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Bayern Munich star midfielder ULI HOENESS (left), who won both the 1972 UEFA European Championships and the 1974 FIFA World Cup titles with the senior national team of West Germany and also represented the Bundesrepublik Deutschland at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games hosted by the city of Munich in between, competes for the ball with versatile Borussia Moenchengladbach sweeper/midfielder SHMUEL ROSENTHAL, who represented Israel at the final tournaments for the 1968 Summer Olympic Games and 1970 FIFA World Cup both hosted by Mexico, during the Bundesliga contest at the Olympiastadion in Bavaria on October 21, 1972.
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SHMUEL ROSENTHAL is informed well (about) football. “I saw Bourssia (Moenchengladbach)’s 3-0 (win) against 1.FC Cologne in parts. Class! I am pleased that Gladbach are playing such a great season” he reports via telephone from Tel Aviv.
He was himself in former times a part of the Foals Eleven, although only for one season. In 1972 he came to Gladbach. 13 Bundesliga games (one goal) and four deployments in the UEFA Cup later he went again in 1973. Still, Rosenthal, who will be 65 years old tomorrow, wrote football history.
He was the first professional from Israel who played in Europe.
“I opened the doors for all Israeli footballers. The Israeli (football) federation did not allow it at that time, to change (transfer) abroad. One was considered like a traitor and would be suspended one year,” says Rosenthal.
He played with Israel at the 1968 Olympic Games and at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. “We played 0-0 against Italy, all the greats were there : (AC Milan playmaking midfielder Gianni) RIVERA, (Inter Milan attacking midfielder Sandro) MAZZOLA, (Cagliari forward Luigi) RIVA,” tells Rosenthal. Israel was eliminated, still the man with the Seehund-Schnauzer said to himself, “I can keep up there. I will be a professional.”
He was laughed at, nevertheless he wanted to show it all. “It was the most difficult time of my life,” he said of when he arrived in Gladbach in the summer of 1972. Rosenthal’s change was also a product of the good relationship of Borussia with Israel, whose origin was (Moenchengladbach trainer) HENNES WEISWELLER’s friendship with the Israel national team trainer EDI SCHAFFER. There were training camps, test matches, comparisons with the national team. More than 15 times was Borussia in Israel, first in 1970, last in 2008.
Rosenthal lost four kilograms in the first day of training of the 1972 season, learned German industriously and was ready to help Borussia as Libero (sweeper) or in defensive midfield. Rosenthal believed in his chance. A second Israeli, MORDECHAI SPIEGLER, almost came (to Monechengladbach), however, because there were already two foreigners in the squad, nothing became of it. When the season began, Rosenthal was actually in the (first) team; he celebrated his (Bundesliga) debut on September 16, 1972, with the 4-3 (win) against Duisburg. In his third game he created a goal with the 3-1 (win) against Hannover. The technically-experienced Israeli took part in nine games in one piece (on the trot, consecutively).
“Then the weather became worse and I had problems,” confesses Rosenthal.
Only four more league deployments followed. His playing style was too careless for trainer Hennes Weisweller. He became an edge figure (fringe player). On November 25, 1972, he was substituted for the last time with the 0:3 (loss) in Frankfurt.
“That (playing for Borussia Moenchengladbach) was better than the Olympic Games or the World Cup. “(West Germany international midfielder Guenter) NETZER, (Denmark international forward Henning) JENSEN, (West Germany international midfielder Rainer) BONHOFF, (Denmark international forward Allan) SIMONSEN were unbelievable players,” says Rosenthal.
He knows that his compatriots ROBERTO COLAUTTI and GAL ALBERMAN (now both back home with Ligat ha’Al club FC Maccabi Tel Aviv) tried likewise unsuccessfully with Borussia. In the long term, the Israeli players do not have the (same) character which the Germans or Scandanavians have,” says the Pioneer. Only twelve years after him came the second Israeli (to the West German Bundesliga) : DAVID PISANTI, who played in Cologne.
Shmuel Rosenthal was not since his departure from Gladbach any more at the Boekelberg (stadium) and already not at all in the (new) Borussia-Park — “But I know what happens with Borussia,” assures Rosenthal (who, today, works at the national electric company in Tel Aviv).
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Bayern Munich attacker MICHAEL RUMMENIGGE, the 20-year-old younger brother of superstar striker Karl-Heinz who celebrated a breakout 1983/84 campaign by scoring 11 goals in 33 Bundesliga games and earning a first senior international cap for the national team of West Germany, sends Borussia Moenchengladbach goalkeeper UWE SUDE (1) the wrong way and nets the match-winner for the Bavarians in the Final of the 1984 Deutscher Fussball Bund Pokal at the old Waldstadion in the Hessian city of Frankfurt am Main.
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The Bundesliga’s two most successful teams throughout the decade of the 1970s, BAYERN MUNICH and BORUSSIA MONECHENGLADBACH, renewed their fantastic rivalry in the Final of the 1984 Deutscher Fussball Bund Pokal and ended up producing a dramatic showdown that, for the first time in the history of the German domestic cup competition, required a penalty shootout to decide.
