Football Journey

The Bundesliga was still number one in Europe, but there were some changes detected: the threat to German superiority came from different directions. English clubs were seemingly stronger on international stage, Spain was buying better foreign players, and with the opening of the Italian market frugal German clubs had little chance of competing for top level foreign stars. At the same time German football became too physical and thus less attractive, bringing some cynicism to the game – winning, no matter how, was all that mattered. Yet German football was still the best.

Not at the bottom of the Bundesliga, of course. Seven clubs tried to escape relegation, some were ‘the usual suspects’, some were unexpected outsiders. Eventually 4 of them survived: MSV Duisburg finished 12th, Fortuna (Dusseldorf), going down after a number of strong years, ended 13th, 1. FC Nurnberg was lucky to stay in the league – 14th, and the same applies to Arminia (Bielefeld) – 15th.

TSV 1860 (Munchen) was perhaps unlucky to end 16th and relegated, but they finished one point behind Arminia and, more importantly, the club faded during the 1970s and joined the group of so-so clubs too strong for second division and too weak for top flight. Going down was hardly a surprise and apart from leaving the Bundesliga once again without local derby, the only interesting thing about this squad was Rudi Voller – young and not yet noticed talented striker. Of course, today everybody knows his name, but his fame was still in the future – presently, he was going to taste second division football.

The last in the table was not a surprise either, especially because they dropped out of the race for survival early and finished with just 22 points.

Bayer (Uerdingen) already were among the so-so clubs, although of the two ‘aspirins’, belonging to Bayer, they were the stronger club at first and so far had bigger presence than Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. But it was only statistical superiority – the reality was different and clearly Uerdingen was not going to be impressive club, but the opposite. Nothing unusual they finished last.

If two of the relegated teams were expected outsiders, the third one was unpleasant surprise. True, Schalke 04 was going down since their unfortunate involvement in the bribing scandal of the early 1970s, but this was old, successful, popular club – not one to sunk that low, but they did, finishing 17th and like Bayer (Uerdingen), even throwing down the gloves at some time of the championship – Schalke 04 ended with just a point more than Bayer, the worst attack and the worst defense in the league.

It could have been wrong coach – the 1960s Yugoslavian star Jusufi never became a great coach – but if so, it was just the last drop in the bucket. Schalke 04 was far cry from the exciting team they were less than 10 years ago and to this very day they depended on players from that old team – players, who already too old to keep the club afloat. Fischer, Russmann, and Nigbur – the old guard was just too old by now. So were additions like Danner and Beer – their best days were already gone. So were the foreign stars, recruited recently – the former Yugoslav national team player Vilson Dzoni and the Austrian winger Kurt Jara. Both were at their prime years ago, around 1974, and now the calendar said 1980. After Werder (Bremen), another original member of the Bundesliga went down – name itself was not a guarantee for staying among the best and the the number of original members of the league was reduced to 5 clubs.

Across the league – different fates, but regress was observed in Fortuna (Dusseldorf).

Fortuna was one of the strongest German clubs during the 1970s and only two years ago was expected to become one of the main favourites. But progress halted – the team was not getting better, just the opposite. Otto Reghagel coached Fortuna in 1980-81, but the young then coach hardly improved the team: it was based on getting too old stars Seel and Zewe, local heroes, also beyond their prime, Baltes and Daniel, and the Alofs brothers, who were certainly to be among the big stars of the 1980s, but unable to improve Fortuna. The team finished 13th this season.

In the opposite direction was going Borussia (Dortmund), which had miserable 1970s.

Under Udo Lattek, bearded by now, Borussia finished 7th this year, but the future looked very optimistic, for the squad was good – Geyer, Burgsmuller, Abramczik, Freund, and the Islandic import Edvaldsson were more than strong backbone and perhaps with few talented additions Borussia would be able to compete for the title.

For the moment, 4 clubs competed for it: 1. FC Kaiserslautern, VfB Stuttgart, Hamburger SV, and Bayern. During the championship the group broke down to two pairs – Kaiserslautern and Stuttgart fought for the bronze medals and HSV and Bayern – for the gold.

At the end, Kaiserslautern was 4th. It was fair finish: unstable, one year up the next down, Kaiserslautern had a strong season and the players to keep it on top – Geye, Bongartz, Hellstrom, Pirrung, Wendt, and the new bright star Briegel. They also had a talented coach – Feldkamp. But the squad was weaker than the opposition and with the exception of Briegel and may be the Austrin Riedl, the key figures were old news, already going downhill. Small consolation – Kaiserslautern finished with the best defensive record in the league.

