Formerly Confusing Business Of “Full” International

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Deutsche Demokratische Republik goalkeeper JUERGEN CROY (center) of FC Sachsenring Zwickau shakes hands with a counterpart from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics at the conclusion of the Bronze Medal Match of the 1972 Summer Olympic Games; the East Germans and Soviet Union finished level 2-2 after extra time at the Olympiastadion in Munich, West Germany, and ultimately shared the set of bronze medals that year.
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It was all a baffling mystery, really, once upon a time — trying to differentiate between a “full international” and an Olympic football match. The Eastern Bloc had collectively succeeded in making a total joke of the International Olympic Committee’s hallowed principle of Amateurism and, in the process, also made a complete mess of bookeeping over at FIFA Headquarters in Switzerland. For decades, some Olympic qualification and final tournament matches were, in fact, officially recognized by FIFA as full internationals even if the standards for attaining such status oftentimes appeared to vary depending upon, well, probably only God knew what.

In 1999, the governing body of world football announced a major policy shift with respect to their official records regarding the Olympic competition. Quite simply, it was decided that all Olympic matches contested from 1908 up until 1956 would be counted as full international matches by FIFA without exception. And all Olympic matches from 1960 onwards are not to be counted in the sanctioned historical totals.

Obviously, it was the former Warsaw Pact nations that were affected most by the change with the Union of Soviet Social Republics, the 1956 Olympic champion, having sixteen matches altogether removed from their official list of full internationals maintained by FIFA.

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Poland captain KAZIMIREZ DEYNA (left) of army club Legia Warsaw, who had scored an Olympic tournament-topping nine goals while leading his country to the footballing glory at the 1972 Munich Summer Games, wears a genuine look of disbelief as East Germany midfielder HARTMUT SCHADE of police club Dynamo Dresden raises both arms in celebration after scoring in only the seventh minute of the Gold Medal Match at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games hosted by Montreal.
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The ten Olympic qualification / final tournament matches for the old DETUSCHE DEMOKRATISCHE REPUBLIC (German Democratic Republic) that are no longer recognized by FIFA as a “full international” would be :

11/18/1967 …. East Berlin ……. 1-0 ….. Romania
12/06/1967 … Bucharest ……… 1-0 ….. Romania
08/28/1972 … Munich ………… 4-0 ….. Ghana
09/01/1972 … Nuremberg …… 1-2 …… Poland
09/03/1972 … Passau …………. 0-2 …… Hungary
11/19/1975 …. Brno …………….. 1-1 …… Czechoslovakia
04/07/1976 … Leipzig …………. 0-0 ….. Czechoslovakia
07/27/1976 …. Montreal ……… 2-0 ….. Soviet Union
07/31/1976 …. Montreal ……… 3-1 …… Poland

The three D.D.R. national team players affected most, perhaps, by FIFA’s decision to adjust the official tables were goalkeeper JUERGEN CROY as well as defenders BERND BRANSCH and KONRAD WEISE, all of whom had each appeared in eight of the ten East German Olympic football matches that had their ‘full international’ status revoked.

Two others, striker JOACHIM STREICH and sweeper HANS-JUERGEN DOERNER, each saw four full international appearances instantly vanish and were, therefore, summarily tossed out of the mythical ’100 Caps Club’.

Golden Glory For East Germans

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A desperate Poland sweeper WLADYSLAW ZMUDA (left) of Slask Wroclaw can do nothing to prevent Dynamo Dresden midfielder REINHARD HAEFNER from side-footing a third goal for the Deutsche Demokratische Republik in the 84th minute of the football tournament Final for the 1976 Summer Games at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada.
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Perhaps it was the ghosts of the 1974 FIFA World Cup that arranged for the rain to fall on the Polish parade in Canada on the last day of July in 1976. There are some who insist to this day that the title-winning West Germans could have never defeated the skillful Poles on a dry pitch in the semifinal at Frankfurt’s Waldstadion. Or maybe it was the match referee, himself, who brought the wet weather to the Olympic Stadium in Montreal for the Final of the football tournament at the Games of the XXI Olympiad.

