Franz
Beckenbauer started his final phase as Manager by adding a few touches to the
fine squad of the 1988 Euros.
Gone
was goalkeeper Eike Immel, who would not accept to be understudy to the new
number one goalkeeper, the young Bodo Illgner.
Matthias
Herget was also ultimately replaced by veteran Bayern Munich Captain Klaus
Aughentaler, who earned a recall in the Fall of 1989 after a 3-year absence.
Olaf
Thon, despite joining Bayern Munich, had not stepped up the occasion during the
Euros and this enabled the inclusion of Koln’s Thomas Haessler, who became a
mainstay of the National Team following the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Werder
Bremen striker Karl-Heinz Riedle also entered the fray to give competition to
Jurgen Klinnsman alongside already established Rudi Völler.
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Photo
From: Sport Bild, October 14, 1998
(Assistant Holger Osieck and Franz Beckenbauer) |
In
fact Riedle scored a minute into his debut vs. Finland, after coming on for
Dieter Eckstein, in the First World Cup qualifying match at the end of August
1988, that the Germans won 4 to 0.
Holger
Fach of Bayer Uerdingen also made his debut and played another four matches
into the following year, but was eventually dropped.
Lothar
Matthaus and Andreas Brehme joined Italy’s Internazionale Milano in the summer
of 1988 in a joint deal from Bayern Munich.
They
took to the Serie A with delight and took their game to a higher level by
playing key roles in Inter’s first Scudetto in nearly a decade.
For
this first post-Euros season (1988/89), West Germany played many tight
encounters in a difficult World Cup qualifying group.
They
were drawn with recent European Champions Holland, Wales and Finland.
Following
the relatively easy win vs. Finland, they played a Friendly in September vs.
USSR that was billed as Oleg Blokhin’s farewell to the Soviet national team.
With
Haessler, Klinnsman, Riedle and Fach on duty with the Olympic squad in Seoul
and Matthaus and Brehme unavailable, Beckenbauer presented a makeshift squad.
Matthias
Herget was recalled and played in his final match, as did Thomas Allofs,
brother of Klaus and Leverkusen’s Herbert Waas.
Bayer
Leverkusen’s Knut Reinhardt also earned his first cap.
Werder
Bremen midfielder Günter Hermann also earned his debut, though he would only
play one more time in a Friendly before the 1990 World Cup Finals.
Borussia
Dortmund’s young midfielder Andreas Möller also made his debut and he would go
on to serve Germany well into the next decade.
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Photo
From: Fussball Magazin, No. 4, April 1990
(Andreas Möller in his debut for West germany,
September 21, 1988, West Germany 1-USSR 0) |
This
experimental squad skippered by Littbarski in Matthaus’ absence, won by the
narrowest of margins with an own goal.
Following
the Olympics, the West Germans faced their biggest test, by hosting the Dutch
in a World Cup qualifier in Octobe at Munic’s Olympiastadion.
The
Germans in full strength were unable to breach the Dutch defense and the match
ended in a scoreless tie.
The
talking point of the match was the Germans refusal to swap jerseys with the
Dutch at the end of the match.
This
was in protest to Ronald Koeman’s disrespectful display with Olaf Thon’s
exchanged jersey, at the conclusion of their Euro semifinal in the previous
June, when he pretended to wipe his backside with the jersey.
The
Germans started the New Year (1989) by playing a Friendly vs. Bulgaria in Sofia
in March.
They
won 2 to 1 with goals by Völler and Littbarski.
This
was followed by another difficult qualifier in April vs. the Dutch in
Rotterdam.
By
now, Dortmund’s Möller was established in the National team set up and Riedle
had temporarily supplanted Klinnsman as Völler’s striking partner.
He
headed West Germany’s goal midway through the second half vs. the Dutch that
appeared to be the winner until Marco van Basten scored an equalizer in the
closing minutes.
Wolfgang
Rolff played his Final match for West Germany by coming on with a quarter of an
hour left.
 |
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989
(Karl-Heinz Riedle scoring, April 26, 1989,
World Cup Qualifier, Holland 1-West Germany 1) |
The
Germans ended the season by playing another difficult qualifier at Cardiff vs.
