Group 2. West Germany, Spain, Portugal, Romania. West Germany was the big favourite and no doubts about it – Spain was a huge disappointment at the 1982 World Cup and never played convincing football; Portugal and Romania were in decline for many years and it was doubtful they started real recovery – to a point, they were simply lucky to qualify. Spain was the only team able to trouble the German machine, was the feeling – and only to trouble, not to overcome.
West Germany
Head coach: Jupp Derwall
No.
Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Club
1
GK
Harald Schumacher
6 March 1954 (aged 30)
48
Köln
2
DF
Hans-Peter Briegel
11 October 1955 (aged 28)
50
Kaiserslautern
3
DF
Gerd Strack
1 September 1955 (aged 28)
10
Köln
4
DF
Karlheinz Förster
25 July 1958 (aged 25)
58
Stuttgart
5
DF
Bernd Förster
3 May 1956 (aged 28)
30
Stuttgart
6
MF
Wolfgang Rolff
26 December 1959 (aged 24)
10
Hamburg
7
DF
Andreas Brehme
9 November 1960 (aged 23)
5
Kaiserslautern
8
FW
Klaus Allofs
5 December 1956 (aged 27)
29
Köln
9
FW
Rudi Völler
13 April 1960 (aged 24)
15
Werder Bremen
10
MF
Norbert Meier
20 September 1958 (aged 25)
12
Werder Bremen
11
FW
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Captain)
25 September 1955 (aged 28)
75
Bayern Munich
12
GK
Dieter Burdenski
26 November 1950 (aged 33)
12
Werder Bremen
13
MF
Lothar Matthäus
21 March 1961 (aged 23)
23
Borussia Mönchengladbach
14
MF
Ralf Falkenmayer
11 February 1963 (aged 21)
0
Eintracht Frankfurt
15
DF
Uli Stielike
15 November 1954 (aged 29)
38
Real Madrid
16
MF
Hans-Günter Bruns
15 November 1954 (aged 29)
3
Borussia Mönchengladbach
17
MF
Pierre Littbarski
16 April 1960 (aged 24)
26
Köln
18
DF
Guido Buchwald
24 January 1961 (aged 23)
1
Stuttgart
19
MF
Rudolf Bommer
19 August 1957 (aged 26)
4
Fortuna Düsseldorf
20
GK
Helmut Roleder
9 October 1953 (aged 30)
1
Stuttgart
West Germany had great difficulty qualifying to the finals, which, combined with their disgusting performance at the 1982 World Cup was indication of big trouble. The team was practically crucified by German journalists, but this was nothing new – there was no team in the world so mercilessly criticized by domestic journalists for years. The critics were largely right – West Germany played awful football, there were no great players, there were various internal scandals between the players and the coach, Jupp Derwall lost both authority and vision,. The team entered a dangerous path, which was able to somewhat exit only 30 years later – aging. There was not enough bright young talent, so older player were increasingly introduced to the team, or aging stars kept literally until they dropped. The final selection was seen as dangerously weak: Breitner retired, for one or another reason Hansi Muller, Bernd Schuster, and Felix Magath were not in the team. Rummenigge and Stielike aged and were not what they used to be. But there were no replacements in sight – with the possible exception of Rudi Voeller (still entirely unknown quality), the newly introduced players were not just weaker reserves – it was quite clear they were not the future, would not be even regulars for awhile, and there was even sense of desperation in some choices – German football looked impoverished, there were no descent enough players for some posts. ‘New’ players were some aging guys, known more for their limitations than for their qualities – if there was no obvious problem with the back-up goalkeepers (older or younger, no matter – they were not to play a minute, so massive was Schumacher’s superiority), others were a clear display of German problems – Bommer (26 years old), Bruns (29), Meier (25), Strack (28) were hardly the future. None managed to impress so far, it was clear they were not a star material, they were no worse or better than hundreds other mediocre German players. They were not the future, they only made the numbers. So, the next leaders were reduced to Littbarski (24), Matthaus (23 and already transformed from striker to midfielder), Brehme (23), and possibly (at the time, only possibly) Voeller (24) and Buchwald (23). Since the former trio was already established, one thing was already clear – none of the future leaders had the playing and leading qualities of Beckenbauer, Netzer, Overath, Breitner, Gerd Muller. These were plainer players, more limited. Even Schuster, who exploded in 1980, looked like a player from another universe, compared to the other younger stars, with whom he shared the same generation. Most of the German problems were objective and Jupp Derwall added to them hos own inability to keep peace and make players follow his ideas. And he was short of ideas by now… But whatever the problems, there was something peculiarly German and nobody would dare to discard West Germany out of hand – the German team always raised to the occasion. There were troubles before, yet, come finals and it was transformed team. The team even could struggle for a part of a tournament, but the right formula would be find on the road and at the end God help the opposition. Weak and disgusting they were in 1982, but reached the World Cup final – West Germany was always a big favourite and the danger was in that if weak, it was still able to prevail. Cannot be fooled by German weakness – it was a team able of quick and deadly recovery. And West Germany remained prime favourite at the 1984 finals, expected to win.
