Montreal ’76 : East Germany v France

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East Germany goalkeeper JUERGEN CROY of FC Sachsenring Zwickau, who was officially honored as the very best footballer the country had ever produced during the celebrations which coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik in 1989, started off the football tournament at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Canada by posting three consecutive clean sheets between the sticks.
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EAST GERMANY and FRANCE were now familiar foes having met twice in the attempt to qualify for the 1976 UEFA European Championships. The two nations had previously drawn 2-2 in Paris after the French rallied for two goals in the final eleven minutes of the match in November of 1974 before the East Germans prevailed 2-1 in Leipzig eleven months later although both countries, in the end, finished behind the group winners from Belgium. The quarterfinal match in front of 20,083 spectators at Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park in the summer of 1976, however, offered the winner the right to move into the Olympic medal round.

The French had shown the inclination to attack effectively in their Group B matches at the Montreal Games. 21-year-old budding star MICHEL PLATINI of AS Nancy, who would go on to register 41 goals in 72 ‘full’ internationals for France, was leading the entire Olympic tournament after the first round with three goals scored while forwards JEAN-MARC SCHAER, a reserve for beaten 1976 European Cup of Champions finalist AS St. Etienne, and LOIC AMISSE of FC Nantes added a pair of strikes each, as well. Helping to hold down the fort at the back was PATRICK BATTISTON of FC Metz, the 19-year-old who, like Platini, would later represent France at three FIFA World Cup final tournaments.

Trainer GEORG BUSCHNER again made only one change to the Deutsche Demokratische Republik Startelf that had downed Spain 1-0 in the final Group A match. 20-year-old GERD WEBER of domestic champion Dynamo Dresden ceded his place on the left side in midfield to his teammate in the East German Oberliga, the 22-year-old HARTMUT SCHADE, who had come on as a second half substitute against the Spanish. Schade, who netted four goals in 22 games for Dynamo Dresden during the title-winning 75/76 campaign, was more of an offensive threat than Weber, who normally turned out on defense for the Saxon club in the domestic league.

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GERD WEBER of SG Dynamo Dresden
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The more experienced East Germans, fielding seven from their 1974 FIFA World Cup squad in the Startelf against France in the Canadian capital city, took the lead less than a half hour into the quarterfinal. 31-year-old winger WOLFRAM LOEWE of FC Lokomotive Leipzig, tied for thirteenth all-time with 12 strikes for the senior national side of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, scored the only goal the D.D.R. would actually need at Lansdowne Park. This because, yet again at these ’76 Summer Games, the defensive wall of East Germany backstopped by JUERGEN CROY of FC Sachsenring Zwickau was proving itself impossible to penetrate.

Whatever medal round hopes France, who had ruled Canada as a colony a few hundred years previously, may have held were effectively killed shortly before the hour when two French midfielders, JEAN FERNANDEZ of Olympique Marseille and FRANCISCO “Paco” RUBIO of AS NANCY were both handed their marching orders after a penalty kick had been awarded by Italian referee ALBERTO MICHELOTTI. East Germany captain and sweeper HANS-JUERGEN DOERNER of Dynamo Dresden, who had shot the D.D.R.’s only goal of the first round at the Montreal Games, had no trouble from the spot in the 60th minute to compound French misery.

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The attempt from East Germany winger WOLFRAM LOEWE of FC Lokomotive Leipzig eludes both the outstretched hand of Argentina goalkeeper UBALDO FILLOL (12) of CA River Plate as well as the actual net, itself, during the 1974 FIFA World Cup second round, Group A match at the Parkstadion in Gelsenkirchen, West Germany.
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Doerner added his third goal of the tournament at the 1976 Summer Olympics and extended the East German lead in the quarterfinal to three by successfully depositing still another spot kick past hapless 30-year-old France goalkeeper JEAN-CLAUDE LARRIEU of AS Cannes in the 68th minute. At this point, the D.D.R. trainer Buschner surveyed his bench and introduced youthful striker HANS-JUERGEN RIEDIGER of Dynamo Berlin in place of World Cup veteran MARTIN HOFFMANN of FC Magdeburg. The 21-year-old Riediger, who had registered two goals for East Germany in the Olympic qualification matches, responded with his only tally at the Montreal Games proper in the 77th minute opposite the French at Lansdowne Park.

In a classy move, Buschner sent on back-up goalkeeper HANS-ULRICH GRAPENTHIN of FC Carl Zeiss Jena for the final ten minutes of the one-sided Olympic quarterfinal contest with France. The East German trainer obviously had the immediate future concerning the ’76 Summer Games in mind when making this decision. The rules as set by the International Olympic Committee stated that only players who had appeared in a tournament match would be eligible to be awarded an a medal at the conclusion of the Montreal Games.

The heavy 4-0 defeat by East Germany over France in the quarterfinal at Ottawa was, no doubt, received warmly by the powers that be at the highest levels of government in the old Deutsche Demokratische Republik. This set the stage for a showdown with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, who, of course, had in excess of 400,000 troops still permanetly stationed in the D.D.R. behind the notorious Iron Curtain at this point in time. A return meeting of the Bronze Medal Match at the 1972 Munich Games in West Germany, then — a 2-2 draw that had resulted in the Olympic medals being shared.

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HANS-JUERGEN DOERNER of Dynamo Dresden, the 25-year-old standout Spielfuehrer and sweeper for East Germany who went by the nickname of “Dixie”, scored two important goals from the penalty spot in the Olympic quarterfinal match at Lansdowne Park as the Deutsche Demokratische Republik easily dispatched France in the Canadian capital city to advance to the medal round at the 1976 Summer Games.

Montreal ’76 : Games of Group A

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The national select side of tournament-winning BRAZIL line-up prior to the start of a match at the 1975 Pan-American Games hosted by Mexico :

Left to right, ’76 Olympians with club listed — TECAO (FC Sao Paulo), CARLOS (AA Ponte Preta), ROSEMIRO (SE Palmeiras), CARLINHOS, TIQUINHO, MARCELO, CLAUDIO ADAO, ALBERTO LEGUELE (EC Bahia), BATISTA (SC Internacional Porto Alegre) and EDINHO (FC Fluminese)
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BRAZIL and EAST GERMANY, who had met in Hanover to start the second round at the 1974 FIFA World Cup in West Germany, would face one another again at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium to kick things off iin Group A of the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Canada.

