DISGRACE OF GIJON | GERMANY vs AUSTRIA | 1982 FIFA WORLD CUP

THE DISGRACE OF GIJON

If you are a football fan, then probably you have found yourself in a position where you have to follow two matches at the same time to see if your favourite team qualifies through the group stages in a particular tournament. Being a fan of Germany, in FIFA World Cup 2018, I had to follow both the matches simultaneously during the last day of the group stage: Germany vs South Korea and Sweden vs Mexico. Although it was a big disappointment for me as Germany lost and didn’t qualify through the group stages. But have you ever wondered why the last two matches are always played together and more importantly since when this concept was introduced, because there was a time when the scheduling of the group stages didn’t happen like that. You probably have a fair idea why it happens. It mainly happens because, otherwise sometimes it can provide an unfair advantage to certain teams. Thus, this concept makes sure to preserve the spirit of sportsmanship. The responsible authority of FIFA took appropriate measures to enact this rule after a particular World Cup match. That match completely lacked the spirit of sportsmanship and it is considered as a disgrace in the history of football.

Being a big fan of German Football, I am a bit ashamed about this incident, as one of the teams involved that match was West Germany. The match I am talking about is a group stage match between West Germany and Austria in 1982 FIFA World Cup.

BACKGROUND

The first match of that group was played between West Germany and Algeria. This match was almost like ‘David vs Goliath’. The Algerians were mere underdogs in front of the German giants and it was almost expected by everyone that West Germany will comfortably win the match and that too with a decent margin. But to everyone’s surprise Algeria defeated the Germans 2-1 and everyone was shocked. It was almost a nightmare for the German side and the win boosted the confidence of the Algerian side to a whole new level. From there on Algeria went to lose the next match 2-0, against Austria and won their last match 3-2, against Chile. West Germany after the loss, recovered and won their next match 4-1, against Chile. In the meantime Austria also defeated Chile 1-0. So Chile was eliminated and the last match of the group was to be played between West Germany and Austria.

Before the match started the group table looked something like this, where Chile was eliminated and had no chance of qualifying

TEAMS	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Austria	2	2	0	3	0	+3	4
Algeria	3	2	1	5	5	0	4
West Germany	2	1	1	5	3	+2	2
Chile	3	0	3	3	8	-5	0

         

The top two teams would qualify to the next round. With Chile being eliminated the other teams had the chance of qualifying. More importantly for Algeria to qualify, a draw or a win for Austria was enough. Also a win for West Germany with a goal margin of 3 or more goals would make Algeria qualify. On the other hand a win for West Germany with a margin of less than 3 goals would make both Austria and West Germany qualify.   

The match was supposed to be a hot match as there was a small rivalry between the teams since “The Miracle of Cordoba” – a 1978 FIFA World Cup match. In that that match Austria had beaten the West German side and now both the teams are face to face again. So it was expected both by the Austrian and the German supporters than the match would be a tough one and they would experience a great display of football. On the other hand the Algerian fans were also watching with a hope to see Algeria qualify to the next round.

THE MATCH

A match that was supposed to be a “Hot Match”, turned out to be a boring and a disgusting one. It seemed that the players had mutually agreed on certain terms which would make both the teams qualify, but would make the match a disgrace in the name of football.

After 10 minutes of the start, Horst Hrubesch scored the first goal for West Germany. An early goal in the match made the expectations of the spectators go higher. But after that goal both the teams went on passing the ball and nobody was seemed to be in a rush. It seemed as if the players had signed a ‘Pact of non-aggression’ among themselves and this went on till the end of the first half. The spectators expected some action in the second half but the second half was no better than the first. The same pass and play continued and both the team spent the next 45 minutes simply passing the ball.         

A recent photograph of Horst Hrubesch

The spectators were outraged and it became very clear from the way they reacted. Not only the Algerian supporters but German and Austrian supporters also criticized the way the match was played. The spectators wanted a real match, they wanted some real football action in the field and all they got was a goal in the 10^th minute followed by 80 minutes of endless passing. There were chants in the crowd “Out! Out!” and the famous one “Let them kiss! Let them kiss!” The ‘non aggression’ in the field became so awkward at a point that even the commentators were embarrassed. West German commentator; Eberhard Stanjek, at a certain point of time refused to comment on the match any further. On the other hand an Austrian commentator by the name Robert Seeger, told his audience to turn off their television sets. The Algerian fans were disappointed the most. They expressed their disappointment by waving bank notes towards the players. A German fan was so disappointed that he burnt the nation flag in protest.

AFTERMATH 

This was the group table after the match

TEAMS	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
West Germany	3	2	1	6	3	+3	4
Austria	3	2	1	3	1	+2	4
Algeria	3	2	1	5	5	0	4
Chile	3	0	3	3	8	-5	0

After the match both West Germany and Austria qualified through the group stages. But the fans were highly disappointed with the way the match was played. The West German team was met by outrageous fans in front of their hotel. They threw eggs and other projectiles on the players and heavily criticized them. As I told the German and the Austrian commentators asked their audience to turn off their televisions, in addition to that George Vecsey, a journalist of New York Times stated that it seemed the teams worked in a concert. A local Spanish newspaper EL Comercio printed the match report in their crime section, where the headline stated "Forty thousand people presumably scammed by twenty six Austrians and Germans". Algerian Football lodged an official complaint, but FIFA considered that no specific rules were broken in this case and hence they couldn’t take any action.   

However after that match, the FIFA officials had to do something to avoid similar situations in the future. FIFA soon came up with the concept that the last two matches of the group stage would be played simultaneously. This new rule was immediately implemented and to this day it is followed. Hence, we football fans, sometimes find ourselves in a position where we need to watch or follow both the matches on the last day of the group stage.