Spain
Head coach: Miguel Muñoz
No.
Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Club
1
GK
Luis Arconada (Captain)
26 June 1954 (aged 29)
57
Real Sociedad
2
DF
Santiago Urquiaga
18 April 1958 (aged 26)
9
Athletic Bilbao
3
DF
José Antonio Camacho
8 June 1955 (aged 29)
48
Real Madrid
4
DF
Antonio Maceda
16 May 1957 (aged 27)
18
Sporting Gijón
5
DF
Andoni Goikoetxea
23 May 1956 (aged 28)
12
Athletic Bilbao
6
DF
Rafael Gordillo
24 February 1957 (aged 27)
49
Real Betis
7
MF
Juan Antonio Señor
26 August 1958 (aged 25)
15
Real Zaragoza
8
MF
Víctor Muñoz
15 March 1957 (aged 27)
20
Barcelona
9
FW
Santillana
23 August 1952 (aged 31)
48
Real Madrid
10
MF
Ricardo Gallego
8 February 1959 (aged 25)
12
Real Madrid
11
FW
Francisco José Carrasco
6 March 1959 (aged 25)
21
Barcelona
12
DF
Salvador García
4 March 1961 (aged 23)
3
Real Zaragoza
13
GK
Francisco Buyo
13 January 1958 (aged 26)
2
Sevilla
14
DF
Julio Alberto Moreno
7 October 1958 (aged 25)
5
Barcelona
15
MF
Roberto Fernández
5 July 1962 (aged 21)
2
Valencia
16
MF
Francisco López
1 November 1962 (aged 21)
5
Sevilla
17
FW
Marcos Alonso
1 October 1959 (aged 24)
19
Barcelona
18
FW
Emilio Butragueño
22 July 1963 (aged 20)
0
Real Madrid
19
FW
Manuel Sarabia
9 January 1957 (aged 27)
8
Athletic Bilbao
20
GK
Andoni Zubizarreta
23 October 1961 (aged 22)
0
Athletic Bilbao
Most likely second placed. Not because Spain was really strong – it was pretty much the same squad which failed miserably at the World Cup – but because it was tough team to beat and the opponents were beatable. A matter of odds rather than class.
Portugal.
Head coach: Fernando Cabrita
No.
Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Club
1
GK
Manuel Bento (Captain)
25 June 1948 (aged 35)
Benfica
2
FW
Tamagnini Nené
20 November 1949 (aged 34)
Benfica
3
FW
Rui Jordão
9 August 1952 (aged 31)
Sporting CP
4
MF
Fernando Chalana
10 February 1959 (aged 25)
Benfica
5
MF
Vermelhinho
9 March 1959 (aged 25)
Porto
6
FW
Fernando Gomes
22 November 1956 (aged 27)
Porto
7
MF
Carlos Manuel
15 January 1958 (aged 26)
Benfica
8
DF
António Veloso
31 January 1957 (aged 27)
Benfica
9
DF
João Pinto
21 November 1961 (aged 22)
Porto
10
DF
António Lima Pereira
1 February 1952 (aged 32)
Porto
11
DF
Eurico Gomes
29 September 1955 (aged 28)
Porto
12
GK
Jorge Martins
12 August 1954 (aged 29)
Vitória de Setúbal
13
MF
António Sousa
28 April 1957 (aged 27)
Porto
14
MF
António Frasco
16 January 1955 (aged 29)
Porto
15
MF
Jaime Pacheco
22 July 1958 (aged 25)
Porto
16
MF
António Bastos Lopes
19 November 1953 (aged 30)
Benfica
17
DF
Álvaro Monteiro
3 January 1961 (aged 23)
Benfica
18
DF
Eduardo Luís
6 January 1955 (aged 29)
Porto
19
FW
Diamantino Miranda
3 August 1959 (aged 24)
Benfica
20
GK
Vítor Damas
8 October 1947 (aged 36)
Portimonense
Emerging from a long decline, but Portugal was just lucky to reach the finals – their 0-5 loss to USSR in the qualification group was not forgotten. The key players were not young and easily related to the generation of the 1970s, which failed in every tournament – it was difficult to imagine that Damas, Bento, Nene, Jordao, Eurico, Bastos Lopes, Martins, Frasco would suddenly play stronger than before. It was just great to reach finals of major tournament, but no more than that.
Romania
Head coach: Mircea Lucescu
No.
Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Club
1
GK
Silviu Lung
9 September 1956 (aged 27)
Universitatea Craiova
2
DF
Mircea Rednic
19 April 1962 (aged 22)
Dinamo Bucureşti
3
DF
Costică Ştefănescu (Captain)
26 March 1951 (aged 33)
Universitatea Craiova
4
DF
Nicolae Ungureanu
11 November 1956 (aged 27)
Universitatea Craiova
5
MF
Aurel Ţicleanu
20 January 1959 (aged 25)
Universitatea Craiova
6
DF
Gino Iorgulescu
15 May 1956 (aged 28)
Sportul Studenţesc
7
FW
Marcel Coraş
14 May 1959 (aged 25)
Sportul Studenţesc
8
DF
Michael Klein
10 October 1959 (aged 24)
Corvinul Hunedoara
9
FW
Rodion Cămătaru
22 June 1958 (aged 25)
Universitatea Craiova
10
MF
László Bölöni
11 March 1953 (aged 31)
ASA Târgu Mureș
11
MF
Gheorghe Hagi
5 February 1965 (aged 19)
Sportul Studenţesc
12
GK
Dumitru Moraru
1 May 1956 (aged 28)
Dinamo Bucureşti
13
DF
Ioan Andone
15 March 1960 (aged 24)
Dinamo Bucureşti
14
MF
Mircea Irimescu
13 May 1959 (aged 25)
Universitatea Craiova
15
MF
Marin Dragnea
1 January 1956 (aged 28)
Dinamo Bucureşti
16
DF
Nicolae Negrilă
23 July 1954 (aged 29)
Universitatea Craiova
17
FW
Ion Adrian Zare
11 May 1959 (aged 25)
Bihor
18
MF
Ionel Augustin
11 October 1955 (aged 28)
Dinamo Bucureşti
19
FW
Romulus Gabor
14 October 1961 (aged 22)
Corvinul Hunedoara
20
GK
Vasile Iordache
9 October 1950 (aged 33)
Steaua Bucureşti
The big enigma – Romania not only suffered during the 1970s similarly to Portugal, but actually dropped out of sight. People were hard pressed to recall even a single name of Romanian player apart from Dudu Georgescu, the great scorer. So, it was unknown team, led by unknown coach… hardly something impressive, it was easily assumed. Romania was expected to finish last in the group – giving some trouble to the other teams, but losing at the end of the day. Anonymity was also a blessing – it was a carefully made team with plenty of experience: the player, coming to the Euro finals with most caps was Rummenigge, but after him were two Romanian players. It was a good blend of old players and bright young talent, yet unknown. And they had young coach, also unknown. All that was to be discovered soon and not just few names to become familiar – Gheorghe Hagi was starting his illustrious career. And today everybody knows who Mircea Lucescu is.