The Golden Shoe. Romanian striker Rodion Camataru (Dinamo Bucharest) won the award with 44 goals, followed by Tony Polster (Austria Vienna) with 39 goals and Nasko Sirakov (Vitosha Sofia) with 36. That were the dry numbers. Behind them, though…
Rodion Camataru collected his award for European top scorer surrounded by heavy criticism. Polster refused to attend the ceremony and to receive his Silver Shoe, accusing somewhat vaguely of ‘machinations’ used in order of winning. The plain rules for winning the award were criticized for years – traditional objections were repeated again, but this time there is new ominous element, which was suspected in the past, yet, not coming directly to the front line. Traditionally, objections were obvious: different leagues in Europe had different length and a player in championship with, say, 38 rounds naturally had more chances than one playing only 30 games in the season. And the championships were not equal at all – it was one thing to play in Italy and something else in Cyprus: even a great scorer would hardly score more than 16-18 goals in the Italian league, but generally lesser player could score 30 goals in the weak Cypriot league. Against such reasons stood another plain fact: the Golden Shoe was never won by a player coming out of the blue, only to disappear again – great scorers were at the top every year, their records impeccable. So, what if they played in weak leagues or were not huge international stars? They were great scorers in their own countries, which after all equalized Gerd Muller to Sotiris Kaiafas – all-tme top scorers of, respectively, (West) Germany and Cyprus. Unsolvable issue, but the critics got fresh fuel for their fire with the victory of Camataru, for he was not among the top 10 European scorers of the year at the time when most championships were coming to end. At the 30th round of the Romanian championship he had 30 goals to his credit. Not bad at all, but… the competition had a game or two at most to play. Romanian championship on the other hand was ending after most of the continental leagues and suddenly Camataru started to score enormous amounts of goals: 3 in the 29th round (against Corvinul, match ending 3-3), 3 in the 30th (3-3 against Otelul), 2 in the 31st (2-3 against Flacara), 4 in the 32nd (5-4 against Sportul Studentesc), 5 in the 33rd (6-2 against Jiul), 3 in the 34th (4-3 against Rapid). 18 goals in his last five games… very suspect, even the end results of the those games. But nothing to prove wrong-doing… Camataru was well established scorer in Romanian football – 169 goals in 326 games by the end of 1986-87 season. Impressive with the national team too: 17 goals in 58 games and praised at the 1984 European championship finals. Twice Romanian champion and twice Romanian Cup winner with his previous club Universitatea (Craiova), but his fantastic scoring run happened with Dinamo (Bucharest), which he joined in the summer of 1986 – that is, he became top European scorer in his first season with Dinamo, the club run by the Romanian Secret Police. But it was also the second best team in the country, having half of the national team in its roster… it was possible that with strong players around him, Camataru could score more… possible and impossible… The player defended swiftly himself when pressed by journalists: ‘I am almost 30-years old, the end of my career is nearing and I am obliged to do something with which to be remembered. The Golden Shoe was such opportunity and the circumstances helped me – when it became clear that Dinamo cannot win the championship, but cannot lose second place either, we decided to play entirely attacking football and not caring for defense. Yes, we received a lot of goals, but also scored a lot and my teammates practically played for me, providing scoring opportunities. On my part I worked harder than usual not to disappoint them and to score as many as possible.’ Plausible… such things happened before everywhere, especially when a team had nothing else to play for. Great scorers were natural consumers, teammates always playing for them – no wrongdoing in that. If there was something fixed… well, would you expect anybody spilling the beans just because a journalist is asking? Romania had great scorer before – Dudu Georgescu, so why not having another? He won the Golden Shoe twice – in 1975 with 33 goals and in 1977 with 47. His records were not seen suspect… then. In 1987 they looked somewhat different… Georgescu played for Dinamo (Bucharest) too. But nothing to prove wrongdoing and Camataru received his Golden Shoe. However, his award brought the Golden Shoe down – from now on records became instantly suspect, accusations became the norm, and the end of the award came in the 1990.
And after 1990 the true story was revealed, confronting Camataru’s words in 1987: his scores were largely fixed by the State Police, but no matter – the thing was fixing, as suspected, and the award for 1987 was given to Toni Polster.
