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| The German Team |
Italy staged the tournament for the second time in 1980, the first edition that featured eight rather then four finalists split into two first round groups. There was a new name to go with the new format, the tournament now going by the name of the European Nations Championships instead of Cup. Also officially added was the organising country’s right to an automatic place in the last eight.
Uefa’s objective in increasing the size of the finals was to add a new sporting and economic dimension to the tournament. The tournament was staged in the cities of Turin, Milan, Rome and Naples. Unfortunately, attendance was something of a disaster with stadiums around one quarter full except for matches involving the host country. In addition, the mediocre quality of football played seemed to fly in the face of the very reasoning for revamping the competition in the first place.
The format was unsatisfactory too. With two groups of four teams, the first in each group qualified directly for the final, while the second in each group played a third-place deciding match. Four years after its failure to dominate Czechoslovakia in the final, West Germany took its revenge by winning a new title with a largely renewed squad.
Germany were a memorable side that year, featuring impressive players such as Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bernd Schuster, Hans-Peter Briegel, Uli Stielike and Horst Hrubesch, known as “the giraffe” or the “bulldozer”.
Jupp Derwall’s side finished first in its group while Belgium, coached by Guy Thys surprised Italy, England and Spain by winning the other group. The final in Rome’s Olympic stadium proved to be Horst Hrubesch’s big day. Kept out of the side at the beginning of the tournament by Klaus Allofs, Hrubesch scored all of Germany’s goals in a 3-2 win against Holland. Hrubesch again proved his worth by scoring both goals in their 2-1 win over Belgium to seal the nation’s second continental title. The match for third place was notable for an epic 9-8 penalty shootout win for Czechoslovakia, who had drawn 1-1 against a disappointing Italy team.
THE STARS
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| Horst Hrubesch |
“The giraffe” Thanks to his exceptional strength in the air, Horst Hrubesch will always be known as one of the Mannschaft’s most able forwards. Although technically limited, the “giraffe” became a formidable goalscorer due to his unequalled work-rate both at national and club level, where he scored a total of 136 goals in 224 Bundesliga matches. Many of his goals were headers, and his reliability in the air encouraged his teammates to send in cross after cross into the opposing goal area, knowing that Hrubesch would inevitably latch onto one of the high balls sooner or later.
Hrubesch began his international career in April 1980 against close neighbours Austria, only a few months before the European Championship in Italy. It was there that the on-field qualities of the physically-impressive youngster (1.87m/88kg) became apparent. He missed the match against Czechoslovakia, was injured against Holland but came back to the fray for the final against Belgium, scoring twice as West Germany became European champions. Two years later the West Germans went to Spain for the 1982 World Cup as one of the favourites and it was Hrubesch who knocked home the decisive penalty to beat France in the he Germans are known for their fighting qualities and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge brave and bold approach whenever he took the field set him apart. He epitomised the never-say-die attitude of the German team.
Born in Lippstadt in 1955 and played for local club Borussia Lippstadt till he was discovered by Bayern Munich when he was 18 years old. The move paid off well and he was a member of the victorious Bayern team which won the European Cup in 1976. Two years later, he was included in the national side for the World Cup.
By the 1980 European Championship, Rummenigge had established himself as one of the superstars of the game. Twice the European Player of the Year, in 1980 and 1981, he played a vital role in West Germany’s title-winning European performance in 1980.
Rummenigge picked up his third league top-scorer title in 1984 and moved Inter Milan after ten years with Bayern. During his time with the German club, Rummenigge netted 162 times in 314 Bundesliga appearances. Rummenigge stayed in Italy for three years with mixed success.
The World Cup in 1986 would end his international career.
Rummenigge was not fully fit but coach Franz Beckenbauer was very eager to make him play. He played all the matches, mostly as a substitute, as West Germany once again reached the final. Rummenigge was captain (52nd time) in his 95th and last international against Argentina at the Azteca stadium. Argentina ran out 3-2 winners — Rummenigge scored one of the West German goals — and became the first captain to lose two World Cup finals. He spent the last couple of seasons in Switzerland with Servette Genf before retiring in 1989.semi-final. He played his last game for the country in the 1982 World Cup final in Madrid, where West Germany were convincingly beaten by Italy. He was part of the Hamburg side that defeated Juventus in the 1983 European Cup final, a 1-0 win in Athens, and also won two domestic titles before a groin operation prematurely ended his career in 1986. He was assistant coach for the unsuccessful Germany campaign at Euro 2000 alongside Erich Ribbeck and now leads the national A team as well as the Under-20 side.