The Brazilians had triumphed on the strength of a Rivelino free kick two years previously but all of their World Cup players were, of course, ineligible at the Olympics. The East Germans, on the other hand, fielded six players in their Startelf at Varsity Stadium who had also competed against always-skillful Brazil in the Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Three of those veterans — LOTHAR KURBJUWEIT and KONRAD WEISE of FC Carl Zeiss Jena along with GERD KISCHE of FC Hansa Rostock — comprised a solid backline for the Deutsche Demokratische Republik while JUERGEN CROY of FC Sachsenring Zwickau provided world-class goalkeeping between the sticks.

The youthful South Americans had a quality defense, too, anchored by both the would-be captain and first choice for Brazil’s 1986 World Cup side, 21-year-old defender EDINHO of FC Fluminese and 20-year-old goalkeeper CARLOS of AA Ponte Preta. Neither FC Magdeburg attacker MARTIN HOFFMANN, who headed a goal against Chile at the 1974 Weltmeisterschaft, nor 21-year-old HANS-JUERGEN RIEDIGER of FC Dynamo Berlin would be able to bulge the back of the net. And so the two sides ground out a 0-0 draw in Toronto.

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CHICO FRAGA of SC Internacional Porto Alegre
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Brazil next encountered Spain at the newly-constructed Olympic Stadium in Montreal. A sizeable crowd of 30,693 turned out to see diminutive 22-year-old right back ROSEMIRO of SE Palmeiras score the Brazilians’ first goal of the competition just seven minutes in. But the Spanish struck back just seven minutes later with a goal from 23-year-old forward SANTIAGO IDIGORAS of Real Sociedad, who later picked up a solitary cap against Ireland in 1977 and then returned to North America to spend the 1981/82 season with FC Puebla in Mexico. Less than two minutes after the restart, however, left back CHICO FRAGO of Internacional Porto Alegre beat Spain goalkeeper LUIS ARCONADA of Real Sociedad from the penalty spot to give Brazil the lead permanently.

This left Spain, who had eliminated West Germany in the first round of Olympic qualification, in a must-win situation facing East Germany in the final match of the first round in Group A. The East Germans would clinch a quarterfinal spot with a tie but could win the group outright with a victory by two or more goals. All this in mind, D.D.R. trainer GEORG BUSCHNER made one change to the Startelf by dropping Riediger in favor of Hoffmann, the World Cup veteran who had come on late in the second half against Brazil for the Dynamo Berlin striker.

Spain never did find a way to breach the formidable East German defensive wall as Croy and company put together back-to-back shutouts on the Olympic stage. 25-year-old HANS-JUERGEN DOERNER, the Dynamo Dresden defender who had taken over the Libero (sweeper) position for the national team and would go on to become the second-most capped player in the history of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, scored the only goal of the game in the first minute of the second half to give the D.D.R. victory at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal but by the minimum 1-0 result. And so it was Brazil, the three-time FIFA World Cup champion who had never before won an Olympic medal of any sort, that finished in first place for Group A at the ’76 Summer Games.

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Attack-minded sweeper HANS-JUERGEN DOERNER of SG Dynamo Dresden, who helped his club win five Oberliga titles in the 1970s and was named East German Footballer of the Year in 1977, 1984 as well as 1985, made 96 ‘full’ international appearances and scored six goals for the Deutsche Demokratische Republik over the course of his distinguished career.
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1976 Summer Olympic Games
First Round, Group A

7/18 … 21,643 … Varsity Stadium, Toronto ……… Brazil 0 – East Germany 0
7/20 … 30,693 … Olympic Stadium, Montreal ….. Brazil 2 – Spain 1
7/22 … 26,204 … Olympic Stadium, Montreal ….. East Germany 1 – Spain 0

German Football At The Olympics : D.D.R. Overhauls Attack

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West Germany midfielder BERND CULLMANN (8) of 1.FC Koeln and defender BERTI VOGTS (2) of Borussia Moenchengladbach can do nothing as East Germany forward JUERGEN SPARWASSER (14) of FC Magdeburg is about to strike for the only goal of the game in the 77th minute of the historic and memorable match at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg during the 1974 FIFA World Cup final tournament.
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Heading forth into the football competition of the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal, East German football had been suffering from something of a monster, two-year hangover ever since JUERGEN SPARWASSER scored the most famous goal in the history of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg.

In a cruel twist of football fate, the D.D.R.’s first round, upset victory over the eventual 1974 World Cup titlist from the Bundesrepublik Deutschland only ‘won’ the East Germans the honor of encountering mighty Brazil, the reigning World Cup champion, the skillful side of the Netherlands, beaten Finalsts at both the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups, as well as Argentina, the would-be winners of the 1978 World Cup, in the second round whereas the West Germans, in direct contrast, drew the far-less-demanding schedule of Poland, Sweden and Yugoslavia in the other group.

Things deteriorated rapidly from there on out as East Germany opened its 1976 UEFA European Championships qualifying campaign with a shock 1-1 stalemate with the genuine amateurs of Iceland at home in Magdeburg in October of 1974. Following two more ties with France and Belgium, respectively, the East Germans actually lost 2-1 in Reykjavik and were left completely embarrassed in early June of 1975. Consecutive victories against the French and the Belgian group leaders ensued, but it was too little, too late as the D.D.R. were eliminated by a single point in the standings.

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JOACHIM STREICH, who starred for FC Hansa Rostock until a transfer in the summer of 1975, scored six goals in seven contests to lead co-bronze medalist East Germany at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and is easily the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik having shot 53 goals in 98 ‘full’ international matches.
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D.D.R. national team trainer GEORG BUSCHNER had already been using the Olympic qualification programme as an opportunity to prepare for the future even before the Reykjavik debacle. 21-year-old striker HANS-JUERGEN RIEDIGER of Dynamo Berlin started every Olympic qualifier save one and tied for tops on the D.D.R. Olympische Auswahl with two goals, as well. Although, obviously, someone had to make way.

The 28-year-old Sparwasser, who finished tied for fourth in the Oberliga with 13 goals for the 1975-76 domestic campaign, was deployed by East Germany but once in the Olympic qualifiers. His club teammate who also counted a baker’s dozen strikes for FC Magdeburg during the 75/76 season, lethal 25-year-old JOACHIM STREICH, sat out the last three qualifiers. The tandem of Sparwasser and Streich — far and away the all-time leading scorer in the history of the East German national team — had combined to record eleven goals, exactly half the team total, for the co-bronze medalists at the Munich Summer Games in 1972.