Wales.
Alois
Reinhardt of Leverkusen earned his first cap in a side captained by Völler in
Matthaus’ suspension.
The
West Germans started the World Cup season (1989/90) by playing a Friendly at
Dublin vs. Republic of Ireland in September.
Due
to the absence of the Italy based players, Beckenbauer selected another
makeshift squad.
The
match ended in a one to one tie with Hans Dorfner, in a rare outing, scoring for West Germany.
Dorfner’s
Bayern teammate and goalkeeper Raimond Aumann earned his debut by coming on in
the second half.
Bayern
Munich striker Ronald Wohlfarth also earned a recall, three years after his
debut, though it would be his last.
Holger
Fach also played in his last match for West Germany.
For
their next qualifier in October, they demolished Finland by a score of 6 to 1
in Dortmund.
By
now, Jurgen Klinnsman had joined Matthaus and Brehme at Internazionale Milano
in the Serie A and he celebrated his reclaimed starting position by scoring.
Andreas
Möller scored his first two goals for Germany and Littbarski, Völler and Matthaus
with a penalty rounded out the scoring.
Klaus
Aughentaler was recalled as Libero to the National team and would remain until
the end of the World Cup.
Dortmund’s
Frank Mill also earned a recall and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Uwe Bein made his
debut.
 |
Photo
From: Chronik des deutschen fussballs, 2005
(Jurgen Klinnsman, October 4, 1989, World Cup
Qualifier, West Germany 6-Finland 1) |
The
Final World Cup qualifier was in November vs. Wales in Koln.
Lothar
Matthaus was absent and Littbarski captained the side in his home stadium with
Dorfner, in his final match for West Germany, standing in for Matthaus.
The
match was played shortly a week after the Fall of the Berlin wall.
The
Germans had to win to qualify alongside the Dutch and the pressure was on.
After
going behind, the Germans equalized through Völler midway through the first
half.
Three
minutes into the second half, Thomas Haessler scored West Germany’s winner with
a brilliant first time volley and the Germans were through to the World Cup.
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Photo
From: Sport Bild, October 14, 1998, number 42
(Thomas Haessler scoring West Germany’s winner,
November 15, 1989, World Cup Qualifier, West Germany 2-Wales 1) |
West
Germany entered the World Cup year (1990) knowing that Franz Beckenbauer would
step down at the conclusion of the Tournament.
Their
first match of the New Year was a Friendly in February vs. France in
Montpellier that the Germans lost to 2 to 1.
Andreas
Möller scored Germany’s goal and Alois Reinhardt played his final match.
In
the weeks leading up to this match, Beckenbauer had attempted to recall veteran
Klaus Allofs, in fine form at Bordeaux, as a cover option as a striker but
Allofs turned him down.
Their
next Friendly was in April vs. Uruguay at Stuttgart.
The
match ended in a three to three tie with goals with Matthaus, Völler and
Klinnsman scoring for West Germany.
At
the end of the European League season in May, Franz Beckenbuaer assembled a
27-man squad to be trimmed to 22 before the deadline for Finals squad
selection.
On
May 14, 1990, Stefan Kuntz, Knut Reindhart, Hans Dorfner and Roland Grahammer
were dropped from West Germany’s pre-selection squad.
On
May 16, 1990, Holger Fach had to pull out through injury and the Final 22
players were set.
For
its two final Friendlies prior to the World Cup, West Germany played vs.
Czechoslovakia and Denmark in late May with matches ending in 1 to 0 wins.
For
the Denmark match, all the players who had made the World Cup Finals squad
played along with two who made their debuts.
These
included third goalkeeper Andreas Köpke and Koln defender Paul Steiner, in his
only appearance for West Germany.
West
Germany entered the World Cup in confident mood; the squad already contained
five players (Matthaus, Brehme, Klinnsman (at Inter) and Berthold, Völler (at
AS Roma) who played in the Serie A.
Another
two were due to join them next season, Haessler and Riedle had already signed
for Juventus and Lazio respectively.