Borussia Moenchengladbach won five domestic championships in an eight-year span from 1970 thru 1977 and also added two UEFA Cups (1975 and 1979) in Europe, as well. Die Fohlen were now trained by the club’s great goal-scorer from that successful era, JUPP HEYNCKES, the former West Germany international striker who was a member of both the 1972 UEFA Euorpean Championships and 1974 FIFA World Cup title-winning squads. Just five days before the Cup Final in Frankfurt am Main, Borussia Moenchengladbach finished the Bundesliga season in a three-way tie for the lead with 48 points but ultimately ended third in the German top flight by virtue of goal-differential.
Bayern Munich, still the only football club in more than half a century to capture three consecutive UEFA European Cup / Champions League titles (1974 thru 1976), had ended the 1983/84 domestic campaign in fourth place exactly one point behind the top three clubs. The Bavarians were now, once again, under the direction of trainer UDO LATTEK, the East Prussian native who originally steered Bayern Munich to its first European trophy in 1974 but was let go by by club management midway through the following term. Lattek, who also won two Bundesliga titles and a UEFA Cup after being taken on by Borussia Moenchengladbach, was in his first year back in West Germany after two seasons spent abroad on the bench of Spanish La Liga giant FC Barcelona.
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Striker FRANK MILL of Borussia Moenchengladbach, who netted two goals in four matches for Deutschland at the final tournament of the Summer Olympic Games hosted by Los Angeles a couple of months after the 1984 D.F.B. Pokalfinale, later earned a bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Games held in South Korea and was also a reserve on West Germany’s title-winning squad at the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy.
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The red-shirted Bavarians might have gone to the lead first in the D.F.B. Pokalfinale against die Fohlen in Frankfurt. Bayern Munich were unlucky, however, when the header of emerging 20-year-old striker MICHAEL RUMMENIGGE crashed against the post before being smothered by Borussia Moenchengladbach goalkeeper ULI SUDE. West Germany World Cup midfielder WOLFGANG DREMMLER had created the chance with an inviting cross of the highest quality.
White-shirted Borussia Moenchengladbach did make the most of its opportunity in the 33rd minute when striker FRANK MILL rose in the box to meet a corner kick delivered by young West Germany international midfielder LOTHAR MATTHAEUS. The 25-year-old striker had led die Fohlen with what remains forever a career-high 19 goals in the Bundesliga during the 83/84 season but had not netted in five Cup matches on the march to the Final in Frankfurt am Main. Mill might have also doubled the advantage in the first half but was denied by the diving save of Belgium World Cup goalkeeper JEAN-MARIE PFAFF in between the sticks for Bayern Munich.
The Bavarians had all the best chances in the second half, including a long range rocket from Denmark World Cup midfielder SOREN LERBY that was neatly turned over the bar by Sude, but found themselves trailing with less than ten minutes to play. Bayern Munich finally broke through late after REINHOLD MATHY, a halftime replacement engaged by Lattek, collected a loose ball in the box on the left and shot off the post. The rebound angled sharply all the way over to Dremmler wide of the far post and the 29-year-old veteran was able to equalize in the 82nd minute.
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Bayern Munich defender / midfielder WOLFGANG DREMMLER, who started all six matches for the formidable West Germany squad which reached the Final of the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, appeared in 238 matches and scored 14 goals over seven seasons for the Bavarian club after arriving from Eintracht Braunschweig in the summer of 1979.
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Bayern Munich might have snatched a late winner in regulation but a pro-active Sude made another fine play to thwart three-time West Germany World Cup striker KARL-HEINZ RUMMENIGGE, who had scored 26 goals to lead the Bundesliga in 1983/84 and was appearing in a final match for the Bavarians before a summer transfer to Italian Serie A powerhouse Inter Milan, at the range of seven yards out or so. Bayern Munich had, perhaps, the best chance of both extra sessions but a quality, low shot from versatile midfielder NORBERT NACHTWEIH, the former East Germany U-21 international and Deutsche Demokratische Republik defector who earned a UEFA Cup winner’s medal with Eintracht Frankfurt in 1980, skipped wide only by inches. And so it was off at the old Waldstadion, then, to the historic penalty kick shootout.
Matthaeus, for whom Bayern Munich had already agreed to pay a transfer fee of 2.4 million Deutsche Mark, promptly missed the target entirely with the first spot kick for Borussia Moechengladbach. But Sude would bail him out when he easily blocked a shot straight down the middle from Bayern Munich’s West Germany international defender KLAUS AUGENTHALER with his legs and round-by-round, ‘sudden-death’ ensued. Then, to begin the eighth round of this historic shootout, Borussia Moenchengladbach second half substitute NORBERT RINGELS rang his effort off the post to the right of the diving Pffaf and a door was opened.
The younger of the two Rummenigge brothers had, of course, hit the post, himself, early into the contest but, this time around, Michael would not miss the valuable opportunity to net a match-winner at the Waldstadion in this most dramatic D.F.B. Pokalfinale.
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With Belgium World Cup goalkeeper JEAN-MARIE PFAFF (1) of Bayern Munich having guessed correctly, West Germany international midfielder LOTHAR MATTHAEUS, the 23-year-old playing in his final match for die Fohlen ahead of a much anticipated transfer to the Bavarian opponents that upcoming summer, blasts his spot kick high and wide during the penalty shootout which decided the Final of the 1984 Deutscher Fussball Bund Pokal.