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20-year-old HANS-JUERGEN RIEDIEGER of FC Dynamo Berlin, who made his senior international debut against Bulgaria in late March of 1976 and went on to collect 39 caps and score six goals for the Deutsche Demokratsiche Republik, broke out and scored 18 goals to finish third on the Oberliga scoring chart for the 1975-76 season.
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The two veteran FC Magdeburg attackers would be left off the 17-strong East Germany Olympic squad traveling to Montreal in the summer of 1976, however. Highly-experienced EBERHARD VOGEL, the second-leading scorer in the Oberliga with 19 goals on the 75/76 season for FC Carl Zeiss Jena, was another who did not make the final cut. The 33-year-old winger, second on the all-time chart with 24 goals in ‘full’ internationals for the D.D.R., had started four of the six Olympic qualifiers and netted twice in the two opening round matches opposite Greece.

There was no place for the 1976 Oberliga Torjaegermeister who grabbed 24 goals over the course of the 26-game Oberliga season for domestic champion Dynamo Dresden, either. HANS-JUERGEN KREISCHE, the soon-to-be 29-year-old veteran of the 1972 Olympics and 1974 World Cup, was the third-highest scorer ever for the D.D.R. having totaled 22 goals on his 46 ‘full’ international appearances. Kreische’s days in the national team were actually done but two of his Oberliga colleagues in Dresden did find a place, if surprisingly, on the final Olympic team.

As it was, the one and only attacker to appear for East Germany at the Montreal Games who had been a member of the 1974 World Cup squad was 21-year-old MARTIN HOFFMANN of FC Magdeburg.

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East Germany forward MARTIN HOFFMANN of FC Magdeburg, who recorded 62 caps and 15 goals for the senior national side of the D.D.R. over the course of his, heads the ball down past Chile goalkeeper LEOPOLDO VALLEJOS of Club Union Espanola to open the scoring in the 55th minute of the first round, Group 1 match at the Olympiastadion in West Berlin during the 1974 FIFA World Cup final tournament in West Germany.
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Buschner elected to bring to Canada a pair of inexperienced wingers who had scored six and seven goals, respectively, for title-winning Dynamo Dresden during the 75/76 Oberliga season. GERT HEIDLER, who only won his first full cap at the age of 27 against Czechoslovakia in November of 1975, started the last four qualifiers and would feature three times in the Startelf for the D.D.R. at the Summer Olympics. 28-year-old DIETER RIEDEL, who would be chosen a grand total of four times throughout his entire career by the senior national team of East Germany, did not play at all in the Olympic qualifiers.

Three more Dynamo Dresden players would also figure prominently for the East Germans at the Montreal Games. 24-year-old REINHARD HAEFNER, who had been a reserve at the Munich Olympics in 1972 and had not been chosen at all by Buschner for the 1974 World Cup roster, had now assumed a regular place and would ultimately earn a respectable 54 caps for the D.D.R. in his career. The versatile 20-year-old GERD WEBER, who turned out at left back for the Saxon club in the Oberliga, and 21-year-old HARTMUT SCHADE were two other newcomers from the reigning domestic champions in the middle of the park for East Germany.

Haeffner, Hoffmann and Schade would all step up to score huge goals for the Deutsche Demokratische Republik at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal as the matter would unfold.

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DIETER RIEDEL of SG Dynamo Dresden was already 26 when first capped by the senior national team of East Germany for the international friendly match against Czechoslovakia at the former Rudolf Harbig Stadion in Dresden in late March of 1974 and would make but one substitute appearance opposite Brazil in the D.D.R.’s scoreless 1976 Olympic opener at Varsity Stadium in Toronto.

German Football At The Olympics : The Party Is Pleased

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The Olympische Auswahl of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik stand at attention for the national anthem prior to the Olympic qualifier with Austria at the Georgij Dimitroff Stadion in Erfurt on October 29, 1975.

left to right — Joachim STREICH (FC Magdeburg), Konrad WEISE (FC Carl Zeiss Jena), Reinhard HAEFNER (Dynamo Dresden), Peter DUCKE (FC Carl Zeiss Jena), Hans-Juergen RIEDIGER (Dynamo Berlin), Joachim FRITSCHE (FC Lokomotive Leipzig), Eberhard VOGEL (FC Carl Zeiss Jena), Gerd WEBER (Dynamo Dresden), Hartmut SCHADE (Dynamo Dresden), Juergen CROY (FC Sachsenring Zwickau), captain Hans-Juergen DOERNER (Dynamo Dresden)

East Germany defeated Austria 1-0 on the strength of a goal by the all-time leading scorer in the history of the D.D.R. national team, JOACHIM STREICH; the sign in the background at the re-named Steigerwaldstadion originally opened in May of 1931 simply states, “Hohe sportliche Leistungen zur Staerkung der DDR” — High sporting achievements for the stabilization of the GDR.
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In the end, a goalless draw against a pre-occupied opponent in a stadium less than half full was enough to get defending Olympic bronze medalist EAST GERMANY to the final tournament of the football competition of the 1976 Summer Games to be held Montreal, Canada.

The national side of World Cup trainer GEORG BUSCHNER certainly got off to a slow start in the first round knockout tie with Greece. 32-year-old veteran forward EBERHARD VOGEL of FC Carl Zeiss Jena, who earned a bronze medal for the German Democratic Republic at both the 1964 Games in Tokyo and the 1972 Games in Munich, was able to account for the only goal of the first leg in Athens before adding another in the return encounter at Erfurt. Two more medalists from Munich who also won the 1974 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup with FC Magdeburg, midfielder JUERGEN POMMERENKE and defender MANFRED ZAPF, as well as 19-year-old forward HANS-JUERGEN RIEDIGER of Dynamo Berlin also managed goals for the Deutsche Demokratische Republik in the second leg as the Greeks were dispatched 5-0 on aggregate.

The final Olympic qualification group which included the East Germans, Czechoslovakia and Austria would not be decided until the very last match itself. Whereas the D.D.R. had collected full points in each of their two contests with the Austrians, the Czechoslovaks had dropped a point with a draw in Vienna and, therefore, needed to win in Leipzig in order to leapfrog over East Germany in the final standings. Thanks to a goal from World Cup defender KONRAD WEISE of FC Carl Zeiss Jena, the G.D.R. had forged a 1-1 result against neighboring Czechoslovakia in Prague previously in late November of 1975.

