Author: Vesselin

A glance at the UEFA ranking at the end of 1981 shows Italy quite low in the table, but there was a discrepancy: UEFA ranks countries on the base of 5-year calculation of teams performance in the European tournaments. Italy declined seriously during the 1970s, hence, they were down. On the other hand, the opening of Italian market to foreign players instantly increased the tarnished reputation – it was the place to be. There were no results yet and in purely football terms, the Italian championship was still quite poor compared to England and West Germany, but there was no doubt the class will increase. The win of the World Cup pushed Italian football ahead, but it was still in the unknown future – in the summer of 1981 it was largely the lure of big money, talks and speculations of further purchases of world-class players, generating more hype than results, hopes for the future. No immediate results and the championship showed the difference between hopes and reality. The Tottonero scandal still rocked Italian football, defensive tactics still ruled the game, scoring goals was still a rare heroic achievement. Italy was the place to be, the football was not one to watch.

Third Division or Serie C/1. Two leagues of 18 teams each, the top two teams promoted to Second Division. Some former first division clubs here, but not much. Vicenza perhaps should be noted: only a few years ago running for the title and playing in Europe, now down and out of sight. Permanently out, one must point out: they finished 4th in Girone A, thus remaining in the obscurity of third level football. Others did much better.

Monza finished 2nd and was promoted to second division. One point made the difference – they finished with 47 points, Modena and Vicenza with 46. It was a four-team race for two places.

Atalanta (Bergamo) won Girone A with 49 points. Important victory – third division was not quite right for them, the club wanted to climb back to big football and they did it – at least the first step. Well done.

Girone B was also a four-team race for two places, but seemingly a weaker league, judging by the participants. Ternana, Taranto, and Livorno played first division quite a long time ago and not very successfully at that – now they were nobodies and not up to the task.

Campobasso finished 2nd with 45 points and was promoted. Fine season for a team whose biggest dream could be second division. So far, the dream was coming true.

With 47 points Arezzo won the league. Another small team – winning the third division was the kind of a title they could win at best. Going up was wonderful, of course.

Well, these four were the new members of second division and only Atalanta was a know club, possibly with some ambitions bigger than keeping a spot there. For the moment – great for the winners.

 

Cup tournaments follow a drummer of their own, yet the 1982 final left little to imagination: Bayern vs 1. FC Nurnberg. The difference of class was quite obvious and a miracle was hardly possible. It was an old rivalry, yes, but already fading away. At least in the Bayern’s camp the derby was no longer quite a derby, but success was another matter. At the end, Nurnberg fought as best as they were able and the result shows it: Nurnberg – 2, Bayern – 4.

What was there to say? 1. FC Nurnberg tried hard, but it was a squad merely trying to escape relegation trying to outdo still one of the best teams in the world. One on one, Bayern outclassed the Nurnberg players by far and there was no chance. Bayern responded with 2 goals to each Nurnberg goal and that was that: a good effort, nothing else.

Bayern was the happy winner. It was important victory, for there was no title and a trophy was good to collect even as a compensation. Bayern never shied away from trophies and the cup was a trophy they were short of – it their 6th, but after a long, long time. Interestingly, Bayern won the Cup in 1970-71 for the last time – during all their great 1970s they never won it. So, at last. And unlike the championship or even the European tournaments, it was new experience for practically everybody: only Breitner played at this old last cup success. Rummenigge, Durnberger, Horsmann, and Kraus, who played a part in the glory years, all came along after 1971. That was the current vintage and although strong, it was a team in need of strong additions. But they won the cup and good thing too, for they lost the championship and the European Champions Cup final.

 

One thing about the Bundesliga – German football maintained the attacking philosophy and winning mattered most. Only 5 teams finished the season with 10 or more ties and every team scored higher than 1 goal-per-game average. But it was no longer the league to be in… Bundesliga was losing its charms – perhaps the reason the return of Franz Beckenbauer was not a bomb of a news. The Kaiser did not came back to Bayern, but joined Hamburger SV for what looked like his final season. He did not play much, yet he was not ready for retirement yet and had one last try across the ocean before quitting. On the pitch it was business as usual. Almost that. Two outsiders and two rivals for the title.

MSV Duisburg was last with 19 points. Fantastically weak season, but not a big surprise – they were going down quite steadily for some years. With their relegation, the original members of Bundesliga were further reduced by one.

With 21 points, Darmstadt 98 was 17th, thus ending its brief encounter with top level football. Nothing surprising and unlike MSV Dusiburg, with practically no chances for a return. A small club with no money for strong players – that was the bitter truth. Darmstadt was the team winning least matches this season – only 5.

Bayer (Leverkusen) was 16th with 25 points, ending in the relegation zone on worse goal-difference. So far, the Aspirins were only trying to keep a place in the Bundesliga, a far cry from the reputation they have today. Still in the building phase, so their low finish was hardly a news. But they were not out yet – the newly introduced promotion/relegation play-off was their last chance and they grabbed the opportunity by beating the 3rd in the 2. Bundesliga, Kickers (Offenbach), twice – 1-0 and 2-1. Barely survived, but survived.

Fortuna (Dusseldorf) finished above Bayer on better goal-difference – safe at 15th position. But there was little to celebrate: the peak of the team was obviously gone and one thing the club failed to do was to add new classy players when they were running high. Never a squad of stars, now they were sinking – their best players were aging and there was not a single great player behind Seel and Zewe. Relegation was looming in the future, perhaps very near future.

Karlsruher SC – 14th with 27 points. Expected… one of the clubs destined to inhabit the lower half of the table and fear relegation.

1. FC Nurnberg – 13th with 28 points. One of the ‘unsettled’ clubs, they were one of the usual candidates for relegation and escaping that, likely had a great season by their own counts. Remaining in the league was a success.

Same for Arminia (Bielefeld), the ‘double’ of Nurnberg – they were happy 12th with 30 points. No relegation – great!

Eintracht (Braunschweig) – 11th with 32 points. Like Nurnberg and Arminia and, therefore, quite happy to be out of relegation troubles.

VfL Bochum continued its rugged survival story – 10th with 32 points. Their usual place in the lower half of the table – a brave battle for survival against the odds, for they never had any stars and it could be said about them that Bochum was constantly counted among the relegation candidates. Since there was nothing really new about their team, the only news worth a note was the slight change of colours: usually, they used dark blue.