Stuttgart bested Kaiserslautern by 2 points. Bright team, steadily climbing up, but not yet at its peak. The veterans were foreign – the Yugoslavian Holcer and the Austrian Hattenberger – but their roles were no longer central: Stuttgart was lead by group of players already recognized for stars and certainly the names of 1980s football: Hansi Muller and the Forster brothers. Add Ohlicher, Allgower, and Roleder. Hidden in the squad and hardly noticed by anyone was a player who never became a star, but made Germany World champion in 2014 – Low.

Hamburger SV and Bayern raced for the title and at the end Bayern prevailed, leaving HSV 4 points behind.

Hamburger lost and it was not a matter of class – it was just not their year. Kevin Keegan was no longer with the club, but the squad was excellent – Magath, Kaltz, Hrubesch, Buljan were the world class leaders of the team, followed by plethora of younger talent – Stein, von Heesen, Jakobs, Hieronymus, Hartwig, Milewski, Groh, Wehmeyer. Three veterans of the beginning of the rise in 1975 were still here, just in case – Reimann, Hidien, and Memering. And after Happel another great coach was at the helm – Branko Zebec. Second place was disappointing, but only for the moment – the team was great and going to stay as leading German club. And not only German leader.

Bayern – champion, nothing new. But this title was significant because the new Bayern was firmly established – after a full remake, Bayern had new great team thanks to Pal Cernai. An Yugoslav made the first great Bayern and Hungarian – the second. But it was not at all similar to the first: the old one was made from scratch; the second one was actually built on the ashes of the first one. Paul Breitner was the heart of the team, with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge the second leader. Breitner was part of the first successful Bayern, Rummenigge played with the giants when they neared the end. Both were practically from the old days and along with them were few others – Durnberger, Horsmann, and Kraus . Second-rate players, once upon a time just reserves with little chance for playing (Kraus), or inconsistant (Horsmann). Durnberger was the unsung hero of the old guard – not a great player, but sturdy and dependable, who not only ready to plug any holes, no matter the position, but was important part of the winning team. The rest of the new team was a mixed bag of no longer young talented players, who made their names elsewhere – Del’Haye and Janzon, late discoveries – Dieter Muller, and young talent, still too young to be consistent – Dremmler, Augenthaler, Mathy, Pgluger. This was entirely German squad, unlike the first great Bayern, which always had at least one foreigner among the regulars – now the only import was a deep reserve from Finland – Rautainen. The team was strong, but without much flair – it depended on strength and determination, and on physical superiority. Creativity was left entirely to Breitner and Rummenigge was expected to score the goals. Which he did, promptly finishing as top league scorer for a second consecutive year. If there was a weak spot, it was between the goalposts: of course, it was very difficult to find acceptable goalkeeper after Sepp Maier, but so far Bayern was unable to get a strong one. Junghans and Manfred Muller shared the goalkeeping duties for now, but neither was good enough and Bayern not only was looking in need of strong goalkeeper, but they were looking for one. As a whole, not as great as the first Bayern was, but who could blame champions?

Casually looking champions – winners looking so confident were surely at the top of the world and going to stay there. Were they really? So far – 7 titles.

 

The Southern group was not so clear. Without relegated from top flight team, the race was wide open and without familiar favourites. Perhaps Kickers (Offenbach) was considered a favourite on the strength of their not along ago good years in the Bundesliga. But those years were gone and although Kickers was among the best teams, they were not the strongest. A rather surprising name won the league and quite easily at that: Darmstadt 98.

Second division teams hardly ever have well known players and Darmstadt had none, but they were well above the rest of the league, finishing 5 points ahead of the next pursuer. They did not have neither the best attack, nor the best defense in the league, but were unbeatable at home and the best away record in the 2 Liga Sud. 24 wins, 7 ties, and 7 losses – winning made them best: the next clubs in the table won just 19 matches. May be not a very promising team, may be just lucky to play in a weak league, but Darmstadt made the best of the circumstances and unquestionable deserved the first place. Good for them – Darmstadt was going to Bundesliga for a second time.