Oddly enough, RAMON BARRETO RUIZ had also been in charge of the historic contest at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg back in 1974 when the East Germans knocked off the host nation in the first round at the Weltmeisterschaft. Whatever the case, a steady drizzle persisted as the Uruguayan referee led the two teams out for a long walk on the athletics track ringing the playing surface in front of the 71,617 spectators at the Olympic Stadium. Ready or not, it was now time for powerful POLAND to defend its gold medal title won four years earlier against formidable EAST GERMANY, who had shared the bronze at the Munich Games in 1972.

Now, it was the Poles who were noted for all the attacking prowess entering the Olympic Final in the iconic French-Canadian city. The captain, veteran midfielder KAZIMIERZ DEYNA of Legia Warsaw, had been the top scorer at the 1972 Summer Games while striker GRZEGORZ LATO of Stal Mielec had won the prestigous Golden Boot at the last World Cup. And then there was striker ANDRZEJ SZARMACH of Stal Mielec, who just so happened to be leading the ’76 Olympic football tournament with six goals from Poland’s first four matches at the Montreal Games.

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A distraught Poland captain, midfielder KAZIMIERZ DEYNA of army club Legia Warsaw, can only watch as East Germany midfielder HARTMUT SCHADE (14) of Dynamo Dresden shoots the ball into a wide-open net in only the seventh minute of the Olympic Final at the 1976 Summer Games from Montreal.
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But it was the East Germans trained by GEORG BUSCHNER who burst out of the gate at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal firing on all cylinders before what is still to this day a national record audience to witness a football match in Canada. Barely a minute into the Gold Medal Match, a bad pass out of the back from inexperienced Poland defender HENRYK WIECZOREK of Gornik Zabrze — starting his very first match at the Montreal Games — was intercepted on the right by East Germany midfielder REINHARD LAUCK of Dynamo Berlin, who launched a long shot which went off target but turned out to be a lovely pass for World Cup veteran MARTIN HOFFMANN of FC Magdeburg over on the left. The blast which rebounded sharply off the post with Poland goalkeeper JAN TOMASZEWSKI of LKS Lodz completely beaten served as proper notice for the blitz that was shortly to ensue.

HARTMUT SCHADE, the Dynamo Dresden midfielder who did not start either of East Germany’s first two matches at the Montreal Games, was taken down by Poland midfielder HENRYK KASPERCZAK of Stal Mielec on the left flank in the seventh minute. Hoffmann took the free kick, which was neither controlled — nor cleared — until it ran through the box all the way over to Lauck on the right. The World Cup veteran then beat his defender and drove a low ball across the face of the net that two players in the vicinity, the captain Deyna being one, just could not reach.

Schade, in the meantime, arrived at the back post to easily steer home from close range past the stationary Tomaszewski and score the most monumental goal of his entire career while sending upstart East Germany to a 1-0 lead.

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GEORG BUSCHNER, easily the most successful national football team trainer in the history of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, reflects upon his side’s gold medal success at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal.
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East Germany continued to press and, to the amazement of all at the Olympic Stadium, doubled the score in Montreal a scant seven minutes later after goalkeeper JUERGEN CROY of FC Sachsenring Zwickau came way off his line to gather a long Polish ball intended for Lato at the edge of the area; a simple toss from Croy to Dynamo Dresden midfielder REINHARD HAEFNER initiated, perhaps, the most elegant and eye-pleasing movement of the entire tournament.

Starting in his own third of the field, the 24-year-old Haefner set out on a knifing run right straight through the teeth of the Polish defense before dishing off to Schade on the right. The East German goal-scorer quickly one-timed across to HANS-JUERGEN RIEDIGER on the left before the Dynamo Berlin striker, himself, returned the ball to Haefner in the center with a first touch. Haefner, in turn, immediately found Hoffmann on the left wing to compelte some rather fancy passing football.

Hoffmann proceeded to lash a low, left-footed drive from just inside the top, left hand corner of the penalty box that banked off the base of the very same post the 21-year-old had struck earlier and riccocheted into the back of the net. Once again, Tomaszewski appeared to have his boots anchored to the turf at the Olympic Stadium as Poland fell behind by a pair in only the 14th minute of the Gold Medal Match in Montreal. This one-two East German punch would prove to be devastating for the tournament’s defending champions.