9th with 35 points, VfB Stuttgart. Hailed as one of the up and coming teams, full of stars in every line, Stuttgart was supposed to be a title candidate. Mid-table position was more than disappointment. But let say the team was still in the building process, not near its peak, so a sudden slip would not have been unusual.

Eintracht (Frankfurt) – 8th with 37 points and with second highest scoring record in the league – 83 goals. But atrocious defense – 72 goals scored in their net, only 5 teams had equal or worse defensive record, all of them in the relegation zone. Still counted among the leading clubs, but few were fooled: Eintracht was no longer really strong, they were running on inertia, slowly sinking. The good days was over, now decline settled. Joachim Low in the picture – he played this season for Eintracht, perhaps the pinnacle of his career as a player. 25 matches and 4 goals. Apparently, not very impressive, for he was back in second division the next year.

Borussia (Moenchengladbach) – in the exactly same situation as Eintracht (Frankfurt). One look at the squad is enough: hardly any stars left. Kleff and Mill getting older and only Lothar Matthaus a bright young player. Who was not going to stay for sure… down on the slippery slope, but inertia was still holding them – 7th with 40 points.

If Moenchengladbach was going down, the other Borussia was moving up – 6th with 41 points was not too impressive, but the team ended with the second strongest defensive record in the championship and definitely was a team considered promising. So far, everything was set right: a leading coach, Branko Zebec, and a good variety of players – well established veterans, Russmann, Abramczik, Votava, Sobieray, Geyer, bringing confidence to and aiding a group of local highly talented players: Burgsmuller, Freund, Immel, Tenhagen, Zorc. A team with a future, still not finished and polished, but going to be stronger and stronger for sure.

Werder (Bremen), not long ago down in the second division, obviously learned its lesson and was running high again – 5th with 42 points. A strange squad, really – largely dependent on oldish stars, who made their names elsewhere – Fichtel, Kostedde, and perhaps the Japanese Okudera, who established himself in West Germany, but it was already clear he was not going to be a major star. Just fine for Werder, though. Since the squad was particularly great, the coach was mostly responsible for the strong performance: Otto Rehhagel. Still young, but obviously knowing what to do, what kind of players he needed and how to utilize best the squad he had.

The enigmatic 1. FC Kaiserslautern had a fine season – 4th, thanks to better goal-difference, but with much promising squad than Werder. And a good coach too – Feldkamp. And an Asian player – the South Korean centre-forward Jong-Won Park. Unlike the Japanese Okudera and his compatriot Cha, Park left no memories: he was fielded at all.

Bayern – 3rd with 43 points. One more than Kaiserslautern and Werder. The real problem seemingly was defense – Bayern lost 11 matches, the most of all seven top teams. But they also won the most games in the league – 20 , having only 3 ties. It was all or nothing, quite a hazardous approach, considering the leaky defense. Since bronze medals does not really count in Munchen, alarm went off: goalkeeping in particular was unsatisfying and a remedy had to be discovered fast. It was – after the world cup – but this vintage, although strong and successful, never reached the great reputation of the squad from the first half of the 1970s.

Second – 1. FC Koln with 45 points. The championship race had a very strong tulip flavour: Rinus Michels vs Ernst Happel. Who of the great coaches, leading Holland to two consecutive silver medals at the World Cup would be stronger? But that was practically all to it – no Dutch player was involved in the battle. There were other stars and since World Cup is mentioned, champions – not silver medalists – were involved. Bonhof joyned Koln after returning from his spell with Valencia (Spain). No longer national team player, but big name still – and with him Koln had 2 1974 world champions: the other was Culmann. Add the plethora of national team players – Fischer, Schumacger, Allofs, Littbarski, Konopka, Woodcock (England), Botteron (Switzerland) – and Koln had stronger team than the one which won the West German championship in 1978. Since most stars were midfielders and strikers, one could expect weakness in defense, but precisely there Koln excelled with the best defensive record in the championship, allowing only 38 goals. Unfortunately, this team was facing a rival at its peak with longer and deeper squad. Michels lost to old familiar foe, battles going back to the beginning of the 1970s, when, however, Michels got the upper hand. Now he lost.

Bright new champions with 48 points, gathered from 18 wins and 12 ties. Only 4 matches were lost. 95 goals scored, 45 received. Ernst Happel did his magic again. Players did not like his methods before and there was no difference now, but the boozing since early morning Austrian made them winners and who can complain of that? Hamburger SV earned its 5th title. Franz Beckenbauer also won his 5th title. His move was a bit surprising, for he was always associated with Bayern – but he joined Hamburger SV, which at first was seen only as a last move of a guy too old to contribute to really big club, but perhaps able to help a weaker one. But HSV was not weak at all. Kaiser Franz was old, though… he played only 10 games and went back to finish his career in the USA. With him or without him, HSV were the team at the moment, almost at their peak. The other veteran – Peter Hidien – appeared only twice this season, the Yugoslav import Borisa Djordjevic, not a spring chicken either, played just 7 times. Nothing sentimental about Happel – his regulars were a tight group of current stars, not old over the hill veterans. “Young” perhaps is a wrong word – Hrubesch, Kaltz, Stein, Memering, Magath were not young at all – but all were at their peak as players and the rest of the regulars were younger: Lars Bastrup (Denmark), Jurgen Groh, William Hartwig, Holger Hieronymus, Dietmar Jakobs, Jurgen Milewski, Thomas von Heesen, and Bernd Wehmeyer. Young or old, all were experienced players and Happel utilized them more than well. However, it was no the best of this team yet – they lost the UEFA Cup. But never mind.

Here are the champions again: perhaps the first truly solid German team after 1976, a team of the kind Bayern and Borussia Moenchengladbach had.

Precious moment for posterity.

The first season of the new 2. Bundesliga. 20 teams. The last 4 relegated, the top 2 promoted directly. The 3rd was going to a promotion/relegation play-off against the 16th in the 1. Bundesliga. No real newcomers – most league members were well established second division clubs for years. 9 were former top division members, at least one quite a famous club with long successful history. The former first division members were expected to compete for the top spots – and they did.

SpVgg Bayreuth finished 20th – last. Hardly a surprise. 22 points.

Freiburger FC was 19th with 23 points. Freiburg lost its derby – and with this relegation 2. Bundesliga was left without any local derby.

Wormatia (Worms) ended 18th with 24 points – and went down. Those three were really the outsiders this season – way bellow the rest of the league.