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BAYERN MUNICH
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GK … Jean-Marie PFAFF …………………. (Belgium : 64 caps)
DF … Bernd DUERNBERGER
DF … Klaus AUGENTHALER …………… (West Germany : 27 caps, 0 go)
DF … Wolfgang GROBE
DF … Bernd MARTIN ……………………… (West Germany : 1 caps, 0 go)
MF … Norbert NACHTWEIH
MF … Soren LERBY …………………………. (Denmark : 67 caps, 10 go)
MF … Wolfgang DREMMLER …………… (West Germany : 27 caps, 3 go)
MF … Wolfgang KRAUS
FW … Michael RUMMENIGGE ………… (West Germany : 2 caps, 0 go)
FW … Karl-Heinz RUMMENIGGE ……. (West Germany : 95 caps, 45 go)
Substitutions
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MF … Reinhold MATHY
for Kraus – 46th min
FW … Dieter HOENESS …………………… (West Germany : 6 caps, 4 go)
for Duernberger – 58th min
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Borussia Moenchengladbach goalkeeper ULI SUDE consols youthful West Germany international midfielder LOTHAR MATTHAEUS, who scored 15 goals for die Fohlen in all competitions during the 1983/84 campaign and later followed in the very same footsteps of Bayern Munich striker Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and transferred to Italian Serie A side Inter Milan, after the latter missed the very first spot kick of the epic shootout at the Waldstadion in Frankfurt am Main.
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GK … Uli SUDE
DF … Michael FRONTZECK ……… (West Germany : 19 caps, 0 go)
DF … Uli BOROWKA ………………… (West Germany : 6 caps, 0 go)
DF … Kai-Erik HERLOVSEN ……… (Norway : 34 caps, 0 go)
DF … Wilfried HANNES ……………. (West Germany : 8 caps, 0 go)
MF … Hans-Guenter BRUNS ……… (West Germany : 4 caps, 0 go)
MF … Lothar MATTHAEUS ………. (West Germany/Germany : 150 caps, 23 go)
MF … Uwe RAHN ………………………. (West Germany : 14 caps, 5 go)
MF … Winfried SCHAEFER
FW … Frank MILL ……………………… (West Germany : 17 caps, 0 go)
FW … Ewald LIENEN
Substitutions
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FW … Hans-Joerg CRIENS
for Rahn – 68th min
DF … Norbert RINGELS
for Schaefer – 72nd min
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West Germany international striker KARL-HEINZ RUMMENIGGE of Bayern Munich, the two-time European Footballer of the Year who would be sold by the Bavarians club to traditional Italian giant Inter Milan for the massive transfer fee of 11.0 million Deutsche Mark in the summer of 1984, lifts the Deutscher Fussball Bund Pokal after defeating Borussia Moenchengladbach 8-7 following the epic penalty kick shootout at the Waldstadion in the Hessian city of Frankfurt am Main.
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D.F.B. Pokalfinale 1984 in Frankfurt : Dreizeit Weltmeisterschaftstuermer KARL-HEINZ RUMMENIGGE, der 45 Tore von 95 Laenderspielen fuer Deutschland waehrend seines Laufbahns geschossen hat, spielt sein letztes Spiele fuer Bayern Muenchen Borussia Moenchengladbach. Nach dem Finale, dann wechselt Rummenigge zu dem italienischen Traditionsclub Inter Mailand, der herum 11.0 Millionen deutsche Mark Abloesesumme zahlte. Es gibt nur ein Spieler in der ganzen Welt diesmal, das mehr als Rummenigge gekostet hat.
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D.F.B. POKAL BILANZ : Bayern Munich gegen Borussia Moenchengladbach
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West Germany international striker JUPP HEYNCKES (left) had scored 14 goals in 16 domestic matches for Borussia Moenchengladbach entering the exciting, winner-take-all clash with defending Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich and West Germany international goalkeeper SEPP MAIER (1) in the last game before the annual winter break marking the middle of the 1973-74 season.
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Only a second half equalizer from West Germany international superstar GERD MUELLER against Oberligameister Dynamo Dresden at the old Rudolf Harbig Stadion had enabled BAYERN MUNICH to narrowly avoid losing on the away goals rule and barely escape East Germany with hopes of a first-ever European Cup of Champions title still intact. But then, three goals in the final twenty minutes, including a third of the match from the goal-shark Mueller had allowed the Bavarians to overturn an early deficit and shoot down SV Hamburg 4-1 at the Olympiastadion. And a 2-2 draw on the road at Kickers Offenbach meant the defending champions could potentially overtake Eintracht Frankfurt at the top of the Bundesliga table on goal differential with a victory in the 17th and final round before the annual Winterpause in 1973.
Borussia Moenchengladbach, who lost the UEFA Cup Final 3-2 on aggregate to English side FC Liverpool but did win the Deutscher Fussball Bund Pokal in the spring of 1973, had seen off Glasgow Rangers 5-3 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup recently but were suffering from indifferent form in the Bundesliga as of late. In fact, die Fohlen had dropped three of their last five matches in the West German top flight including the heavy 6-1 loss to Vfb Stuttgart at the end of October. However, approaching the clash with Bayern Munich at the Olympiastadion on December 8, the North Rhine-Westphalian club could also still go top of the Bundesliga table with a win in Bavaria.
And so the stage was properly set. Oddly enough, what might have been promoted as a duel of West German national team goalkeepers instead materialized into an unmitigated shootout immediately. Indeed, no fewer than five ball successfully found the back of the net in the first twenty-three minutes of the match, alone.