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GERD KISCHE of FC Hansa Rostock
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Whether in an attempt to rally the troops or in a response to the ineffectiveness of the first choice, Poland trainer KAZIMIERZ GORSKI decided to pull Tomaszewski from the Olympic Final. An inglorious exit for the 28-year-old who had been named the best goalkeeper at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, then. And so, onto the biggest stage at the ’76 Summer Games stepped back-up PIOTR MOWLIK, the lightly-experienced 25-year-old for army club Legia Warsaw in only the 19th minute.

Riediger probably should have made it three-nil for East Germany roughly ten minutes after the arrival of Mowlik. The 21-year-old striker, who ended the 75/76 season third in the domestic Oberlia with 18 goals for Dynamo Berlin, accepted a slick pass from Hoffmann at the midfield stripe and raced right down the middle. The blond-haired youngster blew right past the hapless Wieczorek but fired his shot over both the shoulder of the Mowlik as well as the crossbar.

Poland actually had its share of opportunities in the first half, too, but were let down by a combination of poor finishing and the fine form of the competent East German goalkeeper. The prolific Szarmach had two clear chances from inside the penalty arc but failed to find the target each time and Deyna, after losing his marker with a nice move inside the box, mishit his angled shot so badly that a throw-in followed. A little over ten minutes before the halftime whistle, winger KAZIMIERZ KMIECIK of Wislaw Cracow rocketed a low shot from the right side of the net that Croy needed to kick out with his legs.

Shortly after the restart, the East Germans really should have, once more, extended the margin to three after winger WOLFRAM LOEWE of FC Lokomotive Leipzig successfully went around the substitute goalkeeper Mowlik but a sliding Poland right back ANTONI SZYMANOWSKI of Wislaw Cracow was able to clear the ball off the line just in the nick of time.

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GRZEGORZ LATO of Stal Mielec
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Szarmach forced another quality save from Croy just before the closely-marked Lato, who had not managed a single attempt at goal up to this point, was finally able to provide Poland a lifeline. Deyna, who had grabbed both Polish goals in the 2-1 triumph over Hungary in the Final at the 1972 Summer Games, swung over another corner and the leading goal-scorer at the last World Cup headed home to halve the deficit 59 minutes into the Olympic Final in Montreal. Poland was clearly not prepared to relinquish its title without some kind of fight.

Deyna, who finished third in the voting for European Player of the Year in 1974, had two legitimate chances with free kicks but hit the first straight at Croy and skied the second well over the crossbar. Szarmach might have equalized at the Olympic Stadium with a skillful side-volley but was denied by a brilliant save from the stingy East German goalkeeper. However, the Polish attack was already petering out by the time Lato had a last shot swallowed up by Croy, who ended the match with eight saves.

Haefner slammed the door shut for the German Democratic Republic after Schade picked off an errant Polish pass with six minutes remaining in the Olympic Final at Montreal’s newly-opened stadium. A square ball from the game’s first goal-scorer evolved into a 50/50 ball just over the midfield line that Wieczorek lost and so off to the races went Haefner. A smooth, clinical finish ushered in the most glorious (and golden) moment of footballing excellence that the nation of East Germany would ever know.

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The full squad of EAST GERMANY, the gold medalists at the football tournament of the 1976 Summer Games, gleefully accept their just reward on the podium during the official medal ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in the iconic French-Canadian city of Montreal.

