Sunday 8 July 2012
TODAY IN HISTORY, ITALIA '90: WEST GERMANY EXERT REVENGE ON ARGENTINA TO LIFT THIRD WORLD CUP.
The World Cup finals in Rome on the 8th of July 1990 between two teams in the top echelon of footballing nations on earth then and even now is still being considered as the most inferior going by the display by statistics and pundit reviews. Yes, the teams didn't lack big names as both sides paraded some of the best players in the planet whose names still resonate whenever football legends are mentioned. Diego Maradona, Roberto Sensini, Sergio Batista,Canniggia to mention but a few on the pitch for Argentina while Jurgen Klinnsman,Rudi Voller, Lothar Mathaus, Bodo Illgner etc starred for the West Germans.
The West Germans prior to the final of Italia '90 had featured in the finals of the two previous editions where they ended up as runners up in both of them. This time in Rome, they were arguably the best team and everyone expected them to win the game. The Argentines, missing four players from suspension, tried to contain the Germans so they resolved to defend in their numbers while the Germans who had most of the possession couldn't do much with the ball. The referee, Edgardo Codesal Mendez from Mexico sent off Pedro Monzon in the 67th minute over a hard leg tackle on Klinnsman to make him the first player ever to be sent off in a World Cup final . Something most soccer pundits still consider a routine tackle.
As if that was not enough, in the 80th minute of the game, he turned a blind eye to a clear infringement on Gabriel Calderon which should have earned the Argentines a penalty. Then in a most controversial manner, he awarded the West Germans a penalty in the 84th minute over a conceived infringement on Rudi Voller by Roberto Sensini in the Argentine penalty area. Andreas Brehme calmly converted the spot kick in the 85th minute to give his German side the lead, though he later confessed that there had been no foul on Rudi Voller. Pedro Monzon had actually raised his foot during that tackle.
More drama was to follow when Gustavo Dezotti hauled Jurgen Kohler to the ground in stoppage time to earn a second yellow card and thus the matching orders and reduce the Argentines to nine men. Moments later the referee sounded the final whistle to hand the West Germans their third FIFA World Cup trophy and thus exert their revenge on the Argentines who beat them in the final of the previous competition.
Overall, the competiton has the lowest scoring indices per match till date, 2.21, and a then-record 16 red cards were handed out, including the first ever dismissal in a final, but the competition still ranks as one of the most watched events in television history with an estimated 26.69 billion non-unique viewers, compiled over the course of the tournament.
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| West Germany Team Pose With The World Cup Trophy At The Stadio Olimpico In Rome. |
The West Germans prior to the final of Italia '90 had featured in the finals of the two previous editions where they ended up as runners up in both of them. This time in Rome, they were arguably the best team and everyone expected them to win the game. The Argentines, missing four players from suspension, tried to contain the Germans so they resolved to defend in their numbers while the Germans who had most of the possession couldn't do much with the ball. The referee, Edgardo Codesal Mendez from Mexico sent off Pedro Monzon in the 67th minute over a hard leg tackle on Klinnsman to make him the first player ever to be sent off in a World Cup final . Something most soccer pundits still consider a routine tackle.
As if that was not enough, in the 80th minute of the game, he turned a blind eye to a clear infringement on Gabriel Calderon which should have earned the Argentines a penalty. Then in a most controversial manner, he awarded the West Germans a penalty in the 84th minute over a conceived infringement on Rudi Voller by Roberto Sensini in the Argentine penalty area. Andreas Brehme calmly converted the spot kick in the 85th minute to give his German side the lead, though he later confessed that there had been no foul on Rudi Voller. Pedro Monzon had actually raised his foot during that tackle.
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| Andreas Brehme Scoring The Penalty That Gave The Germans The 1990 World Cup.
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Overall, the competiton has the lowest scoring indices per match till date, 2.21, and a then-record 16 red cards were handed out, including the first ever dismissal in a final, but the competition still ranks as one of the most watched events in television history with an estimated 26.69 billion non-unique viewers, compiled over the course of the tournament.
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