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East Germany’s formidable 1974 World Cup goalkeeper JUERGEN CROY of FC Sachsenring Zwickau conceded just one goal in six qualification matches to help the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, the joint bronze medalists from the 1972 Olympics at Munich, reach the final tournament of the football competiton at the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal, Canada.
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Historically speaking, the East Germans typically used the occasion of Olympic qualifiers to give some of the countries’ cities with smaller stadiums, such as Erfurt or Rostock, the opportunity to host an international football match. However, for the pivotal group game opposite the Czechoslovaks to be played in early April of 1976, the Deutscher Fussball Verband decided to stage the affair at the official national sports arena, the massive Zentralstadion (capable of holding more than 100,000 spectators) in Leipzig. It should be remembered that, in the eyes of those at the very highest level of government in the old D.D.R., athletic success specifically attained at the Olympic Games, itself, was considered to be the ultimate achievement.

Czechoslovakia, meanwhile, had won its qualifying group for the 1976 European Championships but had still yet to face the beaten finalist from four years earlier, the Soviet Union, in either leg of the quarterfinals; the East Germans, by direct comparison, had already been knocked out of the tournament and could afford to focus full attention on the Olympics scheduled for Montreal.

Considering the facts in the favor of the German Democratic Republic that a tie would, indeed, do the trick and also the experienced JUERGEN CROY of FC Sachsenring Zwickau was to be found standing between the sticks in front of the 45,000 who turned out in Leipzig, the 0-0 result was something that should have been much less than shocking.

Wir Sind Ein Mannschaft

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June 22, 1974 … the national teams of WEST GERMANY (Bundesrepublik Deutschland – Federal Republic of Germany) and EAST GERMANY (Deutsche Demokratische Republik – German Democratic Republic) line-up just prior to the start of the historic as well as one and only ever All-Deutschland Derby which took place at the old Volksparkstadion in the West German city of Hamburg during the 1974 FIFA World Cup final tournament.
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“Wir sind ein Volk!” — “We are one people!” This was the resounding echo that could be heard throughout the former East Germany in the months leading up to the symbolic fall of the notorious Berlin Wall in the fall of 1989. Less than one year later, the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist as a state having been formally absorbed by the Federal Republic of Germany.

It is, if not very well-known across the globe, the third of October which is now celebrated annually as “Tag der Deutschen Einheit” — Day of German Unity.

With all this in mind, it is interesting to note that aging Bayer Leverkusen midfielder MICHAEL BALLACK, an international stalwart who stands eighth on the all-time list having netted 42 goals for the national team of Germany in his career, would have otherwise been wearing the football kit of the bygone D.D.R. had not history worked out as it did. The same can be said for Bayern Munich midfielder TONI KROOS, the 21-year-old native of Greifswald who scored Germany’s first goal in their last international match this past September with neighboring Poland. These would be, of course, just two examples for the national team in the two decades that have passed since the Mauerfall.

Here at this blog, it has been officially declared “WOCHE DER DEUTSCHEN EINHEIT” — after all, what is normally a celebration of German football, anyway, never needs much but is always more than happy to accept encouragement from the old calendar at every opportunity.

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ZWEI SPIELFUEHRER FUER DEUTSCHLAND — The captains for the two respective teams, East Germany’s BERND BRANSCH of FC Carl Zeiss Jena (left) and West Germany’s FRANZ BECKENBAUER of Bayern Munich, leave the field at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg after the historic All-Deutschland Derby at the 1974 FIFA World Cup final tournament.
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For more here on the one and only senior international match ever staged between the Bundesrepublik Deutschland and the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, please see :

“1974 World Cup : East Germany 1 – West Germany 0″

“Hamburg ’74 : East Germany vs West Germany – Match Facts / Highlights”

“Q & A : East Germany vs West Germany”

German Football At The Olympics : D.D.R., U.S.S.R. Divide Bronze

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With the Olympic flag centered perfectly in the background, the Startelf for the OLYMPIAAUSWAHL of the DEUTSCHE DEMOKRATISCHE REPUBLIK pose for the traditional team photograph just prior to the Bronze Medal Match of the football tournament for the 1972 Summer Games opposite their Warsaw Pact brethren from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics at the Olympiastadion in Munich, West Germany.

back row (L t R) —— capt B. BRANSCH, H.J. KREISCHE, M. ZAPF, J. SPARWASSER, F. GANZERA, J. POMMERENKE

front (L to R) —— K. WEISE, J. STREICH, J. CROY, P. DUCKE, W. SEGUIN
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The BRONZE MEDAL MATCH at the 1972 MUNICH SUMMER GAMES in West Germany turned out to be a battle for Warsaw Pact bragging rights in the old Eastern Bloc. With a most satisfying result from the perspective of the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschland Politburo, EAST GERMANY had edged their neighbors and Olympic hosts in the final match their second round group. The SOVIET UNION, meanwhile, had secured second place in their bracket with the decisive 4-0 defeat of a Denmark squad featuring future Bundesliga superstar and European Footballer of the Year Alan Simonsen.

The U.S.S.R., who were thought to have had some 400,000 occupation troops permanently stationed in the D.D.R. at that time, struck for two goals inside of the first half hour at the Olympiastadion in Bavaria. Dinamo Tbilisi defender MURTAZ KHURTSILAVA, captain of the Soviet team which fell 3-0 to West Germany in the Final of the 1972 European Cup of Nations three months earlier at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, scored in just the 10th minute of the match. Still 19-year-old Dynamo Kiev striker OLEG BLOKHIN, another future Balon’d Or winner as Europe’s best footballer on display at the Summer Olympics in Munich, shot a second goal for the Soviet Union in the 30th minute.

East Germany, who still had not ever qualified for a FIFA World Cup final tournament, had yet to claim an Olympic medal as its own, either. The third place finish at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games had come under the flag of the International Olympic Committee’s so-called Equipe unifee d’ Allemagne, the “Unified Team of Germany”. An hour remained to the East Germans make a statement of many sorts of West German soil at the Olympiastadion in Munich.