Five clubs competed for the second place – at the end 5 points divided them. With 45 points SV 07 Waldhof finished 6th. The other losers were SSV Ulm 46 – 5th, Hessen (Kassel) – 4th, Stuttgarter Kickers – 3rd. Kickers (Offenbach) finished 2nd with 50 points – 2 more than Stuttgarter Kickers.

Obviously, Kickers (Offenbach) wanted to return to the Bundesliga, but were unable to finish first – perhaps not surprising, for they hardly had the team for that. Still they had a chance for promotion – they were going to the play-off for just that.

As a matter of curiousity, one club had their first and last season in the second division:

EfB Eppingen debuted this season, but going down right away was not misfortune due to the transformation of the second division – the newcomers finished last and faced relegation even in the old format. Yet, they were the only club left of a single participation in the second division this season.

Clarity ends right here. 2 Liga Sud got 9 spots in the new single division. It was clear in the North – all depended on the final place in the table. In the South it was mysteriously different… Stuttgarter Kickers – 3rd, Hessen Kassel – 4th, SV Waldhof – 8th, SC Freiburg – 8th, and SpVgg Bayreuth -10th moved to the new single division, according to their final positions. But…

SSV Ulm 46 – 5th,

Eintracht (Trier) – 8th, and

FC Homburg – 11th, did not get spots in the new division. Perhaps they did not meet financial requirements, but who knows. Instead of them

Wormatia (Worms) – 12th, and

SpVgg Furth – 14th, appeared in the new single second division. For some reason final table did not play a role in determination of those who stayed in the second division. Of course, most mysterious was the disappearance of SSV Ulm 46, who were among the candidates for promotion in 1980-81. So much for the changes.

The winners were directly promoted, what remained was the play-off for the last promotional spot. Kickers (Offenbach) and Eintracht (Braunschweig) met twice for that. Eintracht won 2-0 at home and lost the second match in Offenbach – but only 0-1. Thus Kickers remained in second division and Eintracht (Braunschweig) moved up, returning to top flight and hoping to stay there.

 

West Germany remained the number one championship in Europe, but a change was coming, concerning the second level: 1980-81 was the last season with 2 Second League groups. A convention of DFB met on June 7, 1980 to discuss the issue and decision for single division was voted 84 to 77. Narrow win, but decision was good: 42 cubs played in the second professional level currently – 20 in the Northern Division and 22 in the Southern one. Most of them were not competitive enough and professional football was too much for them. Since the second professional level was introduced in 1974, its contribution was hardly great. Instead of strong teams pushing their way into the Bundesliga a group of clubs not so strong to keep their place among the best, but far stronger than most of the second level members formed. It became quite clear that there was a group of stronger teams existed in second level, but not strong enough to change anything in the Bundesliga. In the same time various small clubs came from and quickly returned to the regional championships without leaving a trace. Second level did not produce many talented players too. Reduction was sensible – a new 20-team single division would be strong and competitive enough without the financial strains for many small clubs. Not everybody believed that, but those wanting a change won. That meant a number of changes: 22 teams were to be relegated at the end of the season. Thus, many clubs were motivated to fight for a place in the new league – especially those with some fame from bigger cities. No teams were to be promoted from the regional leagues – this seemed unfair, but necessary. Three teams were still going up to the Bundesliga – replaced by the three relegated at the end of the season. So far, so good… the problem was how to make twenty-team league. With 3 newcomers from the top league, 17 places remained – uneven number, which automatically made unclear which 10th placed team of which division will stay in the single league. One look at the next year table immediately shows discrepancies – at the end, it is unclear why some teams were in and others out, but about this later. The season started and naturally the biggest issue was promotion. As before, the champions of each division were promoted directly and the second placed teams played a promotional play-off for the third spot. As luck had it, all relegated in 1979-80 season were from the North, making this division stronger. A rather big group of former Bundesliga members: Hertha (West Berlin), Eintracht (Braunschweig), Hannover 96, Rot Weiss (Essen), Tennis Borussia (West Berlin), topped by Werder (Bremen), relegated for the first time from the big league. These clubs were expected to compete for the promotional spots and actually most of them did – to a point: actually, three teams competed for the top two places, leaving everybody else far behind. Werder, Eintracht (Braunschweig), and Hertha – the first two just relegated, and Hetha – relegated one year earlier, in 1979. Apart from the battle between these three clubs, the season was marked by very high scoring – especially when compared to the scores in South. Hertha scored 123 goals! Eintracht (Braunschweig) – 102 goals. Rot Weiss (Essen) – 99 and Werder – 97 goals. OSV Hannover, the last in the table, was also the lowest scoring team this year with 41 goals. As it happened, the lowest scoring team was in highest scoring division.