Gold Medalists of East Germany

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The Olympic squad plus one of EAST GERMANY pose for a traditional team photograph prior to departure for Canada and the 1976 Summer Games hosted by Montreal :

back row — H. Walther (asst), G. Kische, H.J. Doerner, H.J. Riediger, B. Bransch, W. Groebner, H. Schade, G. Weber, G. Buschner (trainer)

middle row — P. Kotte, M. Hoffmann, J. Croy, H.U. Grapenthin, W. Loewe, K. Weise

front row — D. Riedel, R. Haefner, L. Kurbjuweit, R. Lauck, G. Heidler

The last, unfortunate player to be cut from the squad which went on to capture the Olympic gold medal in football was 21-year-old forward PETER KOTTE of 1975/76 Oberliga champion SG Dynamo Dresden, who ultimately earned 21 caps and scored three goals for the senior national team of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik in his career.
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Gold Medal Match
vs Poland
July 31, 1976

EAST GERMANY
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GK — 1 – Juergen CROY ———————- (FC Sachsenring Zwickau : 86 caps)
LB – 12 – Gerd KISCHE ———————– (FC Hansa Rostock : 59 caps, 0 go)
SW — 3 – Hans Juergen DOERNER —– (SG Dynamo Dresden : 96 caps, 8 go)
CB —- 4 – Konrad WEISE ——————- (FC Carl Zeiss Jena : 78 caps, 1 go)
RB —- 5 – Lothar KURBJUWEIT ——– (FC Carl Zeiss Jena : 59 caps, 3 go)
MF – 14 – Hartmut SCHADE ————— (SG Dynamo Dresden : 28 caps, 4 go)
MF —- 8 – Reinhard HAEFNER ———– (SG Dynamo Dresden : 54 caps, 4 go)
MF —- 6 – Reinhard LAUCK —————- (FC Dynamo Berlin : 30 caps, 3 go)
FW – 11 – Martin HOFFMANN ———– (FC Magdeburg : 62 caps, 15 go)
FW —- 9 – Hans Juergen RIEDIGER — (FC Dynamo Berlin : 39 caps, 6 go)
FW – 13 – Wolfram LOEWE —————- (FC Lokomotive Leipzig : 42 caps, 12 go)

substitutes
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DF – 17 – Wilfrid GROEBNER ————- (FC Lokomotive Leipzig : 4 caps, 0 go)
for Loewe – 68th min
DF – 10 – Bernd BRANSCH —————— (FC Chemie Halle : 64 caps, 3 go)
for Riediger – 86th min

unused substitutes
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DF —– 2 – Gerd WEBER ———————— (SG Dynamo Dresden : 33 caps, 5 go)
FW —- 7 – Gert HEIDLER ———————- (SG Dynamo Dresden : 9 caps, 2 go)
FW – 15 – Dieter RIEDEL ———————- (FC Dynamo Berlin : 4 caps, 0 go)
GK – 16 – Hans Ulrich GRAPENTHIN — (FC Carl Zeiss Jena : 21 caps)

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JUERGEN CROY of FC Sachsenring Zwickau, who appeared in 23 Olympic qualification and final tournament matches throughout his distinguished career in addition to the 86 ‘full’ caps earned for the senior national team of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, enjoyed an outstanding game in the rain between the sticks at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium facing Poland in the Final of the football competition at the 1976 Summer Games.
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Matching up with Poland in the Final of the football tournament at the 1976 Summer Games at the Olympic Stadium in the host city of Montreal, trainer GEORG BUSCHNER made a single change to the Startelf which had toppled the Soviet Union at the semifinal stage.

HANS-JUERGEN RIEDIGER, the bright, 20-year-old prospect who had started the Olympic opener against Brazil in Toronto but had been dropped afterwards, regained his place as the central striker in the East German first team. The Dynamo Berlin attacker did come on as a second half substitute and registered the last goal in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik’s 4-0 destruction of France in the quarterfinal at the Olympic Stadium. Making room for Riediger was GERT HEIDLER, the 28-year-old forward from Oberliga champion Dynamo Dresden who had started all four of the D.D.R.’s matches at the ’76 Summer Games but had not been able to bulge the back of the net.

Heading into the Final opposite Poland, two of the 17-man East German squad had yet to make a single appearance at the ’76 Summer Games and were, for the time being, ineligible to be presented with an Olympic medal. 32-year-old defender BERND BRANSCH of FC Chemie Halle had captained the East Germany team which upended eventual tournament-winners West Germany at the 1974 FIFA World Cup but was now in a reserve role. 27-year-old defender WILFRID GROEBNER of FC Lokomotive Leipzig was a newcomer to the national team with rather limited experience.

