 Matthäus (47) (pen), 1-1 Stoitchkov (75), 2-1 Letchkov (78)
Teams:
Bulgaria: Mihailov; Ivanov, Tzvetanov, Houbchev, Iankov, Kostadinov (Guenchev), Stoitchkov (Iordanov), Letchkov, Sirakov, Kiriakov, Balakov
Germany: Illgner; Kohler, Helmer, Buchwald, Berthold, Wagner (Strunz), Möller, Hässler, (Brehme), Matthäus, Völler, Klinsmann
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