The Intercontinental Cup was played on December 11, 1983 in Tokyo. Hamburger SV (West Germany) vs Gremio (Brazil). By now, both teams had some changes, which, initially, appeared to tip the scales in favour of the European champion – Hrubesch was no longer with them, but Gremio was without Leao, more serious loss, considering the general weakness of Brazilian goalkeepers at the time. Yet, it was not easily predictable match – HSV lost quite a lot of its strength after winning the European Champions Cup in the spring, Europeans lost to South Americans all finals played after 1976, Gremio, lesser known to Europeans than other Brazilian clubs, had big group of formidable players. Weather was supposed to help the Germans, for, in theory, South Americans were not used to winter conditions and cold. On the other hand, Brazilians were traditionally very difficult opponent for German teams, no matter what.
The teams came out in front of 62 000 enthusiastic and predominantly Japanese crowd – the Japanese preferred Brazilian football, but they were too polite to create hostile atmosphere, so neither team was going to benefit by the ’12th player’: the hosts were going to cheer both teams, every great effort, and generally abstain from booing.
The match proved to be entertaining clash, played in very fast tempo and neither team shied away from the typical aggressive physical tackles and close marking of the 1980s football.
What was interesting, may be even surprising, was the conditions of Gremio – the Brazilians matched the Germans, never showing any sign of getting tired and slowing down.
Both teams played open, attacking football, and more technical Brazilians eventually started to prevail.
However, it was tiny difference – the Germans attacked at the moment they got the ball, they had their chances, but Gremio was slightly more dangerous and certainly more creative.
Which gave them more opportunities to shoot at the German net – midfielders and defenders were very good at killing attacks, so the chances to score were few, but Gremio had more and better ones than HSV. And they scored in the 38th minute – Renato Gaucho was the hero.
Hamburger SV eventually equalized in the 85th minute, thanks to Schroder, and the match went into extra-time.
Now Renato Gaucho scored his second goal – in the 93rd minute, which was somewhat too early against unbreakable Germans. But Gremio managed not only to keep its fragile lead, but also continued to attack to the last minute and was still the more dangerous team. At the final whistle it was precious 2-1 and Gremio was the King of the World.
Tokyo, National Stadium
December 11, 1983 Att: 62,000 Ref: Michel Vautrot (FRA)
Hamburger SV (GER) 1-2 (0-1) aet Grêmio FBPA (BRA)
0-1 38′ Renato Gaúcho
1-1 85′ Schroeder
1-2 93′ Renato Gaúcho
Hamburger SV : Stein – Wehmeyer, Hieronymus, Jacobs, Schroeder, Groh, Rolff, Magath, Hartwig, Hansen, Wuttke
Grêmio FBPA : Mazarópi – Paulo Roberto, Baidek, De León, Paulo César Magalhães, China, Osvaldo (Bonamigo), Mário Sérgio, Renato Gaúcho, Tarciso, Paulo César Caju (Caio)
Hugo De Leon received the Intercontinental Cup after well deserved victory.
And happiness was endless.
One more name added to the list of best teams in the world – Gremio.
Hamburger SV came close, but lost. It was bitter ending of the year – they lost the Supercup, then lost the Intercontinental Cup… the fall of 1983 was not the same as the spring of the same year. Something was missing, the form was not quite the same. HSV were fighters, but largely fighters now. Hard to point a finger at some major deficiency – they were still hungry, they tried their best, but came a bit short. The absence of three players was quite visible – Hrubesch, Kaltz, and Bastrup. Without them, HSV had problems in attack – it was not so creative, it was not so dangerous, there was no prominent scorer, the edge was lost. HSV was not going to dominate club football, that much was becoming increasingly sure – somewhat they reached their peak and started their slow sliding down this very year.
Gremio had its finest season so far, conquering the world. Strangely, this squad did not get proper attention, although they deserved closer look: they more than matched German strength without losing their technical and creative edge. They battled well, but also produced moments of magic, which was increasingly becoming rare seen. Perhaps the reason was that most of the players were practically unknown in Europe – Paulo Cesar Lima or Paulo Cesar Caju was by far the best known star, but he was kind of dismissed by now, considered too old and even a bit suspect, for he was remembered largely with disappointments: at 1974 World Cup and later with disastrous season with Marseille (France). But the old master was simply great in 1983 and his age did not show at all. China was largely Brazilian star and since he hardly ever played for the national team, remained unknown in Europe. Renato or Renato Gaucho did not impress with the national team, largely because he played during rather lean time for Brazil. Tarciso and Mario Sergio were seen, quite wrongly, as potential future stars – just ‘discovered’. The formidable Uruguayan central defender and captain of the team Hugo de Leon was not considered a star because a) Uruguay was out of view since 1974 and b) de Leon did not move to Europe. But this group of players was world class and the rest blended well too – so good, that the qualities or the lack of them of Mazaropi remained entirely hidden: the goalkeeper had little to do most of the time. Compared to HSV, Gremio did not suffer from the absence of a key star – Leao was still the best Brazilian goalkeeper by far, but even against Germans his absence was not felt. The only problem Gremio faced was the future: Paulo Cesar Lima was not forever and Renato, Mario Sergio, and Tarciso were very likely to be transferred to European clubs. As any other South American club, Gremio had little chances for keeping stars at home – both club and players needed big European money.