The Cup. Stuttgarter Kickers and Hamburger SV reached the final.
The Second Division team started well and opened the result in the 13th minute after a header by Dirk Kurtenbach. But HSV was not to go down – Beiersdorfer equalized after two minutes. The game was decided in the last minutes: Kaltz made it 2-1 HSV in the 88th minute and in the 90th Schlotterbeck scored in his own net, making it 3-1.
Hamburger SV received the Cup.
Would have been great if Stuttgarter Kickers won, but they were the weaker team no matter what. Their best known player was Kazimierz Kmiecik, World Cup bronze medalist with Poland in 1974. Now, although a good new addition to the team after 2 remarkable seasons in Greece, he was too old. Still, reaching the Cup final was one of the best ever achievements of Stuttgarter Kickers. Too bad they were not able to win the trophy.
Hamburger SV won its 3rd Cup. Standing from right: Thomas von Heesen, Uli Stein, Manfred Kaltz, Ditmar Jakobs, Sascha Jusufi, Dietmar Beiersdorfer, Manfred Kastl, Thomas Kroth, Peter Lux, Tobias Homp, Miroslav Okonski.
Clearly, the stronger squad and to a point – a battle of two Polish generations – Kmiecik, representing the great 1974 generation, vs Miroslav Okonski of the current one. Younger feet won. Also, this was successful moment for the son of the Yugoslav great from the 1960s Fahrudin Jusufi – Sascha. And perhaps the last opportunity for aging German stars Kaltz, Stein, and von Heesen to add one more trophy to their achievements.
Great way to say ‘good bye’ – Ernst Happel had great last season with HSV, although his current squad was kind of short and hardly first rate – the stars were getting old and apart from Okonski there was practically no great current talent. Yet, the great coach managed to win the Cup and finish 2nd in the championship with such a team. Excellent!
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