1st Leg, De Meer Stadium, Amsterdam, 24 Nov 1987, att 27000
One cannot say the games were exceptional – there was desire, they were not boring, there were interesting moments, yet nothing truly memorable.
It was a battle of equals,
rough at moments, as it was 1980s football, but it was more or less not a clash of tactics, but of experience and one thing became quickly obvious – FC Porto was more experienced, which could be also extended to the coaching stuff: Hulshoff seemingly was unable to find magic touch with which to break FC Porto. Some injuries also played a role, particularly in the second leg, when on few occasions Hulshoff was almost forced to look for substitutes (luckily, Menzo and Larsson were able to continue, but on both occasions Hulshoff’s plans were probably messed up by what looked like forced substitution). The winter conditions did not help football either – the games were lively, but with very few scoring opportunities.
Rui Barros scored the only goal in Amsterdam – very early, in the 5th minute, and in January it looked like that would be the only goal.
But sloppy Dutch defense after not particularly dangerous free kick find Sousa in perfect position and he scored the only goal in Porto in the 70 minutes. A few minutes later the wet muddy grass played a trick on Menzo and the ball almost went in the net again, but did not and the second leg ended as the first one: 1-0 FC Porot.
FC Porto triumphed – great, because it was also in front of their own fans. A new name was added to the list of the Supercup winners and it was now very memorable and proud moment in the history of FC Porto, for between the legs of the Supercup they managed to win the Intercontinental Cup and rapped the 1987 with the 3 greatest trophies.
As photo of the squad playing for the Supercup cannot be found, a substitution… wrong kit, but almost the same team – only Scholten did not appear against FC Porto at all. Ajax lost the Supercup minimally and the prime reason was lack of experience: the squad was bursting with talent, but the players were very young yet. Incredible talent – a proof of it is that Ronald Spelbos, Peter Boeve, and Edo Ophof were sitting mostly on the bench now and in the same time Ronald de Boer and Bryan Roy were not even included in the first team roster in the summer. But still too young… Dennis Bergkamp, for instance, was quite lame in the second leg and was substitute. Rob Witschge lacked stamina and was also substituted. Lack of experience extends to Barry Hulshoff as well, who was hastily appointed caretaker coach after Cruijff’s leave – of course, he was Cruijff’s asistent before that, but at the helm he was still new. Ajax was a team for the future, that was sure, but at the moment – not ripe yet, not at at its peak.
Supercup winners! Standing from left: Mlynarczyk, Geraldão, Inácio, Jaime Magalhães, Lima Pereira, João Pinto.
The final started as expected – both teams were well fortified at the back, the Portuguese were sharper and more technical, but German defense did not let them come into the penalty area. The Germans pressed hard and their approach was to try lure FC Porto going ahead, but going into attacks as well.
The German pressure kind of worked at first, at least to the eye – they seemed more active and dangerous, they seemingly controlled the game. FC Porto, as expected, preferred counter-attacks and they were more creative and pleasant than the repetitious German runs on the wings ending with long high balls in hope to find the head of Dieter Hoeness, but German defenders always killed Portuguese attacks well before approaching the penalty area, which forced the Portuguese to try long shots at the net – not a big danger for Pfaff.
Beating the Germans was difficult task, bordering to the impossible: they were always too many of them around and Futre was able to beat one or two, but not the third coming. And as usual the Germans hacked as a matter of business – Futre was the prime receiver of hard kicks, which, again as usual, were not bookable.
At least in the first 20 minutes Bayern appeared more dangerous – not particularly effective, but persistent, so may be once they could beat the Portuguese defense and it will be all over. And they succeeded in most bizarre manner: a weird decision by the referee, later much criticized (Jorge said after the game that the referee created a new rule, but failed to inform the teams of it), led to the ball bouncing from the head of Portuguese defender to the head of Kogl and from there in the net. 1-0 Bayern, game over…in the 24th minute.
And eventually they did in the 78th minute, when Madjer equalized.
It was a goal well remembered – a cheeky back heel, daring and beautiful, which was something like triumph pf football over 1980s robotics. A reminder there was beauty in this sport, something instantly justifying the risk of watching the final. It was also extremely risky, in a sense, a matter of life and death – if Madjer did not score for whatever reason, it was really over. For all attacks and domination in the second half, FC Porto had little scoring opportunities. Missing this one would have been surely demoralizing. Scoring it in such manner, however, demoralized Bayern – FC Porto pushed again, Bayern cracked and two minutes later substitute Juary scored second goal.