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| Karl-Heinz Rummenigge |
The Germans are known for their fighting qualities and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge brave and bold approach whenever he took the field set him apart. He epitomised the never-say-die attitude of the German team.
Born in Lippstadt in 1955 and played for local club Borussia Lippstadt till he was discovered by Bayern Munich when he was 18 years old. The move paid off well and he was a member of the victorious Bayern team which won the European Cup in 1976. Two years later, he was included in the national side for the World Cup.
By the 1980 European Championship, Rummenigge had established himself as one of the superstars of the game. Twice the European Player of the Year, in 1980 and 1981, he played a vital role in West Germany’s title-winning European performance in 1980.
Rummenigge picked up his third league top-scorer title in 1984 and moved Inter Milan after ten years with Bayern. During his time with the German club, Rummenigge netted 162 times in 314 Bundesliga appearances. Rummenigge stayed in Italy for three years with mixed success.
The World Cup in 1986 would end his international career.
Rummenigge was not fully fit but coach Franz Beckenbauer was very eager to make him play. He played all the matches, mostly as a substitute, as West Germany once again reached the final. Rummenigge was captain (52nd time) in his 95th and last international against Argentina at the Azteca stadium. Argentina ran out 3-2 winners — Rummenigge scored one of the West German goals — and became the first captain to lose two World Cup finals. He spent the last couple of seasons in Switzerland with Servette Genf before retiring in 1989.
SIDE-KICKS
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| Laszlo Kubala |
A CLOSE WATCH: During their stay in Rome, the German team was the subject of close surveillance against the threat of terrorism, with ten armed policemen watching them day and night. Each member of the entourage even had to be issued a special pass to enter and leave the hotel. Likewise, special passes were also issued to the other clients of their hotel. Further security measures included a permanent armed guard in the elevator, with another standing on the floor of the players’ corridor.
STROKE OF FATE: Laszlo Kubala, the Spanish national team coach in 1980, escaped a tragic destiny. In 1949, at the age of 22, he left Czechoslovakia to take refuge in Italy. Torino then proposed that he come and play a friendly match in Lisbon against Sporting. Kubala was just about to accept when he received a telegram from his wife saying: “Have managed to come to Vienna with our son. Come and get us.” This actually saved Kubala’s life as the entire Torino team perished in a plane crash on their return from Portugal.
ABSENCE: The day after their match against Czechoslovakia the German defender Manfred Kaltz was furious, although this had nothing to do with football. He had, in fact, just learned through a telephone call that his house in Hamburg had been broken into. He had to contact his wife Heike, on holiday in Rome, so that she could return to Hamburg and make a list of all stolen objects for insurance claims.
HOMAGE: Before the start of the European Championships the players from the Italian squad paid a visit to Ponderano cemetery in Lombardy to pay homage to Vittorio Pozzo, who led the Italian team in 1934 and 1938 when they won their first World Cup trophies.
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| Harald Schumacher |
ZEN?: German team goalkeeper Harald Schumacher was, it seemed, a big yoga fan. Before coming on to the field, he would adopt the lotus position for three minutes and close his eyes to concentrate on the task that lay before him. This gesture, however, proved insufficient — before half-time in the match against Holland, West Germany assistant coach, Erich Ribbeck, was worried about Schumacher’s excessive nervousness and had to rush behind the goal to reassure him and to tell him not to respond to the taunts of the Dutch players.
FEATHERWEIGHT: The most imposing journalist of the Euro-80 was a 120 kg Spaniard by the name of Jose-Maria Mujica, a former bullfighting critic who had turned to football and was working for a newspaper in Bilbao. His size presented him with a number of problems, especially when trying to dictate his copy over telephone, the telephone cabins in the stadium proving just a little too tight.