1976 Olympischerfinale / Olympic Final

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Legia Warschau Mittelfeldspieler KAZIMIERZ DEYNA (9), der Spielfuehrer von Polen, hat das Ball gegen die Deutsche Demokratische Republik waehrend des Goldmedaillenspiels an dem Olympiastadion in Montreal … Legia Warsaw midfielder Deyna, the captain of Poland, has the ball against the German Democratic Republic during the Gold Medal Match at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
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Frohe Weihnachten … Merry Christmas!

Willkommen zu dem Fussball Endspiel der Olympischespiele von Montreal … Welcome to the Football Final of the Olympic Games from Montreal.

Polen hat zwei sehr gute Torjaeger mit beiden GRZEGORZ LATO und ANDRZEJ SZARMACH aber Ostdeutschland hat zwischen den Stoecken ein sehr starke Torhueter, JUERGEN CROY … Poland has two very good gate hunters with both Lato and Szarmach but East Germany has a very strong goalkeeper between the sticks, Croy.

Ein aufregendes Spiel mit vielen Torschuessen … An exciting game with many shots-at-goal.

Geniessen Sie bitte … Please enjoy.

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’76 Olympic Semifinal : East Germany v Soviet Union

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U.S.S.R. striker OLEG BLOKHIN of Dynamo Kiev shoots past East Germany goalkeeper JUERGEN CROY (1) of FC Sachsenring Zwickau to give the Soviet Union a quick 2-0 lead in the 30th minute of the 1972 Summer Olympic Games Bronze Medal Match at the Olympiastadion in Munich, West Germany.
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There had been an Olympic medal at stake for the contest in the Olympiastadion at Munich, but it had really ‘only’ been for the bronze. There was even more on the line however, at the Montreal Summer Games in 1976. Indeed, this particular match between EAST GERMANY and the SOVIET UNION would directly decide which nation would advance to the Gold Medal Game, itself.

The Soviet Union, twenty years later, were still looking for another Olympic football crown to go with the title won at the 1956 Summer Games held in Melbourne, Australia. The U.S.S.R., who had lost experienced defender ANATOLI KONKOV of Dynamo Kiev to injury earlier in the tournament, had conceded a late penalty in the quarterfinal at Sherbrooke but still managed to eliminate Iran 2-1. Trainer VALERY LOBANOVSKY of Dynamo Kiev continued to tinker with the Soviet Startelf and restored the seasoned Dynamo Kiev pair of 29-year-old defender STEFAN RESHKO and 26-year-old VLADIMIR ONISCHENKO, who had scored both goals in the 2-1 victory over host nation Canada to open the Olympic campaign, to the U.S.S.R. line-up for the semifinal at Montreal.

East Germany, especially considering the influential Leistungsportbeschluss declaration of 1969, were eager to reach the Final of the football tournament at the Summer Games for the very first time, ever. Twice before, in 1964 and 1972, the D.D.R. had been able to add the bronze medal to their ‘important’ Olympic medal count, though, and were anxious to do even better in Canada. To face the Soviets in the semifinal at the Games of 1976, the East German trainer GEORG BUSCHNER sent out exactly the same Startelf that had flattened France 4-0 in the quarterfinal at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

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Soviet Union midfielder ALEXANDER MINAYEV of Dynamo Moscow, on of only two regular players in the U.S.S.R. Olympic first team to not originate from trainer Valery Lobanovsky’s Dynamo Kiev club side, attempts to put a move on experienced East Germany defender KONRAD WEISE (4) of FC Carl Zeiss Jena during the ’76 Summer Games semifinal match at the brand new Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada.
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The U.S.S.R. attack in Montreal was spearheaded by the prolific OLEG BLOKHIN, the reigning award Balon d’Or recipient given annually to the most outstanding football player in all of Europe at that time. The 23-year-old striker, who had helped Dynamo Kiev capture the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1975, had scored six goals at the 1972 Olympic Games including his strike against East Germany in the Bronze Medal Match (which the D.D.R. rallied to draw 2-2) at Munich. Blokhin, much to the dismay of Soviet supporters, never did get on track at the Montreal Games in 1976 and never did add to a solitary goal notched in the opening round against the North Koreans.