This was different goal – powerful, confident, a show of skillful strength. Not a rare beauty like Madjer’s, but ‘manly’ goal – it was the final blow, Germans were killed by mightier team. Stronger team. Heavier team. The last ten minutes Bayern had no friends – apart from their fans, practically everybody else cheered for FC Porto. Not that much for the team as such, but for the victory of football over mechanic dullness. It was great to see German machine down at last.
And it was great to see FC Porto with the European Champions Cup! It is great to look at the winners even now, for it was an end of Artur Jorge’s era – he coached the team from 1984 to 1987 and this Cup was his final and highest success. With him FC Porto won the Portuguese championship twice, the Portuguese Supercup twice, and finally – the European Champions Cup. This was the second time FC Porto reached European final, but they lost to Juventus the 1984 Cup Winners Cup final.
To almost universal relief, Bayern lost the final. There was little to say in their favour – Udo Lattek had nothing at all. He was even unusually critical, unleashing uncharacteristic anger: ‘I can only congratulate myself for leaving this club’, he said after the final, ‘That is because I would not have to answer for players who do not follow my instructions, ignore the tactical scheme, and do not bother to play up to their own abilities any more’. He accused the whole team and when pressed by journalists singled out Lothar Matthaus as the biggest disappointment. And most observers supported Lattek – about Matthaus, particularly, it was observed in the past that he underperfoms at key games. Not a leader, but one fading away against strong opponents. That was lack of character, coming with heavy cost. Not a great vintage of Bayern, surely, but lack of character, bending under pressure, and undisciplined attitude was something alarmingly new and dangerous – German football was losing its basic assets. Lack of skills, lack of great players were compensated with discipline, character, and determination – without that, there was nothing left, a crisis.
FC Porto at its finest moment – winning European trophy for the first time. Winning the biggest European trophy! It was the culmination of Artur Jorge’s fine work, but also the fine work of the club, which steadily elevated itself to top of European football – a process started around mid-1970s. Of course, this squad became instant legend for Porto fans, but it is also well remembered elsewhere, largely for the iconic goal scored by Madjer. Beating hateful German football was also endearing to many and for that this vintage is also well remembered. But it was good squad too – plenty of talent, well balanced, and even with enough depth, which is always a sign that the team is not one-time wonder, coming today and gone tomorrow. Of course, as Portuguese club, FC Porto could not have the money to buy superstars, but they did great with what they had: dependable experienced foreigners (Mlynarczyk, Juary, Celso and Madjer), a plethora of local talent and a player already becoming a superstar – Futre. At the back was another great star – Fernando Gomes. He was aging and nearing retirement, but continuity was assured – he was there from the beginning of the building process, there were current top players, and Futre was the future, taking the torch from Gomes. That is how clubs build a dynasty, that is how they become strong internationally and stay that way. FC Porto practically confirmed its place among the top European clubs with this victory – it was successful and going to stay with the best.
The game proved to be tough and far from perfect. Equal, to a point – both teams were fighters in more than good physical condition.
Ajax controlled the game somewhat, although Lokomotive was not really outplayed. Such was the legend of the old great Ajax, that automatically even commentators decided it was not very impressive match – not really true: it was fast game and neither team fell apart, it was interesting match with dramatic moments, but… Mark Barton from UPI wrote that there were only occasional sparks of the great total football of the past and the fans were rather disappointed from what they saw. Of course, journalists and fans would be disappointed if expected to sea performance by Cruijff and company in 1987 – impossibility hurts and makes one blind to what goes on presently.
What was going on was great goal by Marco van Basten in the 21st minute. A spark – to those trapped in the past. In that past the greats did not shine every time, even did not shine a full match sometimes – the current vintage suffered mainly from Arnold Muhren’s injury. The key playmaker of the team was reduced to playing long balls from far back and eventually unable to finish the game.