SG Wattenscheid 09 was 17th, the 4th team in the relegation zone. Unlike those bellow, the team fought and came just short a bit, finishing with 31 points – 2 less than the 16th placed. Down… but the boys were in luck, for another club got its license revoked by DFB and thus relegated. This saved SG Wattenscheid 09.

Union Solingen – 16th with 33 points. May be a lucky break, for Union was one of the candidates for relegation.

SC Freiburg – 15th with 34 points. Nothing remarkable, but better than their city rivals – at least, they were staying in the league. This may be a photo of either the previous or the next season, for it features one Joachim Low, who played first division football in 1981-82. Well, nobody was interested of such anonymous player back then and the name meant absolutely nothing. Today – everybody knows the name.

Bayer Uerdingen – 12th with 39 points.

Rot-Weiss Essen – 11th with 38 points, but better goal-difference than Bayer Uerdingen. The long painful decline settled. As it turned, there was no stop to that.

Fortuna (Koln) – the typical second-division club. 10th with 39 points this season. Mid-table position – neither bad, nor good – just firmly established in the second level.

Alemannia (Aachen) – the same as Fortuna (Koln). 9th with 41 points.

Hessen Kassel – 8th with 43 points. So far, a club of the same ilk as Fortuna and Alemannia.

Stuttgarter Kickers – a place above Hessen thanks to better goal-difference. 43 points and 7th in the final table, one more quintessential second-division club. 21-years old Guido Buchwald in his third season – not famous yet, only promising youngster.

SV Waldhof Mannheim – 6th with 44 points. One more best suited for second-division football club.

Hannover 96 – one of the unsettled clubs, constantly moving up and down. 5th with 45 points this year. The squad clearly shows why they had difficulties surviving in Bundesliga – simply, not good enough.

TSV 1860 Munchen – at last a team with some bite: Zander, Klinkhammer, Sidka, Wohlers. Add the 22-years old Rudi Voller, playing second division football for the last time. The team missed promotion – finished 4th with 45 points, but… was relegated. The reason was financial – DFB revoked their license at the end of the season and they went down automatically. Too bad… or may be too good, for may be that was the prime reason Voller to move to another club and to glory.

Kickers Offenbach – 3rd with 46 points. Increadibly bad goal-diference for a high-placed team: +3 – 70-67. Going to the promotion-relegation play-off in one, almost last, attempt to return to top division. Alas, the good years – the early 70s – were gone… Kickers lost both matches against Bayer Leverkusen – 0-1 and 1-2.

Hertha West Berlin – 2nd with 48 points and the best goal-difference in the league: +37. Second highest scorers after TSV 1860 Munchen – 84 goals. Hertha was among the likely winners of promotion before the start of the season and their ambitions were rewarded with strong play. But this was not a squad equal to most in the Bundesliga and the struggles the club was going through in the last few years were likely to continue.

And the champions – Schalke 04. Not at its best, certainly. And trying to rebuild along veterans like Nigbur and Janzon. For the moment – fine. 19 wins, 13 ties, only 6 losses, 70-35 goal-difference, 51 points. Champions of second division does not count much for a club like Schalke 04, but it was return to top flight and may be next year would be better.

So, in the first season of the new amalgamated second division Schalke 04 and Hertha won direct promotion and Kickers lost the promotion/relegation play-off. First observation of the new format? The old one had problems and now they were the same: not enough class, not really producing teams able to challenge former first division members. The top 6 in the league were former members of the Bundesliga and the most famous ones ended at the very top. Even if they had no great or even promising squads.

 

Although West German football will rank high in the UEFA yearly listings in the next few years, it could be said this was the last season Bundesliga really ruled Europe. Not only German football deteriorated somewhat, but there was strong pressure from other countries, notably Italy, determined to climb back on top after a mediocre decade and this ambition was backed up by big money. Something frugal Germans never had, or if they had – did not want to spend on foreign stars. Sure, the West German clubs were still very strong and this season the country was the only one in Europe featuring 2 European cups finalists – but winning, detectably, was another matter and slipping away. Both Bayern and Hamburger SV lost the finals and not to superior clubs. If Bayern lost to English club, and the English were always difficult enemy, Hamburger SV spectacularly lost to fairly modest opponent – traditionally, West Germans had little difficulties beating Swedish teams – now HSV lost at home! Ans add to it the disgusting performance of the national team at the World Cup finals. But most of it was in the distant future, hence, out of mind in the early fall of 1981, when the season started. Even the top players were not moving to Italy yet. As for the season itself, one thing was sure – no matter in what shape was German football in general, the championships were very competitive. And to make them even more competitive, there was a change in the league format, concerning the Second Division: it was announced earlier, of course, but now it was a fact: no more 2 Second Division leagues. This was the first year 2. Bundesliga was amalgamated into one league of 20 teams – that meant reduction by half of the participants, so the previous season had been very difficult and important in terms of who was going to stay and who was going down to the regional semi-professional and amateur championships. But the big reduction also strengthened the second level of German football: the championships became more competitive and financially stable. The change also addressed another problem – spectators had been a concern for years. Second division did not attract really big crowds and with time the numbers were declining. A new, stronger and more competitive league, eventually could increased the numbers. So, it was the first season of unified Second Division. Bellow were the regional championships, now reinforced by former members of second division – professional clubs with ambitions. That was relative, of course, and the third level winners showed it.

Four teams were promoted to the second division. The usually invisible to foreigners third level of German football had a lot of clubs with interesting past – many of them quite recently tested second division football, some played even higher.

FC St. Pauli (Hamburg) was a good example. Not long ago they played in first division. Now they were in third division. The club itself is peculiar and almost unique in the world, but in the same time it is a perfect illustration of something unique to German football: there is no city capable of supporting 2 strong clubs. Only Munich had something similar to a big local derby and even there it was no more. So far, only three cities had 2 teams playing in the Bundesliga together – Munich, (West) Berlin, and Hamburg. Munich apart – although TSV 1860 Munchen was already losing strength under the shadow of Bayern – neither Hamburg, nor West Berlin had even remotely equal clubs. St. Pauli’s appearance in the Bundesliga was short and not for a second they had been close to Hamburger SV. Even when HSV was far from great. So the fate of the second-strongest team of any city was rather gloomy: more likely to go down than up. With that – money and supporters also tended to disappear and the club was becoming less and less significant and memorable. And here it was St. Pauli already in the third division.

