(Internazionale FC Milano’s West German midfielder Lothar Matthaus)
An article about West Germany’s preparations as host for the upcoming 1988 Euros, the article profile Olaf Thon as well as the Berlin Easter Tournament with matches vs. Argentina and Sweden
(Magazine / Language : Foot Magazine, May 1988 / French)
1-The injury-prone English Midfielder Darren Anderton earned his final five caps for England under five different managers.
November 18, 1998 -Friendly-England 2-Czechoslovakia 0Manager: Glenn Hoddle
February 10, 1999 –Friendly-England 0-France 2 Manager: Howard Wilkinson
September 2, 2000 –Friendly-France 1-England 1 Manager: Kevin Keegan
November 15, 2000 –Friendly-Italy 1-England 0 Manager: Peter Taylor
November 10, 2001 –Friendly-Sweden 1-England 1 Manager: Sven-Goran Eriksson
Photo from: World Soccer, April 1995
(Darren Anderton walking off the pitch in the abandoned match vs. Republic of Ireland on February 15, 1995)
2-During the 1938 World Cup Semi-Final between Italy and Brazil (won 2-1 by Italy), Italian Captain Giuseppe Meazza had his shorts’ elastic ripped by a Brazilian defender.
Therefore, he took his penalty kick while holding his shorts up with one hand.
While celebrating, his teammates made a circle around him so that he could change shorts.
Photo from: History of the World Cup Author Michael Archer
(Italian Captain Giuseppe Meazza, on the left, shaking hands with Hungarian Captain Gyorgy Sarosi prior to the World Cup Final, June 19, 1938, Italy 4-Hungary 2, along with French referee Georges Capdeville)
3-Months prior to the 1990 World Cup Finals, Senior Dutch players mutinied to have manager Thiijs Lijbregts dismissed and replaced as manager.
Lijbregts’ tactics were very unpopular with the squad, as well as his personal history with Captain Ruud Gullit during their time together at Feyenoord.
Since virtually the entire squad was in favor of his ouster, the Dutch Federation (KNVB) fired him.
The players had lobbied for Barcelona manager Johann Cruyff to be the manager for the finals.
However, the Federation appointed Ajax manager Leo Beenhakker.
Photo from: World Soccer, October 1990
(From left to Right, Leo Beenhakker, Thijs Lijbregts and Johann Cruyff)
4- In his entire career in Europe, Brazilian superstar Ronaldo only won one league title, The Spanish League title with Real Madrid in 2002/03.
Similarly, German striker Jurgen Klinnsman also won only one, The Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich in 1996/97.
In fact he cited the chance to win a league title as a reason why he left Tottenham Hotspurs after a successful season in 1994/95.
Photo from: World Soccer, June 2003
(Ronaldo, upon signing for Real Madrid in 2002)
Photo from: World Soccer, February 1997
(Jurgen Klinnsman with Bayern Munich)
5-In the fall of 1995, Juventus and Italian striker Gianluca Vialli had been out of the Italian national team set up for close to three years, due to his injuries as well as his disagreements with manager Arrigo Sacchi.
After an impressive 1994/95 season with Juventus, there was clamor for his recall.
In an interview, Arrigo Sacchi stated that he had been in fact in favor of his return in the previous spring, but most of the squad was opposed.
Upon hearing this, Vialli formally renounced the national team and angrily stated that in all his years as a professional he never knew a selection to the national team depended on other players.
Photo from: World Soccer, January 1996
(Gianluca Vialli with Juventus during 1995/96 season)
Uniform Colors: White Shirts, Green Shorts, White Socks
Scotland:
1-James Leighton (Aberdeen Football Club Limited) [38 caps / 0 goals]
2- Stephen Clarke (Chelsea Football Club-London / England) [3 caps / 0 goals]
3- Maurice Daniel Robert Malpas (Dundee United Football Club) [17 caps / 0 goals]
4- Robert Sime ‘Roy’ Aitken(The Celtic Football Club-Glasgow) [33 caps / 1 goals]
5-Alexander McLeish (Aberdeen Football Club Limited) [49 caps / 0 goals]
6- Gary Thompson Gillespie (Liverpool Football Club / England) [2 caps / 0 goals]
7-Stephen Nicol (Liverpool Football Club / England) [13 caps / 0 goals]
8- Paul Michael Lyons McStay (The Celtic Football Club-Glasgow) [25 caps / 5 goals](15-Gary Mackay (Heart of Midlothian Football Club-Edinburgh) [1 caps / 1 goals]57)
9- Graeme Marshall Sharp (Everton Football Club-Liverpool / England) [10 caps / 0 goals](16-Gordon Scott Durie (Chelsea Football Club-London / England) [1 caps / 0 goals]71)
10-Brian McClair (Manchester United Football Club / England) [5 caps / 0 goals]
11- Ian William Wilson (Everton Football Club-Liverpool / England) [4 caps / 0 goals]
Coach: Andrew Roxburgh
Booked: Clarke
Team Captain: Robert Sime ‘Roy’ Aitken
Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Umbro
Uniform Colors: Navy Blue Shirts, White Shorts and Navy Blue Socks
Notes:
-Match number 399 for Bulgaria and number 497 for Scotland.
