Outside the Azteca Stadium there is a famous tribute to the national teams of Italy and Germany, who starred in the “Game of the Century”, for the World Cup of 1970 “. The date was: 17 June 1970.
In the summer of 1970 at 4 pm in Mexico City, at 2200 meters altitude, the heat and humidity make the atmosphere unbearable. Despite the difficult circumstances, there are more than 102,000 spectators in Azteca, ready to watch a great semi-final. On one hand is West Germany, which easily made the 3/3 of the group, has the best attack of the tournament so far and comes from a difficult and important qualification against the previous winner, England. A qualification that has cost her strengths, since in order to defeat the English it was necessary to come from behind in the match.
On the other side are the Italians who have reached the knockout in the most authentic Italian way: Three games, scoring one goal and no goals against! The only team with the worst attack on the group stage was the weak El Salvador. Somehow, when in the quarter-finals they found against the ambitious organizers, several critics of the team back home had been preparing … the garments for the forthcoming return. Result; Italy-Mexico 4-1.
Never underestimate the Italians.
Taking advantage of the fact that they are more relaxed (the Germans were also struggling with the quarter-finals and semi-finals), Italy came in the match stronger and opened the score only at 8 ‘with a good shot of Bonnensia. 1-0, the goal was reached, hammering to go to the hotel to eat our pasta. The game, however, has a long way to go even as West Germany is starting its pressure. The Italians who have studied the subject of defense are not hurt. Time is running, opportunities are lost, but Albresci’s goal is not violated.
As long as the available time becomes shorter, the Germans are irritated. They cannot score and- in their view always – the referee whistles openly Italy. The ‘panzers’ are constantly complaining and still have to say about two (or three) penalty shoot-outs. In one of these , Franz Beckenbauer advances in the area and is knocked over viciously.
As long as there teammates are arguing with the referee about whether the foul was in or out the penalty area, Beckenbauer deals with his right shoulder. The doctor informs him that he has been dislocated but his coach recalls that both permitted changes have been made. The 25-year-old, a legend of world football, does not think twice. The circumstance requires heroes and leaders to step up. He stays normally in the game and takes almost an hour of demanding fight with the hand first glued to the body and then resting with two bandages.
We have now reached the delays, the ball still does not come in and Italy is embracing with a great qualifying. Nothing ends, however, until the referrer blows the whistle – and the Germans know that pretty well. In the final phase of the match, a long ball is made from the left and, paradoxically, in the heart of the area a German is all alone. He is the left-back, Karl-Heinz Snelinger. “From all the players are Sennelger,” the German spiker snapped to the microphone, reminding everyone of the irony: The fiery Sennelger, suitably nicknamed “Volkswagen,” struggled for the past 7 years in the Italian championship. That was the first and the last goal he made in his career with the jersey of West Germany.
The match goes on and before the viewers and viewers come to rest from the tension of the last phase, the real show begins: The Germans take the lead with Guerd Muller in 94 ‘. The Italians are quick to score at 98 ‘and six minutes later they are back in front of the Riba score. The Germans, always remaining Germans, are not giving up even now and at 110 ‘Myller is back again. And while everyone now thinks he is meant not to win, Gianni Rivera makes it at the 111 minute 4-3.
Five Goals in 21 Minutes of overtime in a World Cup semifinal! Madness! The emotions changed so many times that you didn’t have time to realise what was going on! A Bild editor, who during the match participated in a medical test by making an electrocardiogram, reached 139 beats per minute. To put that into context, Nil Armstrong reached 120 beats when he reached to the moon..
The West Germans make a lasting attempt to come back from the dead but it was allready too late and they were -finally- left out of any strength.
When the coach of West Germany entered the press room, journalists congratulated him. He says: “I’ve seen a lot in football, but today it’s hard to find something to overcome that.” His Italian counterpart had similar emotions: “I’m too big for such emotions.” (He is only 51 years old.) At the same time, the German goalkeeper, Sepp Mayer, is probably the first to give the game the title that will eventually accompany it: “It was the game of the century.”
Back in Europe, where the match was played in midnight hours, the reactions were quite graphic to say the least. More than 35 million Germans watched the match. There is an incident in Franconia where two youngsters cracked with the car and chose to leave it beaten to the side of the road and go to the closest bar to avoid losing the last minutes. After the end of the game, several frustrated people break into tears in streets and squares.
In Italy, the situation, as is logical, went even further. The viewing of the match breaks every record, despite the fact that it went on until 2 after midnight. Among the viewers and a 16-year-old waiter at the Duomo hotel. “Seeing that particular match, I decided, with mathematical certainty, that I did not want to become a waiter. I wanted to play a ball. I felt my future was in football. ” His name; Marco Tardelli.
The Italians went on to loose the final from Brazil, exhausted after the big game they had with the Germans. The game remained though in the history books …
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