In the second half Lokomotive increased the tempo and went into aggressive attacks, even fielding the injured Kuhn and Leitzke. Ajax managed to survive the assault and had chances for dangerous counter-attacks, coming close to second goal, but Rene Muller made a good save. May be the game was not great, but it was dramatic and entertaining and the critics apparently forgot that times had changed: the great Ajax played entirely new kind of football, which nobody else played and its supremacy came largely from that difference. Now everybody was playing total football, the element of surprise was no longer there, there was no obvious advantage taming the opposition. The new Ajax faced opponents practicing the same approach. No more goals were scored to the end – and if one would be still grumbling that these new boys barely win, let remind him that the legends at their peak barely won over Juventus 1-0 in 1973.
And for the first since 1973 lifted European cup.
And once again there was victorious run of guys in white and red with cup in their hands.
1. FC Lokomotive (Leipzig) apparently reached their maximum – losing Cup Winners Cup finalists. After the game their coach was not very upset – perhaps he assessed reality well: having his key players injured was too much. He was eventually fielded both Kuhn and Leitzke, but it a desperate act and going into all-attack storm in the second half was major risk, also taken out of desperation. Ajax had slightly better argument and won.
The winners were still criticized and a bit downplayed, but that was largely because they were young squad – a few years later it would be unthinkable to say they were not great: who was not great? Van Basten (whose goal at the final may be convinced Milan to buy him after the end of this season), Rijkard, Wouters, Winter, Witschge? Not great? The young brooms were already national team players in 1987 – in fact, the whole starting eleven played for Holland in this period. Plus substitute Bergkamp. Plus some not playing at this final… this was the second coming of Ajax, a great generation and team at last, which – just like in the early 70s – was not afraid of selling a player or two, for there was more to come. Ajax finally had its second great team, well linked with the first one via Cruijff coaching and Arnold Muhren playing. European success came back again, Ajax won its first Cup Winners Cup, adding 4th European trophy to its collection and becoming one the few clubs winning 2 of the 3 European tournaments. The new boys showed character akin to the character the first great team showed when it was a squad full of youngsters prevailing over venerated British squads.
History was repeating itself – Ajax returned to international success with great young team. Instant heroes, instant stars, a new legend stepping on the shoulders of the old one. And somewhat ironically Arnold Muhren became the most successful player of Ajax – he won 4 European cup. The humble substitute once upon a time had 4 trophies – great Cruijff only 3 as a player. And Arnold Muhren would do even better than all of his old illustrious teammates very soon.
It was a battle of practically equal teams,
both teams trying to score, but eventually the hosts prevailed 1-0 – Pettersson scored in the 38th minute.
Such result slightly favoured Dundee.
Final 2nd Leg, Tannadice Park, Dundee, att 20911
IFK Gotteborg was again the first to score – L. Nilsson made it 1-0 in the 20th minute, making Dundee’s task very hard – now they had to score 3 clean goals to win the Cup.
It proved impossible – the Swedes were tough, strong and well organized.
It was difficult to get ahead of them and find scoring opportunity.
The Cup was theirs to enjoy.
Dundee United lost by little, but there is never comfort in losing even bravely. This was the pinnacle of arguably the best period in the history of the club, they climbed up to European final. Eliminating Barcelona – the photo here is actually from that clash in the quarter-finals, before they won 2-1 in Barcelona – was great moment to remember. The team was great – for a club like Dundee United, that is – with Malpas, Narey, and McInally, but it was also a squad matched by the Swedish opponents, no better. No shame in losing… but losing is shameful moment anyway.
IFK Goteborg won the UEFA Cup for a second time. Great success, instantly making them the most successful Swedish club and placing them seriously on the European map. To a point, the the draws were relatively favourable to them this season, but one cannot argue it was just a lucky team.
Like Dundee United, IFK Goteborg enjoyed the best period in their history. To compare their first win in 1982 to this one is unpleasant task – true, in 1982 they overcome Hamburger SV, which was one the best teams in the world at the moment and it was a sensation. Now it was overcoming pretty much equal opponent, not as strong as Hamburger SV had been. It was not a sensation. But the squad in 1982 was also slightly stronger – it was up and coming team and coach, full of talent and hungry for success. Now it was a bit lesser team – some players already left for big money in the big European leagues. Sven-Goran Eriksson was no longer coaching them either. But success kept them running, the team was already experienced, there were plenty of players who won in 1982, Glen Hysen was international star and Lennart Johansson was worthy replacement of Sven-Goran Eriksson. One can say this was slightly weaker squad, compared to the one of 1982 only retrospectively and conveniently omitting the fact that in 1982 those ‘stars’ were unknowns, who made their names with the sensational victory over Hamburger SV. Now there were other players, who were becoming stars, helped by experienced guys, who already tasted success – no sensations, but rather winning as a matter of course.