-This was only the third meeting between the nations.
-Bulgaria has not defeated Scotland to date.
- The previous match between the nations was the first leg of this European Championship qualifier on September 10, 1986 in Glasgow that ended in a scoreless tie.
Scottish players: Leighton, Malpas, McStay and Aitken and Bulgaria players: Mikhailov, Nikolov, Petrov, Iliev, Simeonov, Sadkov, Aleksandrov, Sirakov and Voinov were the players still remaining from that match.
This was Scottish manager Andy Roxburgh’s first match as Scotland manager.
- Scotland’s previous win over Bulgaria had been a 2-1 win in a friendly in Glasgow on February 22, 1978.
This was also the first ever match between the nations.
Bulgaria’s Plamen Nikolov was the only player still remaining from that match.
In fact he earned his first national team appearance for Bulgaria in that match.
- This was the first ever match between the nations on Bulgarian soil.
- The next match between the nations, as well as the next in Sofia, would be a 1-1 tie in a UEFA European Championship Qualifier Friendly on November 14, 1990.
Bulgaria players: Mikhailov, Stoichkov, Penev and Sirakov and Scotland players: Malpas, Gillespie, Durie and McClair were the players still remaining from that match.
-Scotland’s next win over Bulgaria would be on Japanese soil (Kobe) for the 2006 Kirin Cup on May 11, 2006 and a 5-1 win.
Borislav Mikhailov’s son Nikolay also played as a goalkeeper in that match.
Hristo Stoichkov managed Bulgaria for that match.
-Bulgaria only needed to hold onto a tie to advance to the Euros in West Germany. Scotland’s win eliminated them and enabled Republic of Ireland to qualify.
-Republic of Ireland qualified from this UEFA European Championship qualifying group. Besides Scotland and Bulgaria, the rest of the group consisted of Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg.
-This was Scotland’s first away win since defeating Israel 1-0 in Tel Aviv on January 28, 1986. And it was their first away win in an official match since defeating Iceland in Reykjavik for a World Cup Qualifier on May 28, 1985.
-This was Bulgaria’s first home loss since losing to West Germany in a Friendly in Varna on February 15, 1984. This was also their first home loss in an official match since losing to Yugoslavia (0-1) in the same stadium for a European Champiosnhip Qualifier on November 17, 1982.
-Scotland players Maurice Johnston, Ally McCoist, Richard Gough, Murdo McLeod, Jim Bett and Gordon Strachan were unavailable for this match.
-Bulgaria captian Georgi Dimitrov was injured and unavailable for this match. Sirakov skippered in his place. Krasimir Bezinski took his place in the squad.
- Stephen Clarke is the current assistant manager of Liverpool FC.
-This was Scottish Gillespie’s only second cap. Both Scottish substitutes Mackay and Durie earned their first caps for Scotland. In Mackay’s case also his first goal.
-Plamen Nikolov was the only foreign based player on the Bulgarian team/.
-All Scotland players were British based.
-Scotland’s Gillespie/Nicol (Liverpool FC) and Sharp/Wilson (Everton FC) were Liverpool based.
-Bulgarians Petar Petrov and Ilia Voinov earned their last caps for Bulgaria.
-Both goalkeepers earned their 38th cap.
- Ljuboslav Penev has just been appointed as the manager of Bulgaria. His uncle Dimitar Penev is also a former manager of Bulgaria.
-Hristo Stoichkov has also managed Bulgaria.
- Alexander McLeish also became manager of Scotland.
-The match referee, the Austrian, Helmut Kohl (born February 8, 1943) was a namesake of then West German Chancellor, He passed away on September 26, 1991, aged 48.
- Borislav Mikhailov is the current president of Bulgaria’s Soccer Federation and is also on UEFA’s executive committee.
He played in the United Kingdom in the 1990s for Reading FC.
-Future European player of the year, Hristo Stoichkov had returned to active duty that season after being suspended for over 2 years for his part in the 1985 Bulgarian Cup Final brawl between CSKA and Levski.
-Mikhailov, Stoichkov and Sirakov were part of the Bulgaria squad that finished fourth in the 1994 World Cup.
-Neither team had up to this point qualified for the Finals of a UEFA Euro Championships. Scotland would manage it for the first time in 1992 (also 1996) and Bulgaria would do so in 1996.
- Petar Aleksandrov had to be substituted out because of a shoulder injury in a collision with Scottish defenders.