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FRANZ ROTH made his Bundesliga debut with Bayern Munich in late August of 1966 and went on to appear in 322 matches while scoring 72 goals for the Bavarian club in the West German top flight thru the end of the 1977/78 season. Known as “Bulle” (bull) for a physical style of play as well as a blistering shot, the native of Memmingen made four appearances for the national team of West Germany in his career. Roth later crossed the border in the Alps region to put in a season with SV Austria Salzburg, who, ironically enough, are now owned by an energy drink manufacturer and are known as Red Bull Salzburg.
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Deployed up on the wing by Bayern Munich, the experienced FRANZ ROTH waltzed around Borussia Moenchengladbach sweeper KLAUS-DIETER SIELOFF, the 31-year-old with 14 caps for West Germany to his name, rather easily to complete a long, solo run. A near post shot snuck past goalkeeper WOLFGANG KLEFF and put the reigning Bundesligameister ahead only four minutes in but this advantage was erased almost instantly after West Germany international midfielder ULI HOENESS just could not reach a pass into the box by Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder CHRISTIAN KULIK. Thus, visiting team captain HERBERT WIMMER was able to run on and even the score with just five minutes played at the Olympiastadion.
Wimmer was prominent again as Borussia Moenchengladbach took the lead with a well-worked goal in the 18th minute, as well. His precision cross from the right was laid off perfectly by seasoned striker BERND RUPP, the 31-year-old who had scored a goal in Turkey on his one and only appearance for West Germany way back in 1966. Denmark international HENNING JENSEN, whose two goals in Scotland provided die Fohlen the margin of victory in the Cup Winners’ Cup, then whipped the ball between the sticks and past Bayern Munich netminder SEPP MAIER to record his fourth goal of the campaign in the Bundesliga.
But Borussia Moenchengladbach would not remain in front for long, either, after Bayern Munich midfielder BERND DUERNBERGER latched onto a careless pass near the center stripe. A ball chipped into the box found Mueller on the right and more sloppy defending permitted der Bomber to rifle a left-footer into the lower corner with only twenty minutes gone in Bavaria. A Bundesliga-leading 16th goal of the season for the seemingly unstoppable Mueller, then.
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Borussia Moenchengladbach goalkeeper WOLFGANG KLEFF started four consecutive friendlies for the national team of West Germany against the Soviet Union (W 1-0), Austria (W 4-0), France (W 2-1) and Scotland (T 1-1) in the fall of 1973 but, although the native of Schwerte was selected for the 22-man FIFA World Cup squad by trainer Helmut Schoen in 1974, never again appeared for his country thereafter.
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Duernberger was involved once more when Bayern Munich retook the lead just three minutes on, though, as Hoeness delicately kept his right wing cross in bounds at the goalline over on the left and then re-delievered the ball back in front. Bavarian midfielder RAINER ZOBEL rose and got his head on the ball despite the crowd; the resulting, looping header had no trouble beating the ineffective Kleff for a third time in under a half an hour. Surely, the rate of goals could not be sustained.
And it was not — although creative West Germany international sweeper FRANZ BECKENBAUER did prompt a fourth for Bayern Munich with a “dream pass” along the floor into the box for Hoeness four minutes after the hour. Kleff got a hand to the shot but would not prevent the 1972 West German Olympian from netting his ninth goal in the Bundesliga and 12th strike of the season in all competitions for the defending champions. A very important tally, too, as national team constituent RAINER BONHOF pulled a goal back for Borussia Moenchengladbach by blasting a long range effort into the top corner with just two minutes remaining.
Nevertheless, the 4-3 final scoreline was more than enough to push Bayern Munich to the top of the Bundesliga standings with exactly half of the 1973/74 West German football season now complete and the traditional winter break, following the first round of the Deutscher Fussball Bund Pokal, of course, just around the corner.
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Der Kaiser, FRANZ BECKENBAUER of Bayern Munich
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Olympiastadion, Munich
December 8, 1973
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West Germany international midfielder ULI HOENESS, the 1972 Olympian who finished number two with 17 Bundesliga goals for domestic champion BAYERN MUNICH during the 1972/73 campaign, again stood second on the Bavarian club with eight goals in the West German top flight entering the showdown with 1971 Bundesliga titlist Borussia Moenchengladbach in early December of 1973 at the Olympiastadion in Munich.
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GK – Sepp MAIER —————————- (West Germany 66-79 : 95 caps)
DF – Franz BECKENBAUER ————- (West Germany 65-77 : 103 caps, 14 go)
DF – Paul BREITNER ———————– (West Germany 71-82 : 48 caps, 10 go)
DF – Georg SCHWARZENBECK ——– (West Germany 71-78 : 44 caps, 0 go)
DF – Johnny HANSEN ———————– (Denmark 65-78 : 45 caps, 3 go)
MF – Bernd DUERNBERGER
MF – Rainer ZOBEL
MF – Uli HOENESS ————————— (West Germany 72-76 : 35 caps, 5 go)
FW – Franz ROTH —————————– (West Germany 67-70 : 4 caps, 0 go)
FW – Gerd MUELLER ———————— (West Germany 66-74 : 62 caps, 68 go)
FW – Erwin HADEWICZ
substitutes
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none
West Germany international PAUL BREITNER returned on defense after missing the last seven Bundesliga matches. Denmark international VIGGIO JENSEN, the 26-year-old summer signing from B 1909 Odense, is benched after starting the previous two league contests at left back; versatile 20-year-old BERND DUERNBERGER, who had also been filling in for the injured Breitner, retained a place on the left in midfield. Meanwhile, winger WILHELM HOFFMANN, the 25-year-old who had found the back of the net first in the opening leg of the historic UEFA European Cup of Champions tie with East German Oberligameister Dynamo Dresden, is dropped by Bayern trainer UDO LATTEK after appearing in eight consecutive games in all competitions with the Startelf.