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HANS-JUERGEN KREISCHE of Dynamo Dresden initiated East Germany’s comeback against the U.S.S.R. in the Bronze Medal Match of the 1972 Summer Games at Munich’s Olympiastadion by scoring his fifth goal of the Olympic football tournament in West Germany; Kreische forever ranks third all-time on the chart for the Deutsche Demokratische Republik with 22 goals from 46 full internationals and also added another ten goals from thirteen Olympic qualification and final tournament matches in his career.
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But trainer GEORG BUSCHNER’s troops would not fail what select few citizens of the German Democratic Republic had been allowed by the government to travel west and were among the 80,000 fans in attendace at the brand new Olympiastadion.

Within three minutes of going down a pair, HANS-JUERGEN KREISCHE of Dynamo Dresden halved the deficit from the penalty spot. The equalizer, however, would prove elusive until Buschner, as he had done throughout the entire Olympic tournament in West Germany, looked down his bench at veteran international winger EBERHARD VOGEL of FC Carl Zeiss Jena with time winding down in the second half. Vogel went on in the 75th minute and, within three minutes, scored his third goal of the 1972 Summer Games to draw the East Germans level.

Thirty more minutes tacked onto the end of regulation settled nothing as the score stood deadlocked between the D.D.R. and U.S.S.R. at the Olympiastadion. A coin flip had been used to settle the knockout quarterfinal involving Bulgaria and Israel which had been drawn after extra time four years earlier but that seemed a rather inappropriate method, even for the bumbling I.O.C., to award an actual medal. The penalty kick shootout had still yet to be adopted.

And so it was decided that East Germany and the Soviet Union would each be awarded a set of Olympic bronze medals for the football tournament at the 1972 Summer Games in Munich.

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East Germany left winger EBERHARD VOGEL (15) of FC Carl Zeiss Jena fires the ball just over the outstretched leg of Australia defender DRAGAN “Doug” UTJESENOVIC of FC St. George Saints during the 1974 FIFA World Cup Group One match at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, West Germany; in addition to his 24 goals from 69 full internationals for the D.D.R., the two-time bronze medalist at the Summer Games also counted nine goals from 23 Olympic qualification and final tournament matches from 1964 thru 1976.
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SOVIET UNION
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GK – Evgeny RUDAKOV ————– (Dynamo Kiev : 42 caps)
DF – Yuri ISOTMIN ——————— (CSKA Moscow : 34 caps, 7 go)
DF – Murtaz KHURTSILAVA ——- (Dinamo Tbilisi : 69 caps, 6 go)
DF – Evgeny LOVCHEV —————- (Spartak Moscow : 52 caps, 1 go)
DF – Vladimir KAPLICHNY ———- (CSKA Moscow : 62 caps, 0 go)
MF – Sergei OLSHANKSY ————- (Spartak Moscow : 19 caps, 0 go)
MF – Viktor KOLOTOV —————– (Dynamo Kiev : 55 caps, 22 go)
MF – Oganes ZANAZANYAN ——– (Ararat Yerevan : 6 caps, 1 go)
FW – Vyacheslav SEMENOV ——– (Zorya Voroshilovgrad : 11 caps, 4 go)
FW – Oleg BLOKHIN ——————– (Dynamo Kiev : 112 caps, 42 go)
FW – Gennady YEVRIUZHIKIN — (Dynamo Moscow : 37 caps, 6 go)

subsitutes
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MF – Andrei YAKUBIK —————- (Dynamo Moscow : 2 caps, 0 go)
for Yevriuzhikin – 41st min
MF – Arkady ANDREASYAN ——- (Ararat Yerevan : 12 caps, 1 go)
for Semenov – 68th min

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EAST GERMANY
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GK – Juergen CROY ——————- (FC Sachsenring Zwickau : 86 caps)
DF – Manfred ZAPF ——————- (FC Magdeburg : 16 caps, 0 go)
DF – Frank GANZERA —————- (SG Dynamo Dresden : 13 caps, 0 go)
DF – Konrad WEISE ——————- (FC Carl Zeiss Jena : 78 caps, 1 go)
DF – Bernd BRANSCH —————- (FC Chemie Halle : 64 caps, 3 go)
MF – Hans Juergen KREISCHE — (SG Dynamo Dresden : 46 caps, 22 go)
MF – Juergen POMMERENKE —- (FC Magdeburg : 53 caps, 3 go)
MF – Wolfgang SEGUIN ————- (FC Magdeburg : 19 caps, 0 go)
FW – Peter DUCKE ——————— (FC Carl Zeiss Jena : 63 caps, 15 go)
FW – Joachim STREICH ————- (FC Hansa Rostock : 98 caps, 53 go)
FW – Juergen SPARWASSER —— (FC Magdeburg : 48 caps, 14 go)

substitutes
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DF – Lothar KURBJUWEIT ——– (FC Carl Zeiss Jena : 59 caps, 3 go)
for Ganzera – 20th min
FW – Eberhard VOGEL —————- (FC Carl Zeiss Jena : 69 caps, 24 go)
for Seguin – 75th min

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The spot kick from East Germany forward HANS-JUERGEN KREISCHE is included in this short clip shot by a fan in the stands at the Olympiastadion :

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The OLYMPIASTADION was specifically built to be the centerpiece of the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany. The stadium was officially opened on May 26, 1972, with the international football friendly between the Federal Republic of Germany and the U.S.S.R. which was won handily 4-1 by the hosts. The West Germans and Soviets would meet again a little over three weeks later in the Final of the 1972 European Cup on Nations in Belgium.

German Football At The Olympics : East Meets West In Munich

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East Germany midfielder JUERGEN POMMERENKE of Oberliga outfit FC Magdeburg sails through air after heading the ball downwards in the direction of West Germany goalkeeper HANS-JUERGEN BRADLER (19) of Bundesliga club Vfl Bochum during the all-important Group 1, Second Round Olympic football match in front of a packed house at the Olympiastadion as the 1972 Summer Games from Munich unfolded.
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September 8, 1972 — the 80,000 Zuschauer at the Olympiastadion in Munich provided completely different scenery for a decidedly different occasion from the first of the two so-called “Geisterspiele” at the virtually-empty Walter Ulbricht Stadion in East Berlin almost exactly fourteen years previously as the Olympic football sides for EAST GERMANY and WEST GERMANY take the field for a medal-elimination match at the 1972 Summer Games.