Whatever came close as a local derby, happened in the Regional leagues – here St. Pauli played against even more obscure Concordia (Hamburg). Nothing like Liverpool – Everton… that was the German case.

But clubs wanted to go higher. The lucky winners this season were

FC Augsburg

FSV Frankfurt,

BV 08 Luttringhausen,

and SC Paderborn 07.

A 50-50 case: two former members of second division, coming back after suffering from the changed formal of the championship, and two newcomers. Happily promoted, but going to be really tested the next year.

Well, these the real winners, for they were climbing up, but West Germany had a trophy for such lower-league teams: the Amateur Championship. It counted for less and less… but it was played every year.

The champions for 1981-82 were FSV Mainz 05. Success, of course, but who cared? Not the world, surely – Mainz was recognized many years later. Amateur championship did not matter – much better was to win promotion to the fully professional championships. Mainz did not go up, champions as they were.

 

The Supercup was played in January 1983, so the opponents met with their 1982-83 squads and problems. Aston Villa vs Barcelona. It was clear by now that Aston Villa was not going to build a dynasty: there were practically no changes in the team. Unlike Nottingham Forest before them, Villa did not add reinforcements to a squad viewed as rather limited. In the new season the boys were no longer doing as well as in the previous season. Meantime Barcelona bought Diego Maradona and on paper should have been fantastic – but it was not. Maradona had hard time adjusting to Spanish football, to Udo Lattek’s demands, to the team, and on top of everything was prone to injuries. Bernd Schuster and Udo Lattek already clashed in the previous season and now the conflict escalated. Alan Simonsen was getting old and dropped from the starters – seemingly he was not a key figure in Lattek’s plans. Instead of improving, Barcelona was getting worse and they hardly were very convincing winners of the Cup Winners Cup to begin with. Given the difficulties, perhaps both clubs wanted to win badly – at least to add some success to their struggles. Motivation may have been high, but January was hardly the best time for big show not only because of the weather, but because both teams had their attention divided between domestic championship and the least coveted international trophy. That was the background – on the ground Barcelona hosted the opening leg and won 1-0.

Harsh battle, but eventually Marcos Alonso scored in the 52nd minute.

1st Leg, Nou Camp, Barcelona, 19 Jan 1983, att n/a

 

FC Barcelona (0) 1 Aston Villa (0) 0

52′ 1-0 B: Marcos

 

FC Barcelona

Urruti, Tente, Migueli, Julio Alberto, Periko Alonso (Urbano 75), Alexanko,

Marcos Alonso, Schuster, Quini (Pichi Alonso 65), Munoz, Carrasco

Aston Villa

Spink, Jones (Gibson 36), Williams, Evans, McNaught, Mortimer, Bremner, Shaw,

Withe, Cowans, Morley

Referee: Galler (Switzerland)

A week later in Birmingham the battle continued, the hosts strongly encouraged by their fans. But it was still doggy match and Barcelona looked like it will get away with another horrible victory. Aston Villa neutralized Barca only in the 80th minute, when Shaw scored at last.

 

It was difficult match, even goals present more signs of battle than finesse and joy of scoring. The game went into overtime and only now the English pushed ahead more effectively, scoring 2 more goals. Three red cards ‘graced’ this match, only to show what kind of football was played. But Aston Villa won.

2nd Leg, Villa Park, Birmingham, 26 Jan 1983, att n/a

 

Aston Villa (1) 3 FC Barcelona (0) 0

80′ 1-0 A: Shaw

100′ 2-0 A: Cowans (pen)

104′ 3-0 A: McNaught

Aston Villa won 3-1 on aggregate

 

Aston Villa

Spink, Williams, Evans, McNaught, Gibson, Bremner, Blair, Cowans, Shaw (Birch 88)

Withe, Morley (Walters 76)

FC Barcelona

Urruti, Tente, Migueli, Alexanko, Julio Alberto, Periko Alonso, Schuster, Munoz,

Marcos Alonso, Urbano, Carrasco (Quini 30, Manolo 55)

Referee: Ponnet (Belgium)

Red cards: Julio Alberto 53, Marcos Alonso 106, Evans 120

Top, left to right:  Javier Urruticoechea, Jose Sanchez, Bernd Schuster, Jose Ramon Alexanco, Julio Alberto, Migueli.

Bottom, left to right: Pericho Alonso, Marcos Alonso, Urbano Ortega, Victor Munoz, Francisco Carrasco.

Well, one thing was certain – Bernd Schuster did not get an European trophy. Not in the team winning the Cup Winners Cup and on the losing end at the Supercup final. Maradona did not play at all.

Winners kind of smiling. Back row, left to right: Gary Williams, Colin Gibson, Peter Withe, Nigel Spink, Gary Shaw;

Front row: Andy Blair, Des Bremner, Mark Walters, Ken McNaught, Gordon Cowans, Tony Morley.

Wonderful, but largely because this was the end. The ascent of Aston Villa started after 1975 and reached its peak in 1981-82. This was the swan song… rather short-lived success. Let’s face it: there was no major star in the squad. Without additional players Aston Villa had no chance – it was over already. And because of that, it was wonderful they won the Supercup – Barcelona would have many more chances, but not Aston Villa. Well done.

UEFA Cup. A kind of uncertainty could be detected in this issue of the tournament – the leading football nations were a bit shaky, perhaps suggesting change of guard. West German, English, Spanish, and Italian clubs were either eliminated early or struggled against opponents they were easily beating only a short time ago. But no country was really challenging the top nations – rather, the teams were getting more equal and there were no big favourites. To a point, the leading nations were losing ground and lowering themselves. To a point, it was a sign of the 1980s – hardly any exciting and great teams. Instead, fairly equal kind of football played almost everywhere – physical, gritty. Anyhow, some big names were eliminated in the first round: VfB Stuttgart by Hajduk (Split), Atletico Madrid by Boavista (Porto), Napoli by Radnicki (Nis), West Bromwich Albion by Grasshopper, Ipswich Town by Aberdeen. More casualties in the second round: Inter (Milano) was eliminated by Dinamo (Bucharest), PSV Eindhoven by Rapid (Wien), Arsenal by Winterslag (Belgium), Borussia (Moenchengladbach) by Dundee United, Southampton by Sporting (Lisbon). In the third round the only upset was the elimination of Feyenoord by Radnicki (Nis). At this point the modest Yugoslavs were really noticed – they had a good domestic season, but the club was known to be among the top Yugoslavian clubs and the move of their star goalkeeper Dragan Pantelic to France was considered a handicap. But they played strong football so far in the UEFA Cup. The quarter-finals destroyed predictions: Valencia lost to IFK Goteborg, Real Madrid, seemingly going for easy qualification after beating 1. FC Kaiserslautern 3-1 at home, was completely annihilated in the second leg – 0-5, already mentioned Radnicki eliminated Dundee United 0-2 and 3-0, and Hamburger SV continued its precarious season with one more difficult qualification: they won their home leg against the Swiss Nechatel Xamax, hardly one of the strongest team even at home, 3-2 and managed life-saving scoreless tie in the second leg.