With neither Hoffmann nor EDGAR SCHNEIDER doing much to register goals in the first half of the 1973/74 season, Lattek shifted in-form midfielder FRANZ ROTH up to the front line. The 27-year-old veteran capped four times by West Germany had shot four goals in his last seven Bundesliga matches heading into the big contest with Borussia Moenchengladbach just ahead of the annual Winterpause. And, 22-year-old ERWIN HADEWICZ was restored to the Startelf after coming on as a substitute for Bayern Munich in the last two matches.
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A pair of players in the Startelf when West Germany defeated the Soviet Union to win the Final of the 1972 UEFA European Championships at Brussels, team captain HERBERT WIMMER (left) and prolific striker JUPP HEYNCKES, flank Borussia Moenchengladbach goalkeeper WOLFGANG KLEFF, who made six appearances for the Bundesrepublik Deutschland in his career.
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Borussia Moenchengladbach and trainer HENNES WEISWEILER were still adjusting to football life without GUENTER NETZER, the West Germany international star midfielder who had been sold to Spanish La Liga giant Real Madrid in the summer of 1973.
The 1972 Bundesliga champion were also sans the emerging 19-year-old ULI STIELIKE, who also eventually went to Real Madrid and later featured at sweeper when West Germany won the 1980 UEFA European Championships in 1980. Stielike had assumed a regular place in the Startelf for Weisweiler after the second round of the Bundesliga but went out injured after the eleventh round in the middle of October. HANS-JUERGEN WITTKAMP, the experienced, 26-year-old former Schalke 04 Gelsenkirchen defender, had not been fit for die Fohlen since the previous spring.
ALLAN SIMONSEN, the youngster whose goal-scoring for Denmark at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games host by Munich had helped land the contract with the North Rhine-Westphalian club, had not yet found the form that would, one day, bring a European Footballer of the Year award and still spent most of his time on the bench for Borussia Moenchengladbach at this point in time.
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A most symbolic sight as contemporary West German superstar GUENTER NETZER and pioneering Israeli World Cup standout SHMUEL ROSENTHAL (right) of North Rhine-Westphalian club Borussia Monchengladbach, reigning at the time as two-time defending Bundesliga champions, pause together for the cameras late in the summer of 1972.
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SHMUEL ROSENTHAL, an integral part of the 1968 Israel Olympic football team that competed in Mexico City, was physically present in West Germany but still more than a week away from making his historic debut as a professional player when murdering Palestinian terrorists stormed the Munich Olympic village on the fateful evening of September 4, 1972.
In short order, eleven Israeli Olympic athletes, coaches and referees were machine-gunned and hand-grenaded in cold blood by the ruthless killers known to history as Black September. The event, itself, lives forever in infamy most commonly referred to as the “Munich Massacre.” It is interesting to note that eleven people are the exact amount required to field a proper football team.
Not so long after this pre-meditated and unforgetable tragedy, just nine nights later, in fact, the very first Israeli football player ever signed to a contract by any European club appeared in the Startelf as part of the backline for Bundesliga club Borussia Moenchengladbach contesting the UEFA Cup first round match with FC Aberdeen at the venerable Pittodrie Stadium in Scotland.
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The full squad of BORUSSIA MOENCHENGLADBACH, masterfully trained by the not-pictured Hennes Weisweiler, take time for the annual team photograph just prior to the start of the 1972-73 football season; Olympic Games and World Cup veteran SHMUEL ROSENTHAL, the 25-year-old Israel international signed from Ligat Ha’Al outfit FC Hapoel Petah Tikva that off-season summer, is seated third from left in the front row.
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But it should be noted that Borussia Moenchengladbach, of course, were not just any professional club. Die Fohlen, in fact, were the current two-time defending Bundesliga champion and a legitimate force emerging in Europe as evidenced by the UEFA Cup won that 1972-73 season. Indeed, Borussia Moenchengladbach were just beginning a very successful stretch that saw the club capture five Bundesliga titles and two European trophies over a ten-year period.
Rosenthal started the first nine Bundesliga games of the 1972-73 schedule for Borussia Moenchengladbach, most of those in the prestigous Libero position, while scoring what proved to be the game-winning goal as Hannover 96 was defeated 3-1 at the Boekelbergstadion in late September. But die Fohlen had conceded three goals in five of their opening nine league matches and changes at the back were soon made by trainer Hennes Weisweiler. The Israel international was later used in middle of the park, however, competition for place was stiff there, too, with the likes of HERBERT WIMMER and GUENTER NETZER — both in the Startelf when West Germany shutout the Soviet Union 3-0 to win the 1972 European Cup of Nations earlier that summer — on the roster in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Things got really difficult for Rosenthal when Borussia Moenchengladbach signed the star of Denmark’s 1972 Olympic squad, the 19-year-old ALLAN SIMONSEN, from BK Velje during the annual Winterpause. Die Fohlen already had contracted the productive Denmark international winger HENNING JENSEN busy scoring 19 goals in all competitons that 1972-73 season and, at that time, Bundesliga regulations restricted clubs to the use of only two Auslaender (foreigners) per domestic match. Simonsen, of course, would develop into a future winner of the coveted Balon d’Or given annually to the European Footballer of the Year.