Although it is all but certain that two-time defending Olympic football champion Hungary will defeat Mexico, finish first in their group and, thus, move into the Gold Medal Match there is still much for the Bundesrepublik Deutschland and the Deutsche Demokratische Republik to decide — the winner of this historic, first-ever official all-German affair at the Olympic Games will clinch second place in Group 1 and, therefore, punch a ticket to the Bronze Medal Match.

Given the specifically stated desire of the D.D.R. to defeat their ultimate class enemy in all athletic competition at the Olympics, the opportunity to directly bounce the B.R.D. out of the medal round of the football tournament on home turf at the 1972 Munich Games was really everything the S.E.D. Politburo could have possibly wanted; the West Germans, for their part, were hoping that the individual brilliance of local Bundesliga power Bayern Munich’s 20-year-old superstar midfielder ULI HOENESS might be enough to derail East Germany and its propaganda ministry.

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Following the 1972 Summer Games in Munich, West Germany Olympic forward OTMAR HITZFELD of reigning Swiss champion FC Basel went on to finish the 1972-73 season as the leading goal-scorer in Nationalliga A and later transferred to Swabian side Vfb Stuttgart, then competing in the 2.Bundesliga, to begin the 1975-76 campaign.
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It was the East Germans who benefited from a first boost of morale when JUERGEN POMMERENKE, part of the all-FC Magdeburg midfield selected by trainer GEORG BUSCHNER, got a second chance after his initial effort was blocked and netted in only the twelfth minute. Hoeness did bring the West Germans level just after the half hour mark with a spectacular strike that clearly true international class. The youngster delighted the crowd in Bavaria by exchanging aerial passes with forward OTMAR HITZFELD of Swiss side FC Basel and racing on to lob a leaping, looping volley up and over East Germany’s outstretched goalkeeper, JUERGEN CROY of FC Sachsenring Zwickau.

The blue shirts from the Eastern Bloc retook the advantage shortly after the restart through JOACHIM STREICH, forever East Germany’s all-time leader with 53 goals from 98 full international matches. The 22-year-old FC Hansa Rostock attacker appeared at close range to head home a corner that had been flicked on by still-to-become-famous FC Magdeburg midfielder JUERGEN SPARWASSER in the 53rd minute. Streich’s goal was a team-leading sixth in as many matches at the 1972 Summer Games in Munich.

But, West Germany were not prepared to surrender dreams of Olympic medal glory without a fight. And so the Swiss-based Hitzfeld, the only foreign legionnaire in trainer JUPP DERWALL’s B.R.D. team, arrived at the back post to effectively head a ball from 1.FC Kaiserslautern midfielder HERMANN BITZ past the helpless Croy in the 68th minute. This equalizing goal was Hitzfeld’s fifth of the 1972 Olympic football tournament.

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EBERHARD VOGEL, the former FC Karl Marx Stadt and FC Carl Zeiss Jena forward who was a bronze medalist in football for the “Equipe unifee d’Allemagne (Unified Team of Germany) at the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, forever remains the second all-time leading scorer with 24 goals from 69 full internationals for the national team of East Germany.
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The score now level again, D.D.R. boss Buschner looked down his bench and sent on veteran international EBERHARD VOGEL of FC Carl Zeiss Jena to see what he might do with twenty minutes to go. The 29-year-old winger was, at that time, in fact the only German in football history ever to have earned any kind of Olympic medal at all. The introduction of experienced Vogel, who had come on as a sub three times and scored a goal against Colombia at the 1972 Summer Games prior to the all-Deutschland Duel in Munich, was decisive.

With a little over eight minutes to play in the match, a long ball out of the back by East Germany defender KONRAD WEISE of FC Carl Zeiss Jena was chested down by Pommerenke on the other side of the midfield stripe. The game’s first goal-scorer quickly turned unmolested and sent a precise ball down the right flank into space for the streaking PETER DUCKE, yet another veteran FC Carl Zeiss Jena attacker. The popular but tempermental 30-year-old winger, 1971 Footballer of the Year in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, surveyed the situation and sent over a most inviting cross.

Running free in the center about seven or eight yards out was the completely unmarked Vogel, who rose to meet the ball perfectly and power his header past a hapless Bradler as well as book East Germany’s place in the Bronze Medal Match.

After the elimination football contest at the Summer Games in Munich, most West Germans were rather philosophical. The Olympics merely confirmed that the D.D.R. would struggle mightily to defeat the very best of the Bundesliga, went the rationale. Of course, Sparwasser and East Germany would have something to say about that two years later at the FIFA World Cup in Hamburg.

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German Football At The Olympics : East Meets West, The Team Sheet

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A photocopy of the actual team sheet showing the different styles of penmanship and filled out to properly list the starting line-ups as well as substitutes available on the bench for the historic Olympic football match featuring EAST GERMANY (D.D.R.) and WEST GERMANY (B.R.D.) at the Olympiastadion in Munich during the 1972 Summer Games.
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EAST GERMANY
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GK —- 1 – Juergen CROY ——————— FC Sachsenring Zwickau
DF —- 3 – Manfred ZAPF ——————— FC Magdeburg
DF —- 4 – Konrad WEISE ——————– FC Carl Zeiss Jena
DF —- 5 – Bernd BRANSCH —————– Chemie Halle
DF — 18 – Frank GANZERA —————– Dynamo Dresden
MF —- 7 – Juergen POMMERENKE —– FC Magdeburg
MF —- 9 – Juergen SPARWASSER ——- FC Magdeburg
MF – 13 – Wolfgang SEGUIN ————— FC Magdeburg
FW – 10 – Hans Juergen KREISCHE —- Dynamo Dresden
FW – 11 – Joachim STREICH ————— FC Hansa Rostock
FW – 14 – Peter DUCKE ———————– FC Carl Zeiss Jena

substitute
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FW – 15 – Eberhard VOGEL —————— FC Carl Zeiss Jena
for Streich (70th min)

Unrestricted as a result of the International Olympic Committee’s willingness to believe in the hoax known in some quarters as ‘Shamateurism’, the Detusche Demokratische Republik fielded perhaps its strongest football team to date at the Summer Games in Munich, West Germany.

The Deutscher Fussball Verband’s Olympia Auswahl in 1972 featured no fewer than four of the five most-capped players in the history of East German international football including FC Sachsenring Zwickau goalkeeper JUERGEN CROY, who would later be singled out as the country’s best ever product during the D.D.R.’s elaborate 40-Year Anniversary celebrations in 1989.