So, the semi-finals were quite surprising: Radnicki vs Hamburger SV and 1. FC Kaiserslautern vs IFK Goteborg. Looked like a West German final was coming but… after the first leg it was not going to be. IFK Goteborg extracted a 1-1 tie in Kaiserslautern and Hamburger SV lost 1-2 in Nis. At the end, it was 50-50: The great run of Radnicki ended in Hamburg, where the hosts took full advantage of their much stronger squad and won 5-1. In Goteborg the host prevailed, but only in extra-time – the regulat time ended 1-1, there was no winner, so the extra-time started and only now the Swedes scored the golden goal.

IFK Goteborg vs Hamburger SV. No difficulty, predicting the outcome: IFK Goteborg was no match for the Germans, who seemingly learned their lesson in the semi-final and surely were not going to give any chance to rather accidental opponent. Easy to predict… and nothing to worry about. IFK Goteborg won at home 1-0, but the goal was scored in the 87th minute and such a minimal lead was not going to hold in Hamburg. One glance at the squads was enough to tell the final winner.

Final 1st Leg, Nya Ullevi, Göteborg, 5 May 1982, att 42548

 

IFK Göteborg (0) 1 Hamburger SV (0) 0

87′ 1-0 G: Tord Holmgren

 

IFK Göteborg

Wenersson; Svensson, Hysen, C.Karlsson, Fredriksson; Tord Holmgren, J.Karlsson,

Stromberg; Corneliusson, Nilsson (Sandberg 19), Tommy Holmgren (Schiller 46)

HAmburger SV

Stein; Kaltz, Jakobs, Hieronymus, Groh; Hartwig, Wehmeyer, Magath; Von Heesen

(Memering 82), Bastrup, Hrubesch

Referee: Carpenter (Ireland)

Naturally, the hosts got into focus even before the match begun, but the second leg was a big surprise. First, Corneliusson scored for IFK in the 26th minute. The second half started with IFK Goteborg leading by 2 goals. And it was 2-0 in the 61st minute, when Torbjorn Nilsson kicked the ball towards the German net.

Stein was unable to reach the ball and suddenly it was 3-0 for the Swedes.

That was practically the end – there was still half an hour to play, but Hamburger scoring 4 goals was unlikely.

4 goals… well, there were 4 goals: two minutes after Nilsson scored a penalty was given to IFK Goteborg and Fredriksson promptly scored the 4th goals for his team. End of story.

Final 2nd Leg, Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, 19 May 1982, att 60000

 

Hamburger SV (0) 0 IFK Göteborg (1) 3

26′ 0-1 G: Corneliusson

61′ 0-2 G: Nilsson

63′ 0-3 G: Fredriksson (pen)

IFK won 4-0 on aggregate

 

Hamburger SV

Stein; Kaltz (Hidien 75), Hieronymus, Groh, Wehmeyer; Hartwig, Memering, Magath, Von Heesen; Hrubesch, Bastrup

IFK Göteborg

Wenersson; Svensson; Hysen (Schiller 19), C.Karlsson, Fredriksson; Tord Holmgren, Stromberg, J.Karlsson; Corneliusson (Sandberg 67), Nilsson, Tommy Holmgren

Referee: Courtney (England)

What a victory!

Instantly IFK Goteborg was a big news – so unexpected was their success. Going against all odds – it was not a chancy win, extracted by cagy defensive football, full of vicious tackles. It was high-scoring brave kind of play.

Perhaps this was the finest squad of the Hamburger’s great period and that was why it was so surprising to see them lose. They were leading West German football and were more exciting than Bayern by far. Yet, international success was escaping them… Losing 0-3 at home was a bit too match, casting doubts not only of the team, but of West German football as a whole.

This victory instantly placed IFK Goteborg as number one Swedish club: Malmo FF lost finals, Goteborg got the UEFA Cup. The ascent of the team was noticed already, but nobody expected them climbing to the top of European football. IFK Goteborg reached the final without getting much attention and were the obvious losers against mighty Hamburger SV, but it was more than sweet victory of the underdog. The Swedes outplayed their opponents, destroying them at their own stadium in front of their own supporters. Against any odds. Of course, some players were already noticed around Europe, but this victory certainly established them – Hysen, Corneliusson, Stromberg, Nilsson, the new bright Swedish generation. And the mastermind behind the success also firmly established his name: Sven-Goran Eriksson. Important victory on many levels: a new talented generation proved its worth, lead by talented coach. It was entirely Swedish team – Malmo FF, which dominated the 1970s and became the first internationally successful club, was coached by Englishman. They represented an earlier generation, already stepping down – a generation, however, unable to conquer the football world. The new boys went higher already. The only problem – and very serious at that – was the future: no Swedish club was able to keep star players. Now the international market was getting larger with England and Italy eager to sign talent. Swedish players were going abroad for ages and no doubt the new stars would follow their predecessors: and they promptly did, including coach Eriksson. So, the old problem loomed again – wonderful winners, lovely team, but certainly a one-time wonder. Success was also destructive in the same time. IFK Goteborg had to enjoy the moment to the fullest, for there was not going to be anything like that again. Surely! How wrong was this certainty.

 

Cup Winners Cup. Terrible predicament for years – since most teams were weak, one had to keep fingers crossed the draw does not pair the stronger participants early. This year the draw was good: only Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax played against each other in the first round – Tottenham won both legs 3-1 and 3-0. The only upset in the first round was elimination of Glasgow Rangers by Dukla Prague. And almost an upset: Eintracht Frankfurt needed penalty shoot-out to eliminate PAOK Thessaloniki.

One more inevitable casualty in the second round – FC Porto eliminated Roma 2-0 and 0-0.

The quarter-finals were also good for the stronger teams – except for Standard Liege and FC Porto. The Belgians won 2-0 and 2-2. Eintracht Frankfurt, qualifying with difficulties so far, was blocked at last by Tottenham – 0-2 and 2-1.