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OLEG BLOKHIN of Dynamo Kiev, the Ukrainian all-time leading goal-scorer for the national football team of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
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The strength of the East German team was its staunch defensive wall fortified by JUERGEN CROY, the FC Sachsenring Zwickau goalkeeper who was chosen as the D.D.R.’s Football of the Year three times over the course of his distinguished career. The five players deployed at the back by East Germany, who had yet to concede at these ’76 Olympics, would all eventually earn an impressive 378 international caps, collectively, and their presence in the semifinal at Montreal really made life difficult for the exploisve Blokhin up front. And so, when the halftime whistle sounded at the Olympic Stadium, both sides went to their respective changing rooms to discuss a scoreless draw.

The Soviet defense, in direct comparison to its Eastern Bloc counterparts in the semifinals, were rather inexperienced as a unit at the Montreal Games even before the loss of Konkov and, fatefully, gave a penalty to the East Germans shortly before the hour. Spielfuehrer and sweeper HANS-JUERGEN DOERNER of Dynamo Dresden then beat U.S.S.R. goalkeeper VLADIMIR ASTAPOVSKY of army club CSKA Moscow to provide the D.D.R. with an all-important first strike in the 59th minute. The goal was a team-leading fourth of these 1976 Summer Olympic Games, three of which had been scored from spot kicks, for the productive 25-year-old defender.

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LOTHAR KURBJUWEIT of FC Carl Zeiss Jena
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The East Germans then struck again just seven minutes later to really leave the Soviets chasing the game. Considering the overall nature of the D.D.R. Olympische Auswahl, it was, perhaps, fitting another defender to find the back of the net against the U.S.S.R. in Montreal. 26-year-old LOTHAR KURJUWEIT of FC Carl Zeiss Jena stepped up in the 66th minute for what proved to be the biggest goal, by far, of a long international career which spanned from 1968 until 1980 and included 59 ‘full’ caps for the German Democratic Republic.

With less than twenty minutes remaining, Lobanovsky made a most curious double switch for the Soviet Union. VIKTOR ZVYAGINTSEV, the Dynamo Kiev rearguard who recorded the match-winning goal for the U.S.S.R. against Iran in the quarterfinals, was replaced with yet another defender while the attacking Onischenko gave way to VLADIMIR FEDOROV, the 20-year-old midfielder from FC Pakhtakor Tashkent. Meanwhile, the talented 24-year-old Georgian DAVID KIPIANI of Dinamo Tbilisi, who went on to earn the title of domestic Footballer of the Year for 1977, was yet again left on the bench by the Soviets.

Match referee MARIO DORANTES GARCIA of Mexico pointed to the penalty spot for the second time at the Olympic Stadium with less than twenty minutes remaining in the semifinal at Montreal. Veteran U.S.S.R. midfielder VIKTOR KOLOTOV of Dynamo Kiev converted to register his second goal of the Montreal Games in the 84th minute and offer the Soviets hope. But the East Germans would have nothing to do with an equalizer and, thus, triumphantly marched into the Final at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Canada.

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East Germany netminder JUERGEN CROY of FC Sachsenring Zwickau conceded only one goal — that being from the penalty spot — through the Deutsche Demokratische Republik’s first four Olympic matches at the football tournament of the 1976 Summer Games in Canada.

German Football At The Olympics : D.D.R. and C.C.C.P. – Round Three Team Sheet

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The semifinal of the 1976 Summer Games football competition between EAST GERMANY and the SOVIET UNION contested in the host city of Montreal brought a noteworthy crowd of 57,182 out to the newly-constructed Olympic Stadium in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district; a rather large audience, then, still to this day by North American standards, to see two Warsaw Pact nations renew their Eastern Bloc football rivalry on the pitch. This was at this point, in fact, the largest attendance in history for a football match of any kind in Canada.

As regular readers of the “German Football At The Olympics” series here already know, this meeting in Montreal of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics also marked the third occasion in which the D.D.R. and the U.S.S.R. had clashed in the realm of Olympic football.