The attack was fortified East Germany all-time leading scorer JOACHIM STREICH, the FC Hansa Rostock striker who fired five goals in five Olympic football matches at the 1972 Summer Games heading into the meeting with West Germany at Munich. Also on hand for the East Germans were veteran FC Carl Zeiss Jena attacker EBERHARD VOGEL, the only member of the squad in Munich who earned a bronze medal with the D.D.R. contingent at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and HANS-JUERGEN KREISCHE of Dynamo Dresden. Vogel and Kreische are the second and third leading Torjaeger, respectively, in the international history of East German football.

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The two contestants already having met on the field at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany star midfielder ULI HOENESS of Bayern Munich looks to dribble by East Germany defender KONRAD WEISE (2) of FC Carl Zeiss Jena, who is fourth on the all-time list with 78 international caps for the D.D.R., during the famous 1974 FIFA World Cup final tournament match in Hamburg — the one and only all-Deutschland duel ever staged at the senior international level.
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WEST GERMANY
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GK — 19 – Hans Juergen BRADLER ———- Vfl Bochum
DF —– 2 – Heiner BALTES ———————– Fortuna Duesseldorf
DF —– 3 – Reiner HOLLMANN —————– Rot Weiss Oberhausen
DF —– 4 – Egon SCHMITT ———————– Kickers Offenbach
DF —– 5 – Friedhelm HAEBERMANN —— Eintracht Braunschweig
MF —- 7 – Hermann BITZ ————————- 1.FC Kaiserslautern
MF – 10 – Uli HOENESS ————————– Bayern Munich
MF – 16 – Juergen KALB ————————– Eintracht Frankfurt
FW —- 9 – Klaus WUNDER ———————- MSV Duisburg
FW – 13 – Bernd NICKEL ————————- Eintracht Frankfurt
FW – 17 – Otmar HITZFELD ——————– FC Basel (Switz)

substitutes
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FW – 11 – Ronald WORN ————————– MSV Duisburg
for Wunder (54th min)
FW —- 8 – Rudi SELIGER ————————– MSV Duisburg
for Hollmann (75th min)

Just three players in the Bundesrepublik Deutschland Startelf opposite the Deutsche Demokratische Republik at the Olympiastadion in Munich ever appeared with the senior national team although attacking midfielder ULI HOENESS of hometown Bayern Munich was already a prominent player in the Nationalelf and had appeared for West Germany in the 3-0 victory over the Soviet Union in the Final of the 1972 European Cup of Nations only a few months prior to the Olympic Games. Still only 20 years old at the time, Hoeness would ultimately win 35 caps and score five goals for the B.R.D. before a serious knee injury sadly changed the course of his career later on. The other two players, BERND NICKEL of Eintracht Frankfurt and KLAUS WUNDER of MSV Duisburg, would later each only ever make one appearance for West Germany.

The two West German substitutes sent on in the all-Deutschland Duel at Munich’s Olympiastadion in 1972 would also eventually be selected for the senior national side but together only accumulated nine matches.

As always was the case, the very best footballers in West Germany were unwelcome at the Olympics as a result of their professional status with Bundesliga clubs. However, the Deutscher Fussball Bund was, naturally, interested in the best possible showing for the football team at the Summer Games on home turf in Munich. And so, in 1971, the eligibility requirements for the amateur national team (who traditionally took care of Olympic football affairs) were relaxed and approved by the I.O.C.

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Exactly one year and one day prior to the big B.R.D. v D.D.R. Derby at the Summer Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany amateur national team members FRIEDHELM HAEBERMANN (Eintracht Braunschweig), EDGAR SCHNEIDER (Bayern Munich) and JUERGEN KALB (Eintracht Frankfurt) stand at attention prior to the 3-1 defeat of Bulgaria.
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Nine players of the eleven players in West Germany’s starting line-up against East Germany spent the 1971-72 season with clubs in the elite first division. Eight of those kickers had appeared in at least 27 of 34 Bundesliga matches for their respective clubs, while the ninth, JUERGEN KALB of Eintracht Frankfurt, collected eight goals in 20 league games that year. The youthful Hoeness scored 13 goals for Bayern Munich during the 71-72 Bundeslga campaign, a figure that was equaled by Nickl, Kalb’s teammate at Eintract Frankfurt, as well.

Leistungssportbeschluss

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GEORG BUSCHNER, the former SC Motor Jena defender who earned six caps for the Deutsche Demokratische Republik between 1954 and 1957, was appointed the new trainer of the national football team one year after the Leistungssportbeschluss was enacted by officials in East Germany in 1969.
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In order to better understand the context and significance of the Olympic football match at the 1972 Summer Games pitting the Detusche Demokratische Republik against the neighboring Bundesrepublik Deutschland, one must bear in mind the statements and actions of the East German government in the years prior to the history-making meeting in Munich.

It had been decided at the very highest level, the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschland Politburo, that athletic success at the Olympic Games would generate irrefutable proof of the superiority with respect to the D.D.R.’s social and political systems as well as enhance the world-wide legitimacy of the state, itself. Of course, East Germany had not even been allowed to send an independent team to the Games by the International Olympic Committee until 1968. From there on out, though, it was a publically-stated policy of the East German government that winning more Olympic medals than the ultimate class enemy, West Germany, was a top priority.

The 1972 Summer Games in Munich provided the D.D.R. with the opportunity to, in its own words, “inflict a home defeat on West German Imperialism.”

But first, three years after Munich had been formally awarded the Games by the I.O.C. in April of 1966, a stunning and sweeping new policy was announced by officials that would radically change the face of East German sport, football included, forever.

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After serving as Chairman of the Staatlichen Komitees fuer Koerperkultur und Sport (State Committee for Physical Culture and Sport) from 1952 until 1960, the then-35-year-old MANFRED EWALD was appointed President of the Deutscher Turn und Sportbund (German Gymnastics and Sports Association) in the following year; in 1963, Ewald became a member of the Central Committee of the S.E.D. — the Politburo — and ten years later was installed as the President of the East German National Olympic Committee.
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The Deutscher Turn und Sportbund, the umbrella organization for all sports in the German Democratic Republic, issued the so-called LEISTUNGSSPORTBESCHLUSS with the full blessing of the ruling Politburo in the spring of 1969. This directive completely re-organized the entire structure of sport nation-wide and classified each and every athletic discipline as either belonging to the “Sport 1″ or “Sport 2″ category. The main criteria used to differentiate between the two, of course, revolved around the Olympic Games — the Sport 1 class was to be exclusive for sports which offered the most Olympic medals and likelihood of winning such for the greater glory of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik.