The four semi-finalists were the best possible teams of this year’s lot. One cannot complain at this stage. Tottenhal Hotspur and Barcelona. 1-1 in London.

Simonsen scored the only goal in Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur was out.

Dinamo Tbilisi – Standard Liege. The most exciting Soviet team at the moment and current holders of the cup against bright, up and coming Belgian team. Which prevented the Georgians from having a chance for second Cup Winners Cup – Standard won both legs 1-0.

Tahamata gets away from Mudzhiri – a small difference perhaps, but amounting to winning and losing. The rules were getting lax too – note the add on Tahamata’s shirt. Prohibited at finals, but otherwise already OK to use them in the European cups.

Barcelona vs Standard. Big advantage for Barca – Barcelona was chosen to host the final. 100 000 attended – more than twice the crowd the European Champions final gathered. Mostly Barca supporters, of course. But it was also a battle of great coaches – Raymond Goethals vs Udo Lattek. Goethals gathered wonderful team. Lattek had already problems with his fellow countryman Bernd Schuster. Schuster was out of the final because of injury, though. Standard was without Dusbaba and Bodart (his absence for rather reason – it was either him or Preud’homme between the goalposts).

The match was not great… thanks to the Catalans, who displayed in full everything for what people hated Spanish football since the 1960s: dirty tackles, simulations, wasting time. Add some German grit infused by Lattek, especially in defense. Of course, there was a lot at stake – Barcelona did not reach European final since 1969 and did not win a cup since 1966 – but it was not a plausible excuse for such an ugly approach.

Barcelona was not exciting at all and with time Standard emerged as the much better team, but…

There was also the referee. No big mistakes, but his whistle benefited Barcelona. Standard opened the score in the 7th minute, thanks to Tahamata and Barcelona equalized just before the end of the first half – Simonsen in the 44th minute.

The second half was mostly Standard – except in the fatal 63rd minute. A free kick was called against Standard.

After which Quini scored the second goal for Barcelona. One must see the moment: the call was fair, but Barca players did not wait for the referee to whistle – the ball was quickly crossed to Quini and he scored. The surprised look in the eyes of Echweiller – he was about to organize the wall, players all around him, as they were caught by his marking the foul, nobody having time to take defensive position. The referee seemingly was going to take charge of the free kick, but the Catalans scored and he… just blew his whistle, acknowledging the goal. Belgian players protested, but seemingly resigned to the injustice – mostly expressed by Haan, not even bothering to start from the central circle after the goal, so Echweiller had to whistle again and put the game ‘in order’. The Belgians saw no order to be respected, though. Yet, they attacked to the end and unfortunately missed their chances. Then 2 minutes were left and something extraordinary happened – an ominous precursor of the disgrace showed by West Germany and Austria a month later at the World Cup. Quini talked to Carrasco and both positioned themselves with the ball at the right corner of the Belgian half of the field. There Quini passed to Carrasco from corner kick – may be a 30 centimeters pass – Carrasco placed the ball near the corner flag, keeping it from Belgian players with his body. The ball was mostly static, Belgian defenders had no chance of reaching it without fouling Carrasco, the referee whistles a free-kick, and the same begins anew. Meeuws pushed Carrasco a bit more, so he dropped dead and Meews was send off. Under the circumstances, there was a foul, no matter whether Meeuws wanted to commit it or not, but red card? Same referee was quite blind to vicious tackles before… Once Meeuws was out, Carrasco suddenly resurrected, only to die again in the next second, because Gerets breathed near to him. One more free kick, the ball still did not move from the flag. Until the final whistle. Barcelona won 2-1. Of course, it was great tactical decision – technically, Quini and Carrasco stayed into the frame of the rules: the ball moved just a bit, but moved. In the narrow space one can argue there was no room for the Catalans to move, blocked by eager to get the ball Belgians. And there is no rule saying how far the ball must go after a free-kick or a corner-kick – a small pass is still a pass. Yes, it was blatant and arrogant, and obvious killing of time. Yes, Quini and Carrasco were going to stay in this little corner to the end of the world, if necessary. Yes, the Belgian protested. But was for the referee to do – no rule was broken. Formally, it was fine and the only culprits would be Standard players, for, so close, there was no way to avoid collision with Carrasco. A great tactical decision, but also a huge disgrace to the sport. Did not matter at all to Barcelona and their supporters – they won!

Final, Nou Camp, Barcelona, 12 May 1982, att 100000

 

FC Barcelona (1) 2 Standard CL (Liège) (1) 1

7′ 0-1 S: Vandermissen

44′ 1-1 B: Simonsen

63′ 2-1 B: Quini

 

FC Barcelona

Urruti; Gerardo, Migueli, Alesanco, Manolo; Sanchez, Moratalla, Esteban;

Simonsen, Quini, Carrasco

Standard CL (Liège)

Preud’homme; Gerets, Poel, Meeuws, Plessers; Vandersmissen, Daerden, Haan,

Botteron; Tahamata, Wendt

Referee: Eschweiler (West Germany)

Red card: Meeuws 89

Barcelona got the Cup Winners Cup for the first time. Success at last. Not so well deserved, but a winner is a winner. Happy sea of Catalan supporters around, a moment of glory – do not tell them it was a crooked victory. Just leave it at that.

One may feel sorry for Standard – it was not entirely fair loss, but in the same time they missed a good many chances and were not very organized at times. Raymond Goethals gathered a wonderful team – a bunch of top Belgian players: Gerets, Meeuws, Vandersmissen, Preud’homme, Plessers, Daerden, complimented by experienced foreign stars: the usual Dutch stars, Haan and Tahamata (and Dusbaba in the reserves), one of the best Swiss players since 1975, Rene Botteron, and the Swedish international Wendt, who played for years in West Germany before joining Standard. There were solid reserves too – Bodart, Voordeckers, Semmeling, Dusbaba. Perhaps the most interesting was the evolution of Arie Haan – players often change positions as they age, but normally it is moving back – from attack to midfield or defense. Haan moved in the opposite direction – starting as, nominally, defensive midfielder with Ajax, he was moved back to central defender for the 1974 World Cup, then was a playmaker for Anderlecht, and now – a centre-forward for Standard. If there was a symbol of the great total football, it was Haan – he played any position and always shined. Too bad Standard lost this final and Haan was unable to add one more international cup to his collection, but there was perhaps something Standard was lacking – a strong playmaker. A man able to control the tempo and organize the attacks. At the final, the Belgians appeared a bit chaotic and their attacks were more spontaneous improvisations then well planned. Perhaps it would have been better if Haan was put in midfield to organize the team’s play.

