Thursday, March 17, 2011

Football Funnies


Primera División de España 1982 1983 Atletic Bilbao Espanol Barcelona

In 1981 the club appointed Javier Clemente  as manager. He soon set about putting together one of the most successful Athletic Bilbao teams in the clubs history. Young players from the cantera such as Santiago Urkiaga, Miguel De Andres, Ismael Urtubi, Estanislao Argote and Andoni Zubizarreta joined veterans Dani and Goikoetxea. 


In his first season in charge, Clemente led the team to 4th place in La Liga. In 1983 the club won La Liga and in 1984 they won a La Liga Copa del Rey double. In 1985 and 1986 Athletic finished 3rd and 4th respectively. Clemente’s Athletic acquired notoriety for its aggressive style of play, personified by hard man Goikoetxea. He favoured two defensive midfielders playing in front of twin centre backs and a sweeper and as a result critics regarded his teams as dour but effective.
Athletic Bilbao has failed to win a major trophy since the success of the Clemente era. A succession of coaches including José Ángel Iribar, Howard Kendall, Jupp Heynckes and Javier Irureta and even a returning Clemente failed to reproduce his success.

World Cup 1974 West Germany East Germany

Hamburg, Volksparkstadion
June 22nd 1974
1rst Stage
Attendance 60350
Referee Ramon Barreto (Uruguay)
Armando Marques (Brazil) Luis Pestarino (Argentina)

 

Group 1 contained both East and West Germany, and they both progressed at the expense of Chile and Australia. But the clash between the two Germanies caused a sensation, as the poor relations from the east pulled off a 1-0 win. The embarrassing result caused panic in the West German camp, despite the fact that they were safely through to the quarter-finals. Team captain Franz Beckenbauer held a crisis meeting with his team-mates, and appeared on television to try to explain what had happened to a shocked West German public. 

During the team's 38-year existence, East Germany qualified for just one World Cup: the 1974 tournament in West Germany. As it turned out, the draw for the first group stage of the tournament actually pitted them against West Germany, too, setting up the only significant meeting between the sides in history. After a solid first two games, both teams had already qualified for the second group stage, but this meeting in Hamburg was about much more than sporting success. The West Germans, winners of the 1972 European Championship, were said to have dismissed the East's chances ahead of the match, but they proved tough to break down and, in a match low on quality with a slew of missed chances, Jurgen Sparwasser's 77th-minute strike made the difference. The goal was used for political purposes for years afterwards, but Sparwasser denied suggestions he had been financially rewarded for his efforts and, feeling the strain of continued state exploitation, fled to West Germany shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall. "For us, it was just a game," he said in a 2006 interview. "Nothing political.