The
West Germans were based in Milan, home to Matthaus, Brehme and Klinnsman’s club
Internazionale.
They
demolished Yugoslavia and the United Arab Emirates by the scores of (4-1) and
(5-1) respectively.
Captain
Lothar Matthaus stamped his authority by scoring three impressive long-range
efforts in both matches.
 |
Photo
From: Chronik des deutschen fussballs, 2005
(Lothar
Matthaus, June 15, 1990, World Cup, West Germany 5-United Arab Emirates 1)
|
Strike
partners Klinnsman and Völler scored in these matches as well.
They
rounded out the first round by tying Colombia one to one with an exciting last
few minutes where both teams scored.
The
Germans were paired with rivals Holland in the second round.
In
a match mostly remembered for the Rijkaard / Völler spitting and sending off
incident, West Germany defeated Holland 2 to 1 in an impressive display with
goals by Klinnsman and an a beautiful long range goal from Brehme.
In
the quarterfinals, West Germany defeated Czechoslovakia with a penalty kick by
Matthaus, in a comfortable match that they dominated and were rarely troubled.
Their
toughest match was perhaps in the Semifinals vs. England in Turin.
Littbarski
and Bein were carrying slight injuries, therefore Olaf Thon started in
midfield, as Beckenbauer insisted that to face England players have to be one
hundred percent fit.
The
Germans in Green uniforms scored first through a deflected free kick from
Brehme in the second half.
 |
Photo
From: Onze-Mondial, July 1990
(Andreas Brehme scoring,
July 4, 1990, World Cup, West Germany 1-England 1) |
They
seemed headed for victory when Gary Lineker snatched a late equalizer and the
match went to extra time.
The
extra time remained scoreless and the match was to be decided by a penalty kick
shoot-out. The West Germans showed their confidence by scoring in all their
four attempts and earned a place in the Final vs. Diego Maradona’s Argentina on
July 8, 1990.
This
marked the first time in World Cup history that the two previous Finalists were
paired again in a Final.
The
West Germans despite dominating the entire match were unable to breach the
Argentine defense intent on playing for a penalty kick shoot-out.
With
five minutes left, the Germans were awarded a controversial penalty kick after
Völler was fouled by Roberto Sensini in the box.
Andreas
Brehme scored from the ensuing penalty kick and the West Germans were World Cup
Champions for the third time in their history.
 |
Photo
From: Soccer International, August 1990
(Andreas Brehme, Pierre Littbarski and Lothar
Matthaus, July 8, 1990, World Cup, West Germany 1-Argentina 0) |
Franz
Beckenbauer became the First Player to win a World Cup as a Captain and
Manager. He became only the second player to do so, after Brazil’s Mario
Zagallo had achieved the feat in 1958 and 1970.
Incidentally,
both his first match as Manager in 1984 and this final match in 1990 were both
vs. Argentina managed by Carlos Bilardo.
 |
Photo
From: Chronik des deutschen fussballs, 2005
(West germany squad, July 8, 1990, World Cup,
West Germany 1-Argentina 0) |
He
left the West German National team in a much better shape than he started.
In
six years he had built a very good team that could only get strengthened with
the integration of former East German players with the impending re-unification
on the horizon.
Despite
this World Cup victory, team Management was perhaps not his strong suit and he
eyed Administrative Positions for his future.
A
few months later, he was tempted into Management by the persuasive Olympique
Marseille President Bernard Tapie.
He
joined the team as the season was already underway and was unable to make any
headway. After a number of negative results, he was moved upstairs as Technical
Director at OM and eventually left at the end of the season.
The
following season (1991/92), with Bayern Munich in the middle of one of its
worst seasons, he joined Bayern’s Board of Directors and eventually became Club
President in 1994.
Despite
two temporary Coaching stints with Bayern in 1994 and 1996, he has remained in
Administrative Positions and even become the DfB Vice President, as well as,
chairing the organizational committee for the 2006 World Cup hosted in Germany.
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Photo
From: Chronik des deutschen fussballs, 2005
(Franz Beckenbauer) |