To say that Barcelona was exciting team would be too much. They clinched a victory and that was all. Of course, they were strong and determined, but not the obvious and even less the deserving winner. But they won and it was a big success for the club, suffering disappointments for so many years. Even with Cruijff they won only 1 Spanish title and plain nothing internationally. It was great for the club, for the supporters, for the players – it was a squad full of stars: Migueli, Carrasco, Quini, Alesanco, Urruticoechea (still called with his full name at the time, although today one can hardly see anything but Urruti written). Only Alan Simonsen of this squad knew continental success and that was already years ago. Injured Bernd Schuster missed the moment of triumph, but it would be empty speculation to muse what would have been Barcelona with him: most likely, not very different. They played gritty football and depended too much on dirty tricks – Schuster would not have been able to transform deeply embedded tradition into something more interesting. Udo Lattek proved again he was a great winner, but there little evidence of his influence – coaching the team into great fitness and making them careful in defense, and adding constant pressuring was seemingly all he implanted from West German football. But it was not exactly radical for Spanish gritty fighters. Whatever he did, it clashed already with Schuster’s understanding of the game – and soon with Maradona’s too. Even after the big win it was quite obvious at Barcelona that the team was not truly great and needed additional spark, spur, and something more artistic. Hence, Maradona – which was also numbering the days of Lattek at the helm. Ironic, in a way, for the German coach brought the first international victory since 1966.

European Champions Cup. The draw was fine at first – the big teams, either in fact or by reputation had easy opponents. The only tough pairs: St. Etienne was eliminated in the preliminary round by Dynamo Berlin, 1-1 and 0-2, signaling the end of the long successful run of the French champions. In the first round Juventus eliminated Celtic 0-1 and 2-0. CSKA Sofia produced a minor surprise by eliminating Real Sociedad 1-0 and 0-0 – the Bulgarians played with hearth, but the Spanish champions were not the same class as Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Atletico Madrid.

The Bulgarian champions had very easy draw in the second round and now it was their turn to fret to the last second: they won the home leg against Northern Ireland’s Glentoran 2-0 and the job was seemingly done, but the Irish came back with a vengeance in the second leg, equalized the result and only a gola scored in the extra time qualified CSKA. Meantime, Anderlecht destroyed Juventus, full of still future world champions 3-1 and 1-1, Benfica lost to Bayern 0-0 and 1-4, and AZ’67 – to Liverpool 2-2 and 2-3. Aston Villa, having it easy at first (Valur Reykjavik), now had stronger opponent – Dynamo Berlin – and only an away goal propelled them to the quarter-finals: the English champions won 2-1 in East Berlin, but lost 0-1 in Birmingham.

Once again Lady Luck smiled at the big clubs: except Dinamo Kiev – Aston Villa, there was no other problematic pair and it looked like that three semi-finalists were known before any match was played. The Soviet clubs had problems with spring games for years – not only their season was just beginning, so their teams were not at their best form, but it was too cold to play at their home grounds and international matches were scheduled in Southern cities – Aston Villa managed a 0-0 tie in Simferopol, then easily won 2-0 in Birmingham. Anderlecht won both legs against Crvena zvezda 2-1 and 2-1. Bayern assured their win away in Craiova, where they beat their Romanian hosts Universitatea 2-0. The second leg was a formality and without pressure, it ended 1-1. So far – exactly as expected. And reigning cup holders Liverpool facing CSKA was perhaps the easiest pair on paper. Liverpool won 1-0 at home and the Bulgarians played surprisingly strong football. But Liverpool won and perhaps learned a lesson, so nothing strange so far. Except that CSKA eliminated Nottingham Forest the year before… after that, however, Liverpool utterly destroyed CSKA. Well, that was the last year – this time CSKA was more than a match for Liverpool, played very determined second leg, scored a goal, then one more, and Liverpool was out 0-2. Liverpool lost in overtime, but so what – they were out. A big surprise, making CSKA a killer of champions, for they eliminated so far three cup holders: Ajax in 1973, Nottingham Forest in 1980, and now – Liverpool.

The semi-finals provided little in terms of convenient opponents, but Bayern was lucky – they faced CSKA. Traditionally, West German teams won matches with Bulgarians. However, CSKA was in splendid form and Bayern was not as formidable as it used to be. The opening match in Sofia started shockingly for the West Germans: CSKA quickly scored 2 goals, Bayern managed to return one, but soon it was 1-3. At the end, with great effort, Bayern managed to lose 3-4 – the result still gave them a better chance, but it was extracted with great effort. Unlike Liverpool, Bayern learned and in the home leg steamrolled CSKA, winning 4-0. No schemes, just pushing for the most possible score – otherwise would have been too risky. In the other semi-final Aston Villa was praised in the British press for ‘discipline’ – they eliminated Anderlecht 1-0 and 0-0.

Bayern – Aston Villa. Exciting final – West Germans vs English, the leading nations in club football against each other. Bayern wanting to come back with a 4th Cup, Aston Villa never won European cup before. Given the squads, the bets were on the Germans. But that was on paper. And even more than paper – Aston Villa had a problem: Jimmy Rimmer, their regular goalkeeper and one of the few well known players in the team, suffered heavy injury, eventually driving him to retirement. It was not sure at all he would be able to play. But he stepped on the pitch in Rotterdam. The referee gave the start of the final and something amazing happened – such thing never happened before and was never repeated. In the 9th minute Aston Villa replaced Rimmer with his entirely unknown substitute Spink, who so far appeared only in a handful of matches. Since it was well known that Rimmer was with career threatening injury, it looked like that Aston Villa fielded him not to play, but only as a tribute to venerable veteran. It was something only an English club would do – to put aside the importance of a final, only to pay tribute to a player, risking a loss either by an easy early goal or because of wasting one of the two allowed substitutes. They were playing against the German machine Bayern, for God’s sake! Spink hardly had any experience and not even starting the match could have been a big liability. But the risk paid back: Aston Villa played great and Spink was very strong between the goalposts. As for Bayern, there was already known problem – the team was too mechanical. Good fighters, but without much of a spark. Breitner was by far the only player showing real class and imagination. Thus, to a point, Aston Villa benefited by the straight-forward German football – it was familiar game to the rather plain English team. Running, tackling, pushing ahead – that was the football Aston Villa played in the English league. More eager than the Germans, the English actually looked the more interesting team and gradually – the stronger one.