A premium was placed on individual pursuits such as speed skating, swimming as well as track and field because it was possible for just one single athlete to accumulate multiple medals. This as compared to team sports which required many players to produce just one medal for the overall Olympic standings and often, as in the examples of ice hockey or water polo, also necessitated special equipment / facilities with the accompanying higher operating costs. Not surprisingly given the stated objective of the Leistungssportbeschluss, team sports were specifically targeted.

Those sports not placed into the top tier saw their funding from the state either radically reduced or eliminated entirely. Furthermore, the second-class athletic pursuits would also be denied access to the D.D.R.’s elaborate, well-developed youth sport system and, thus, all of the country’s most promising athletic talent. Worst of all, the decision was final.

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General ERICH MIELKE (left), the long-time head of the notorious Stasi state security organization in the German Democrtic Republic, was well-known to be an avid football fan and served for 36 years as the Chairman of the SPORTVEREINIGUNG DYNAMO, the Dynamo sports club for all security personnel — the everyday police on the street, the border guards, state secret services in addition to the firefighters.
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Football found its way into the elite category, but not necessarily by design. The man credited with being the brains behind the Leistungssportbeschluss, the D.T.S.B. leader MANFRED EWALD, was noted to not be a fan of the game. The fact that football was easily the most popular team sport among the East German citizenry was of no concern whatsoever to Ewald and other bureaucrats behind the scenes.

General ERICH MIELKE, the powerful Minister of State Security with the dreaded Staatssicherheit (“Stasi”) apparatus at his disposal, and a few other influential S.E.D. politicians saw matters differently, however. These patrons were keenly aware of football’s unmatched popularity among the people and understood that the game was a permanent facet of East German culture. And so, appropriate pressure was brought to bear.

GUENTER SCHNEIDER, the former President of the Deutscher Fussball Verband, later stated that the country’s most popular game was officially only ranked “16th or 17th” in the pecking order for the elite sports category. The Leistungssportbeschluss certainly did have its impact on football in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, if not exactly immediately, though. But that would be another story for another day.

German Football At The Olympics : Charade Discontinued

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The OLYMPIAAUSWAHL of the DEUTSCHE DEMOKRATISCHE REPUBLIK line up in front of the relatively-subdued figure of 35,000 Zuschauer at the massive Zentralstadion in Leipzig ahead of the pivotal third round Olympic qualification match with Bulgaria on April 24, 1968.

Left to right — captain Herbert PANKAU (Hansa Rostock), Juergen CROY (BSG Motor Zwickau), Wolfgang WRUCK (FC Union Berlin), Bernd BRANSCH (Chemie Halle), Juergen SPARWASSER (FC Magdeburg), Eberhard VOGEL (FC Karl Marx Stadt), Henning FRENZEL (Lokomotive Leipzig), Dieter ERLER (FC Karl Marx Stadt), Wolfram LOEWE (Lokomotive Leipzig), Otto FRAESSDORF (FC Vorwaerts Berlin) and Peter ROCK (FC Carl Zeiss Jena).
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In October of 1965, several years after the construction of the iconic — to speak nothing of notorious — Berlin Wall in 1961 which literally divided the former capital city, the International Olympic Committee finally accepted reality and discontinued its charade of a ‘unified Germany’. The Bundesrepublik Deutschland and the Deutsche Demokratische Republik would from now on, beginning with the Grenoble Games in the winter of 1968, send two completely separate athletic teams to the Olympics. However, the football tournament at the Summer Games in Mexico that year would, in the end, see no German football team at all.

This despite the fact that the “Equipe unifiee Allemagne” under the stewardship of Hungarian trainer KAROLY SOOS had, on its last-ever appearance at the Olympics, actually claimed the bronze medal for football at the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo.

West Germany, as always, were prohibited from fielding the country’s best players on account of the traditional persona non grata status for all professionals at the Olympics. The amateur national team of the Deutscher Fussball Bund were trained by UDO LATTEK, who would go on to have tremendous success with Bundesliga club Bayern Munich in the next decade, but dropped their Olympic first round opener with Great Britain 0-2 at Augsburg in November of 1967. Although the West Germans won the away leg a fortnight night later, the 1-0 result could not prevent an early exit from the Olympic football stage.

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November 8, 1968 — General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany as well as Chariman of the Council of State of the German Democratic Republic WALTER ULBRICHT (left) and powerful Politburo member ERICH HOENECKER (right), himself a future D.D.R. Head of State, congratulate one another upon receipt of Mexican Sombreros at an official government function in East Berlin to celebrate the noteworthy success of the East German Olympians at the 1968 Summer Games; applauding approvingly is DR. HEINZ SCHOEBEL, the President of the East German Olympic Committee, with RUDI HELLMANN, the Director for the Department of Sport of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party, in the immediate background.
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The German Democratic Republic — who had no such eligibility restrictions as did their western counterparts — completely overwhelmed Greece 10-0 on aggregate in the first round and then saw off Romania in the second with a pair of victories by the minimum scoreline both home and away. Unfortunately for officials of the Deutscher Fussball Verband, though, the East Germans fell at the final Olympic qualifying hurdle to the fellow Warsaw Pact ‘amateur’ footballers of Bulgaria. The D.D.R. could not recover from a heavy 4-1 loss in the first leg at Stara Zagora and went out as the 3-2 triumph at the humongeous Zentralstadion in Leipzig was not enough.

Soos, indeed, did ultimately take a football team to the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City. After East Germany had failed to qualify for the final tournament of the 1968 UEFA European Championships, the D.F.V. had decided to not extend the contract of its Hungarian trainer. And so Soos, whose first match in charge of the D.D.R. national team was the 1-1 World Cup qualifer draw with the Netherlands in May of 1961, left after the second Olympic qualifier with Romania in the December of 1967.

Shortly thereafter, Soo returned to his homeland where he was quickly installed as the new trainer of the national team; Hungary, the reigning Olympic football gold medalists, went on to successfully defend their title at the Mexico City Games.