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Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder GUNETER NETZER, a member of West Germany’s title-winning squads at both the 1972 European Cup of Nations and 1974 FIFA World Cup, runs win the Deutscher Fussball Bund Pokal after die Fohlen — on the strength of a goal scored by the Real Madrid-bound superstar in the 94th minute — knocked off 1.FC Koeln with the benefit of extra time in the 1973 domestic cup Final contested at the Rheinstadion in Duesseldorf.
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In all, Rosenthal played in 13 Bundesliga games for Borussia Moenchengladbach but did not feature at all following the annual winter break. Still, the 25-year-old did appear in four UEFA Cup matches as die Fohlen won a trophy in Europe for the very first time in club history. Thus, Rosenthal is also the very first professional Israeli footballer in history to have contributed to a title-winning side in a major European competiton.
Rosenthal returned to FC Hapoel Petah Tikva after his only Bundesliga season and later, in 1978, crossed the Atlantic Ocean to play in the old North American Soccer League for the Oakland Stompers alongside first choice SHEP MESSING, the United States Olympic goalkeeper at the 1972 Munich Games and member of the National (US) Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
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Denmark internatonal attacker ALLAN SIMONSEN spent six and a half seasons on the books at BORUSSIA MOENCHENGLADBACH, ultimately scoring 76 goals in 178 Bundesliga matches while adding another 33 strikes in 48 European contests for the West German club, after having been taken on by trainer Hennes Weisweiler during the winter break of the 1972-73 season.
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Long before the world ever saw the so-called “Danish Dynamite” leave their lasting impression on the 1986 FIFA World Cup final tournament in Mexico, a youthful ALLAN SIMONSEN exploded onto the scene in both the Bundesliga and Europe during the 1974-75 season.
After scoring three goals in six matches in West Germany as a 19-year-old competing for Denmark at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games hosted by Munich, Simonsen was signed by Borussia Moenchengladbach from BK Vejle later that winter. But, over the next year and a half, the youngster found it difficult to find a place in the Startelf for die Fohlen. The Denmark international, in fact, appeared in just 17 of a possible 51 Bundesliga games while scoring two goals in that time period.
That situation changed immediately starting with the memorable 1974-75 campaign. Teaming with West Germany international JUPP HEYNCKES and fellow Demnark international HENNING JENSEN in attack, Simonsen scored 18 goals in 34 Bundesliga games as Borussia Moenchengladbach claimed the domestic title for the first time in four years. The speedy youngster, still only 22 then, also added another 10 goals in twelve Euroepan contests as die Fohlen captured the UEFA Cup for the very first continental trophy in club history.
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Denmark international attacker ALLAN SIMONSEN of West German club Borussia Moenchengladbach rifles a shot past accomplished England international goalkeeper RAY CLEMENCE of FC Liverpool to level the 1977 European Cup Final six minutes after the halftime whistle; the vaunted Reds, nevertheless, did go on to defeat die Fohlen 3-1 with a pair of second half goals of their own at the Stadio Olympico in Rome, Italy.
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Simonsen, who earned 55 caps and scored 20 goals for the national team of Denmark, was selected as the winner of the Balon d’Or as the European Footballer of the Year in the winter of 1977 while still terrorizing opponents with his speed and skill for Borussia Moenchengladbach, who were by then the reigning three-time defending Bundesliga champion.
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After scoring the decisive goal to enable Borussia Moenchengladbach to defeat Red Star Belgarde of Yugoslavia and win the 1979 UEFA Cup Final, Denmark international attacker ALLAN SIMONSEN was transferred later that summer to Spanish La Liga giant FC Barcelona in exchange for the then-considerable sum of 1.2 million Deutsche Mark. Simonsen, who totaled 31 goals in three campaigns of Spanish first division football and scored a goal as Barca clipped Belgian side Standard Liege in the 1982 Cup Winners’ Cup Final, was joined in his second year at the Catalan club by West Germany international BERND SCHUSTER. The world record signing reported to be worth 5.0 million English pounds of Argentina World Cup star DIEGO MARADONA by FC Barcelona in the summer of 1982 found Simonsen, as a result of Spanish restrictions on just two foreign players per league match, expendable and it was not long before the Denmark international was sold to English second division side Charlton Athletic for the cut rate of 300,000 English pounds in October of that same year.
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Flanked by a pair of West Germany internationals so influential to the squad, goalkeeper WOLFGANG KLEFF (left) and striker JUPP HEYNCKES, Borussia Moenchengladbach trainer HENNES WEISWEILER proudly displays the Bundesliga Meisterschale and UEFA Cup won by the historical as well as memorable North Rhine-Westphalian outfit during the very successful 1974-75 football season.
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There are few football clubs in the world can equal the most impressive, not to mention noteworthy, trophy-collecting exploits as demonstrated by North Rhine-Westphalian side BORUSSIA MOENCHENGLADBACH of West Germany during the decade of the 1970s.