It is surely a squad deserving one more look – twice UEFA Cup winners, managing to stay on top against the Swedish predicament of losing top players to big foreign leagues, the most successful Swedish team, and, regretfully, also the last time not only they, but Swedish football in general, won European trophy.
Napoli and Maradona took the Cup, all smiles of course.
No luck… Atalanta was the poorer finalist. What a bitter disappointment – losing the Cup and relegated to the Second Division. Objectively: they had no argument – Napoli in top form, led by Maradona. Too tough for miracles.
Napoli won its 3rd Cup, which was great. They practically sealed the victory in the first leg at home, but ended in style by winning the second leg in Bergamo and receiving the Cup as true winners.
What a season – not only one trophy, but two! First title and first double – nothing speaks better for a team on its peak. Maradona is one thing, but one can argue that this season really put Napoli on the map: players like Ferrara, De Napoli, Bagni and even well established Carnevale and Giordano were elevated from relative obscurity to true stardom. It was no longer a club having Maradona for a show, but a winning club. It was also important for Maradona too – the doubts that he was not a winner finally perished. The great success perhaps made Napoli’s administration more serious about the team – it was still quite short. Depending on Maradona was not enough – especially in Italy was not enough – so strong additions were a must. That plus trying to keep the strong current players in the tam, for the Northern big clubs always had more money to buy whoever they wished and now Napoli had a few guys wetting the Northern appetites. There was a lot of work to be done… but for the moment it was fantastic.
Udinese – last with 15 points and relegated. A team having Edinho, Bertoni, Graziani going down? Well, their fate was sealed in advance – they were penalized with 9 points deduction and could not overcome such handicap no matter what.
Atalanta – 15th with 21 points and relegated. A bit strange, for they almost finished the season with a trophy.
Brescia – 14th with 22 points and relegated, despite having been sponsored by ‘the best Italian beer’ makers. Well, at least nothing surprising in their relegation – Brescia was the usual candidate.
Empoli survived by a point – 13th with 23 points. Scored the least goals in the championship: only 13, very low even by Italian standards.
Ascoli – another lucky survivor: 12th with 24 points.
Torino – steadily going down… 11th with 26 points.
Fiorentina – 10th with 26 points. Let say Antognoni aged and leave it at that.
Como – 9th with 26 points.
Avellino – 8th with 30 points. Very good for a modest club like them.
Roma – 7th with 33 points.
Sampdoria – climbing up: 6th with 35 points. However, unlucky – if goal-difference mattered, they would have been 5th. But they and Milan finished with equal points and a decisive play-off was staged for the last Italian spot in the UEFA Cup. Sampdoria lost it 0-1…
Milan – 5th with 35 points, thanks to the play-off 1-0 win over Sampdoria. On the road to recovery after the turbulent years following their disgrace and consequent penalty. Perhaps clinching the UEFA Cup spot was most important point at that moment: the club needed confidence.
Hellas Verona – 4th with 36 points. Nobody expected them to build a dynasty, but the team was still running high after winning the title.
Inter – 3rd with 38 points. A title contender – or should have been – but… nothing.
Juventus – 2nd with 39 points. Came ahead of Inter, could not catch Napoli… perhaps something little was missing at the moment. Too bad they did not won – it was the last season of Michel Platini.
Napoli had splendid season and triumphed on top of the table with 42 points from 15 wins, 12 ties, and 3 losses. 41-21 goal-difference. As numbers go, hardly the most impressive record: shared most wins in the season with Inter, but Inter finished with best defensive record and Juventus outscored the champions. Napoli had only the least lost games this season, which speaks more of defensive abilities than for their strikers – one expects the opposite from a team led by Maradona. Then again, we are speaking about Italian football – tough, rough, giving no quarter and not an inch: Napoli prevailed in that and quite heroically, for even with Maradona, the squad was inferior to the teams of Juventus and Inter. So much for numbers. The rest was grand: Napoli won the Italian title for the first time – making the team instant legends. Maradona finally won a title in Europe and that after winning the World Cup – it was somewhat more difficult to win the scudetto than the World Cup. In a nut shell – purely magical moment to be remembered forever.