Rummenigge covered by Mortimer – the big star having the edge, as was expected.

May be so, but the unknown Spink was unshakeable and save whatever had to be saved.

Bayern knew very well the traditional English football, which Aston Villa played – and made sure no cross would ever reach the English center-forward.

But Aston Villa was not at all giving up – Augenthaler tries to attack here, only to be tackled immediately.

Aston Villa did not play defensive football at all, but attacked constantly and, with time, more dangerously than their opponents.

Until the 67th minute, when Peter with escaped from German police and scored.

The picture tells it all. And there was no other goal.

Final, Feyenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, 26 May 1982, att 46000

 

Aston Villa (0) 1 Bayern München (0) 0

67′ 1-0 AV: Withe

 

Aston Villa (trainer Barton)

Rimmer (Spink 9); Swain, Evans, McNaught, Williams; Bremner, Cowans, Mortimer; Shaw,Withe, Morley

Bayern München (trainer Csernai)

Muller; Dremmler, Weiner, Augenthaler, Horsmann; Mathy (Guttler 51), Breitner, Kraus Niedermayer 78), Dürnberger; Rummenigge, Hoeness

Referee: Konrath (France)

The best moment in life.

Deserving heroes – tired and happy. First ever European cup for Aston Villa and what a cup!

Losers, standing from left: Weiner, Horsmann, Augenthaler, Dieter Hoeness, Rummenigge, Breitner.

Crouching: Durnberger, Kraus, Muller, Mathy, Dremmler.

Let’s face it: this version was not equal to the great Bayern of the first half of the 1970s. Yes, bit stars and half the team knew the touch of the European Champions Cup, but… Durnberger, Horsmann, and Kraus were mostly reserves in the old team and never became stars. Augenthaler and Dremmler were not at their peak yet, Dieter Hoeness playing for Bayern was unthinkable in the days when his brother was playing, and 1982 was not Rummenigge’s year. Not a memorable performance at the final and apart from feeling sorry for Breitner, nothing else one can say.

The new European champions at their finest: standing from left: Withe, Blair, Spink, Heard, Shaw, McNaught, Evans, Mortimer, Rimmer.

First row: Geddis, Gibson, Cowans, Williams, Morley, Bremner, Swain.

On ane hand, a splendid victory of the underdog, but on the other – the English clubs dominated

European club tournaments for a long time, so one more victory was just a natural continuation. Aston Villa, however, was different – nothing like Nottingham Forest and especially Liverpool. It was a squad of underachievers – Jimmy Rimmer spent years as a second goalkeeper of Manchester Untied. Peter Withe also got old without making impression anywhere – he was even with Nottingham Forest a year or two ago. Of the rest, only after the final some players were recognized as potential stars – Dennis Mortimer, Des Bremner, Tony Morley, and particularly Gary Shaw. Players for the future, however… yes, they played for their countries a bit, even the approaching Peter with, but nobody developed into huge star. Collective play and discipline was their biggest quality and although this was their year, it was quite clear it was not going to be repeated – the team was not classy enough and the club did not have money to add big stars to the roster. This made their success even more pleasant, for it was a great display of courage and determination and also was fine tribute to some players: at last Jimmy Rimmer won international trophy, for instance. The big hero – and hero precisely of the underdog – was Nigel Spink. Perhaps his wonderful and brave performance at the European final propelled his career – a star he never became, but a respected goalkeeper – yes. It was very touchy – no matter was it intentional or accidental – to risk starting with injured goalkeeper and to substitute him after a few minutes, thus giving him a chance to be part of the European final and, after the final whistle, a rightful winner.

The pride of Birmingham and the team deserved it entirely! One more name added to the list of European champions.

European player of the year. Deserves a comment – 19 players got points by the ranking of different journalists. Of them, only two did not play at the World Cup: Nilsson (1.FC Kaiserslautern, Sweden) and Schuster (Barcelona, West Germany). Six were champions of the world and 3 silver medalists at the World Cup. One may argue that some players deserved at least more and higher votes: Breitner and Tresor ended with 1 point, Gerets with 2 points, Platini with 5. Meantime Rummenigge had 47 – and was 5th in the final ranking. May be too much, but never mind. Bruno Conti was 4th with 48, Zbigniew Boniek – 3rd with 53, Alain Giresse – 2nd with 68. And number one, practically without any competition – Paolo Rossi with 115 points. The absolute maximum was 130 – so, the votes were overwhelmingly for him.

Number one – the best European this year.

Of course, World Cup performance always counts most and Rossi ended as world champion, top scorer, and best player of the finals. Remarkable, especially after considering that he missed about 2 years of football because of suspension.

Of course, Rossi was noted as great talent back at the1978 World Cup, so his development was only natural. He was a hero.

Heroes can also cook – if they are world champions and playing for very strong Juventus. But cooking should be taken here with more than a grain of salt. Such a massive voting for Rossi tells us he was fantastic player having fantastic season. Form the distance of time, it was just so… but bigger names did not win the award after a fantastic season, or win it, but with much fewer points. There were rivalries before, it was difficult to decide who was best, even if bias is discarded. This year only two voices differed: the Scotish and the Belgian voters. They argued that Rossi played only 3 great matches in the whole year. Which was… true. It was not steadily overwhelming performance – Rossi was voted number one thanks to the last three matches at the World Cup. That was all. Yes, he scored 6 goals in them, thus helping Italy to the title, but was he the most important player in the team? Hardly. Of course, every voting for ‘the best’ is suspect under close scrutiny, but, not only in my opinion, the voting for the European Player of the Year was questionable for quite some time – more or less, ever since 1975. Players got the award on reputation rather than performance, or just because they shined in few important games. The European and World finals overshadowed the rest of the season. Most often the fall did not count at all, voting concentrating on the spring, when the European cups finished. If the whole year was really taken into account, may be Platini, Gerets, Dassaev, Breitner, and Boniek had to get more points at the expense of Rossi. The voting was a bit sheepish, going after the hype and cooking clay giants. It is not to say Paolo Rossi was not a fine player, but that huge a star? Even in purely Italian context he was not. But voting is voting and he was number one. For myself, I preferred Rossi in 1978 – but nobody asked me, so there.