Five Bundesliga championships, two UEFA Cups in European competition and a domestic D.F.B. Pokal title — all achieved within one ten-year span — is, without question, a lofty record that very few football teams from any era can claim to match.
Furthermore, appearances in no less than five Finals of major European competitions over a period no longer than eight years spoke volumes about a winning club that, all the while on account of limited financial resources, was consistently losing critical components of their football organization to wealthy Spanish powerhouses in La Liga.
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Aside from three seasons with Hannover 96 in Lower Saxony, JUPP HEYNCKES spent his entire football career stretching from 1964 to 1978 accumulating goals for die Fohlen in North Rhine-Westphalia. The accomplished West Germany international (39 caps, 14 goals) forward, who had the misfortune of playing in the same era as Bayern Munich’s machine-like Gerd Mueller, totaled a whopping 289 goals in all competitive matches for Borussia Moenchengladbach, which includes a record of 47 goals from 55 games in Europe. During a three-year stretch in the mid-1970s, highlighted by the 49 strikes of the 1972-73 campaign, Heynckes piled up more than forty goals per season in all competitions for die Fabelhaft Fohlen.
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Das Kader of Borussia Moenchengladbach are arranged for the traditional team photograph just prior to the start of the triumphant Bundesliga title and UEFA Cup-winning season of 1974-75, which would prove to be the last year for trainer HENNES WEISWEILER (back row, far right), who would later join Franz Beckenbauer with the New York Cosmos in the old North American Soccer League, at the Boekelbergstadion in North Rhine-Westphaila.
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The wonderfully-skilled midfielder GUENTER NETZER, a 1972 European champion who earned 37 caps and scored six goals for West Germany, was the first star from Borussia Moenchengladbach to be lured away to the riches of La Liga in Spain when famous Real Madrid signed the reigning two-time domestic Footballer of the Year in the summer of 1973. Netzer, who would bag two Spanish first division titles with Los Blancos, was followed to Real Madrid by die Fohlen’s Denmark international attacker HENNING JENSEN in the off-season of 1976. Midfielder ULI STIELIKE, later to feature as West Germany’s sweeper at the 1982 FIFA World Cup final tournament in Spain, was scooped up by Real Madrid the year after.
Of course, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Real Madrid had clashed in the quarterfinals of the 1975-76 European Cup with the Spanish La Liga side prevailing on away goals following a 3-3 draw on aggregate.
Always looking to keep pace with their bitter rival from the Spanish capital city, FC Barcelona hired trainer HENNES WEISWEILER away from Borussia Moenchengladbach in the summer of 1975; the Catalan club would eventually also shell out the big bucks to sign Denmark international superstar ALLAN SIMONSEN, the 1977 Balon d’Or winner as the European Footballer of the Year, four years thereafter.
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The versatile and very talented RAINER BONHOF, who was effectively used as both a defender and midfielder during his time with Bundesliga side Borussia Moenchengladbach, collected 53 caps and scored nine goals for the West German national team in his career; Bonhof, who would eventually transfer to Spanish La Liga club CF Valencia in the summer of 1978, was still just 22 years of age when he provided the ball for the legendary Gerd “der Bomber” Mueller to fire the match-winner for West Germany against the Netherlands at the 1974 FIFA World Cup Final in Munich.
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The collection of silverware at the modestly-sized Boekelbergstadion did not cease with the departure of mastermind trainer Hennes Weisweiler to Spanish giant FC Barcelona in the summer of 1975 … Here, West Germany World Cup champion defender BERTI VOGTS (left) and Borussia Moenchengladbach first-year trainer UDO LATTEK, the one-time West Germany Olympic coach who had come from contemporary arch-rival Bayern Munich, celebrate the Bundesliga title at the end of the 1975-76 campaign.
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Who is to say what might have been but not for English First Division outfit FC Liverpool, who defeated Borussia Moenchengladbach in the 1973 UEFA Cup Final (3-2 on aggregate), the 1977 European Cup Final (3-1) and the semifinals of the 1978 European Cup (4-2 on aggregate)? … Nowadays, the fans clubs of both these football teams enjoy a hearty, interactive relationship on both sides of the English Channel as a result of their frequent meetings in Europe during the decade of the 1970s.
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Aging Borussia Moenchengladbach club captain BERTI VOGTS, who won 96 caps for West Germany over the course of his career and was in his final season of professional football, lifts the coveted trophy after the 1-0 victory over Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia in the second leg of the 1979 UEFA Cup Final at the massive Rheinstadion in Dusseldorf.
The tenacious Vogts played all fourteen of his professional seasons for die Fohlen and contested 419 Bundesliga games in the process. A regular his entire career, the rock-solid defender appeared in only six of 34 Bundesliga matches and just three of Borussia Moenchengladbach’s twelve games in Europe that 1978-79 season. However, “das Terrier” worked his way back into the first team just in time to help die Fabelhaft Fohlen achieve one last triumph on the continental stage.
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1974 World Cup-winning defender BERTI VOGTS (left) and Bundesliga side BORUSSIA MOENCHENGLADBACH completed one of the most sensational triumphs in the history of German club football in Europe with the lopsided 5-1 defeat of host Dutch outfit FC TWENTE ENSCHEDE in the second leg of the 1975 UEFA CUP FINAL at the modest Diekman Stadion in the Netherlands.