Cagliari – last and out with 32 points. If they did not have 5 points deducted, they would have been safe.
Catania – 19th with 32 points and relegated.
Lanerossi Vicenza – 18th with 32 points and relegated.
Campobasso – 17th with 33 points. As one of the three teams with 33 points, they went to the relegation play-offs – there they finished last and were relegated.
Taranto – 16th with 33 points. Finished 1st in the relegation play-offs and were good for another season.
Sambenettese – 14th with 34 points.
Modena – 13th with 35 points.
Arezzo – 12th with 35 points.
Triestina – 11th with 35 points. They had 4 points deducted, though.
Bologna – 10th with 36 points. Pretty much in danger of relegation too, but all was fine at the end.
Bari – 9th with 39 points.
Messina – 8th with 40 points.
Parma – 7th with 40 points.
Genoa – 6th with 42 points. Lost the race for promotion by small margin.
Cremonese – 5th with 43 points. As one of the teams with 43 points, they went to promotion play-offs, finished last the stayed in second division.
Lecce – 4th with 43 points, but they won the promotion play-offs only on better goal-difference… ,thus, won nothing yet – another play-off was stage and they lost it to Cesena 1-2. No promotion…
Cesena – 3rd with 43 points. Finished 2nd in the promotion play-offs, but since the points were equal, one more match was staged and this time they prevailed over Lecce 2-1 and got promoted.
Pisa – 2nd with 44 points. Clinched second place with one-point more than the competition, but lost the championship title in most curious way: since even the goal-difference between them and the champions was exactly the same, they were placed second for either scoring less goals (one less, to be exact), or had worse head-to-head record. But all that hardly mattered – Pisa clinched direct promotion: that was most important.
Pescara won the championship by the smallest possible margin: equal points, equal goal-difference with Pisa, 44 points each. Anyhow, the points came from 16 wins, 12 ties and 10 losses – Pisa had exactly the same record. Goal-difference was also the same: 43-33 Pescara, 42-32 Pisa. It may have been this one more goal they scored then Pisa, but it was hard battle against 7 other teams, which were unfortunate to finish with slightly less points. Still, the most important thing was Pescara earned direct promotion. Winning the championship did not hurt either, however lucky winning it was.
Sorrento – last with 21 points and out.
Siena – 17th with 24 points and relegated.
Benevento – 16th with 28 points and relegated.
Martina – 15th with 28 points. Relegated.
Salernitana – 14th with 31 points.
Licata – 13th with 31 points.
Livorno – 12th with 32 points.
Brindisi – 11th with 33 points.
Nocerina – 10th with 33 points.
Teramo – 9th with 35 points.
Foggia – 8th with 35 points.
Reggina – 7th with 36 points.
Campania Puteolana – 6th with 36 points.
Monopoli – 5th with 37 points.
Cosenza – 4th with 38 points.
Casertana – 3rd with 40 points.
Barletta – 2nd with 44 points and promoted to Second Division.
Catanzaro – won the championship with 45 points. 18 wins, 9 ties, 7 losses, 46-24 goal-difference. Promoted to Second Division.
Legnano – last with 17 points and relegated.
R.M. Firenze -17th with 27 points and relegated.
Carrarese – 16th with 27 points and relegated.
Mantova – 15th with 29 points and relegated.
Lucchese – 14th with 30 points.
Ancona – 13th with 30 points.
Spezia – 12th with 31 points.
Virescit – 11th with 32 points.
Trento – 10th with 33 points.
Prato – 9th with 33 points.
Rimini – 8th with 34 points.
Fano – 7th with 35 points.
Centese – 6th with 35 points.
Monza – 5th with 36 points.
SPAL – 4th with 39 points.
Reggiana – 3rd with 43 points.
Padova – 2nd with 49 points and promoted.
Piacenza – won the championship with 52 points. 22 wins, 8 ties, 4 losses, 55-28 goal-difference. Promoted to Second Division.