GERMAN DEMOCROTIC REPUBLIK
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GK – Juergen CROY ——————— (Sachsenring Zwickau : 86 caps)
DF – Hans Juergen DOERNER —— (Dynamo Dresden : 96 caps, 8 go)
DF – Gerd KISCHE ———————– (Hansa Rostock : 59 caps, 0 go)
DF – Konrad WEISE ——————— (FC Carl Zeiss Jena : 78 caps, 1 go)
DF – Lothar KURBJUWEIT ——— (FC Carl Zeiss Jena : 59 caps, 3 go)
MF – Hartmut SCHADE ————— (Dynamo Dresden : 28 caps, 4 go)
MF – Reinhard HAEFNER ———– (Dynamo Dresden : 54 caps, 4 go)
MF – Renhard LAUCK —————– (Dynamo Berlin : 30 caps, 3 go)
FW – Martin HOFFMANN ———— (FC Magdeburg : 62 caps, 15 go)
FW – Gert HEIDLER ——————— (Dynamo Dresden : 9 caps, 2 go)
FW – Wolfram LOEWE —————– (Lokomotive Leipzig : 42 caps, 12 go)

substitutes
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none

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UNION of SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
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GK – Vladimir ASTAPOVSKY ——– (CSKA Moscow : 11 caps)
DF – Viktor MATVIYENKO ———– (Dynamo Kiev : 21 caps, 0 go)
DF – Stefan RESHKO ———————- (Dynamo Kiev : 15 caps, 0 go)
DF – Viktor ZVYAGINTSEV ———- (Dynamo Kiev : 13 caps, 1 go)
DF – Vladimir TROSHKIN ————- (Dynamo Kiev : 31 caps, 1 go)
MF – Vladimir VEREMEYEV ——— (Dynamo Kiev : 26 caps, 2 go)
MF – Leonid BURYAK ——————- (Dynamo Kiev : 49 caps, 8 go)
MF – Viktor KOLOTOV —————— (Dynamo Kiev : 55 caps, 22 go)
MF – Alexander MINAYEV ———— (Dynamo Moscow : 22 caps, 4 go)
FW – Oleg BLOKHIN ———————- (Dynamo Kiev : 112 caps, 42 go)
FW – Vladimir ONISCHENKO ——– (Dynamo Kiev : 44 caps, 11 go)

substitutes
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MF – Vladimir FEDOROV ————— (FC Pakhtakor Tashkent : 18 caps, 0 go)
for Onischenko – 71st min
DF – Mikhail FOMENKO —————– (Dynamo Kiev : 24 caps, 0 go)
for Zvyagintsev – 71st min

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The Olympic semifinal in the iconic French-Canadien city at the 1976 Summer Games was the eleventh time in which the East Germany and the Soviet Union had met in international football competition. FIFA used to count some Olympic qualification and final tournament as “full” international matches for their records but reversed what was always something of a confusing policy, anyway, and does no longer. That, however, is a story for another day.

Heading into the match at the Montreal’s brand new Olympic Stadium in Montreal, the Soviets had not defeated the East Germans in football since May of 1962, just a few months before construction work began on what became the notorious Berlin Wall.

07/60 … USSR 1 DDR 0 … Leipzig (70,000) …. friendly
05/62 … USSR 2 DDR 1 … Moscow (70,000) … friendly
05/64 … DDR 1 USSR 1 … Leipzig (80,000) ….. Olympic qualifier
06/64 … DDR 1 USSR 1 … Moscow (85,000) … Olympic qualifier
06/64 … DDR 4 USSR 1 … Warsaw (20,000) … Olympic qualifier
10/66 … DDR 2 USSR 2 … Moscow (50,000) … friendly
07/69 … DDR 2 USSR 2 … Leipzig (90,000) ….. friendly
09/72 … DDR 2 USSR 2 … Munich (80,000) …. Olympic Bronze Medal Match
10/73 … DDR 1 USSR 0 … Leipzig (40,000) ….. friendly
09/75 … DDR 0 USSR 0 … Moscow (25,000) … friendly

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.