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Dutch club FC TWENTE ENSCHEDE’s hopes had been bolstered by the goalless draw in the first leg of the 1975 UEFA Cup Final with BORUSSIA MOENCHENGLADBACH held at the Rheinstadion in Dusseldorf, West Germany. A successful homecoming, then, for one-time SC Hertha Berlin and West German international goalkeeper VOLKMAR GROSS, who had been caught in a match-fixing scandal and given a two-year ban — which was spent outside of FIFA jurisdiction in South Africa with FC Hellenic of Cape Town — in 1971 before heading to Holland. But, unfortunately for Gross and FC Twente Enschede, the return leg with die Fohlen in the Netherlands a fortnight later would prove to be no trophy-lifting treat.
A hat trick from West Germany’s World Cup-winning striker JUPP HEYNCKES, who scored 27 goals to top the Bundesliga for a second consecutive year during the 1974-75 campaign, and a brace from emerging Denmark international attacker ALLAN SIMONSEN saw to the demolition of Dutch dreams with the heavy 5-1 victory for visiting Borussia Moenchengladb ach in the decisive second leg at the Diekman Stadion.
The triumph resulted in the very first European trophy for die Fohlen as well as trainer HENNES WEISWEIILER, who would soon be decamping for wealthy Spanish La Liga club FC Barcelona after winning a third career Bundesliga title with Borussia Moenchengladbach in the summer of 1975.
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Denmark international superstar ALLAN SIMONSEN, who scored four goals in three different Finals of major European competitions during his time with West German Bundesliga club Borussia Moenchengladbach, got die Fohlen off to a fast start with a blistering drive in only the third minute of the decisive second leg of the 1975 UEFA Cup Final with Dutch side FC Twente Enschede at the Diekman Stadion in the Netherlands.
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A photographer captures the two players, Denmark international attacker ALLAN SIMONSEN (9) and West Germany international striker JUPP HEYNCKES (11), who scored all five goals for Borussia Moenchengladbach during the emphatic 5-1 triumph over host side FC Twente Enschede in the second leg of the 1975 UEFA Cup Final at the Diekman Stadion in the Netherlands; the prolific tandem of Heynckes (11 go) and Simonsen (10 go) combined to score 21 of the 32 goals posted by trainer Hennes Weisweiler’s side on its twelve-match march to the 1975 UEFA Cup title.
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Thinly-figured Norway international goalkeeper ERIK THORSTVEDT of Borussia Moenchengladbach lets out a frustrated yell as the barely-visible ball crosses the line for another Bayern Munich goal during the final match day of the 1985-86 Bundesliga campaign at the Olympiastadion in West Germany; league champion Bayern Munich hammered die Fohlen by a final count of 6-0 to make up for the earlier loss that year featured in “Turn Back The Clock 25 Years.” (www.sat1.at)
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ERIK THORSTVEDT’s first success at the international level arrived at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games held in Los Angeles. Norway had actually finished third in their qualifying group but, as was the case with all Warsaw Pact nations, East Germany and Poland both boycotted the event which punched the Scandanvians ticket to the United States. Although Norway were knocked out early at the group stage of the Olympic competition, Thorstvedt’s efforts earned him first choice status thereafter for the full national team.
At 23, Thorstvedt signed a contract with West German Bundesliga club Borussia Moenchengladbach but was unable to establish himself during his tenure at the Boekelsbergstadion. The Norwegian made just nine league appearances his rookie season of 1985-86, sitting behind veteran ULI SUDE most of the time. The next year, Thorstvedt was beaten out by UWE KAMPS, two years his junior, for the number one shirt and only played in three Bundesliga games for die Fohlen.
Kamps would spend the next 14 seasons as the starting goalkeeper for Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Thorstvedt, all the while still # 1 in net for Norway, saw the hand-writing on the wall and, in the spring of 1987, transferred to IFK Goteborg in Sweden in order to get some first team football.
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Norway international goalkeeper ERIK THORSTVEDT, who represented his nation at the 1984 Summer Olympics and 1994 FIFA World Cup both held in the United States, tosses the ball back into play for English side Tottenham Hotspur at venerable White Hart Lane in north London.
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At the conclusion of the 1988 Allsvenskan season, Thorstvedt was on his way to London in December after having been signed by First Division side Tottenham Hotspur with a transfer fee of 400,000 English pounds being paid to IFK Goteborg.
It was in England that the Norwegian shot-stopper enjoyed the most successful period of his professional career.
Thorstvedt made 218 league appearances for Tottenham Hotspur from 1989 until a back injury forced his premature retirement in 1996.
Thorstvedt also made history by becoming the first player ever from Norway to earn a coveted and prestigous F.A. Cup winners’ medal after Tottenham Hotspur defeated Nottingham Forrest at Wembley in 1991.
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ERIK THORSTVEDT earned 97 caps in between the sticks for Norway over the course of his career and finished only seven international appearances shy of the national record held by Thorbjorn Svensson. (IFFHS.de photo)
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The high point of Thorstvedt’s international career came at the final tournament of the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Once again while playing in the United States, as was the case at the Olympics ten years earlier, the Norwegian goalkeeper distinguished himself with his fine form. Thorstvedt conceded just one goal in three games for Norway, who failed to advance beyond the group stage as a result of the Vikings own inability to put the ball in the net.
Thorstvedt’s final international cap for Norway was collected in the 2-0 defeat of Northern Ireland in Belfast on March 27, 1996.