Four points separated the top teams at the end.

Hertha lost the battle, finishing 3rd with 64 points. By now, Hertha lost all good players of her strong years not long ago, but still was better team than most in the league – having 2 Yugoslavian imports and one very exotic player: the first player from Thailand to play in Germany and very likely the first Thai to play professionally in Europe. Witthaya Hloagune – or Laohakul – joined Hertha in 1979. 1980-81 was the last season for the Asian midfielder in West Berlin – after the season he was transferred to Saarbrucken. Anyhow, Hertha lost the chance for promotion by a single point – Eintracht (Braunschweig) finished with 65 points.

Just relegated from the top league, Eintracht was eager to return to top flight immediately. It was familiar situation for Eintracht and for their loyal goalkeeper Franke, who lost his place in the 1974 national team because his club was not in the top division. Franke was one of the best West German goalkeepers in the 1970s, but playing for a weak club. The same misfortune happened to the Yugoslavian national team winger Popivoda and to the Swedish national team player Borg. As a whole, Eintracht was stronger than Hertha, but no as good as Werder – second place still kept them hoping for promotion. If they won the play-off against the 2nd placed in the Southern division.

Werder won 2. Liga Nord with 68 points. 30 wins, 8 ties, and only 4 lost matches. The best defense and the 4th best scorers in the league. Werder was relegated in 1879-80 season, but unlike Eintracht and other similar clubs, who were never strong enough to stay among the best for long, Werder most likley just had misfortunate season. No wonder they were ambitious leave the second division right away and promptly won the championship. Well known coach – Klotzer – and plethora of star players: Burdenski, Reinders, Fichtel, and once again coming back from Belgium Kostedde. For the record, so far, this is the only season Werder played in the second division.

The lower placed were important only in terms of the next year single league membership. Liga Nord got 8 places in the new single division – hard to say why, although one place was really questionable. Since Liga Nord was stronger this season, may be they should have been allowed 9th team . Anyhow, they were not and the teams from 3rd to 10th place became members of the new single second division: Hertha, Hannover 96, Alemania, VfL Osnabruck, Union (Solingen), Rot Weiss (Essen), Fortuna (Koln), and Wattenscheid 09. If anyhting, there was order and nothing confusing.

Perhaps Viktoria (Koln) was unlucky – they finished 11th, a point behind Wattenscheid 09.

The last European competition – the Super Cup.

Strange looking trophy, which few took seriously. This year it should have been a clash between Liverpool and Dinamo Tbilisi. However, the Super Cup was not contested.

 

The UEFA Cup was much more entertaining than Cup Winners Cup and started with number of upsets. Manchester United was eliminated by unfancied Widzew (Lodz). Woolverhampton Wanderers lost to PSV Eindhoven. But the biggest surprise came from Bulgaria – Levski-Spartak (Sofia) had tough draw, Dinamo (Kiev), and, as usual, the Bulgarians were expected to lose without much of a fight. There was no worries in Soviet media: Dinamo practically had to look for the second round. Even when the first leg finished there was no real alarm: the match in Kiev ended 1-1 and the Bulgarians scored first, but Dinamo was seen as vastly superior and missed many opportunities. Just focus on scoring.

Levski-Spartak and Dinamo Kiev come out to start the second leg in Sofia. Note the Bulgarian goalkeeper on the left – early in the first game the regular keeper Staykov was injured and replaced by Vlado Delchev, young inexperienced goalie. He was perfect in both games.

The second leg ended 0-0. Perhaps the shock was so big, so no real criticism appeared in the Soviet press: Levski-Spartak was still judged a weak team, Dinamo – much better, but… failing to score and punished for that rather harshly. For a second time Bulgarian team eliminated the flagman of Soviet football, something unthinkable. Jumping a few years ahead, the same Levski-Spartak was ordered to lose to Dnepr (Dnepropetrovsk) and did so promptly – there was not going to be any more funny stuff: beating Big Brother twice was way too much. However, the heroic disobedience was lost to many, because of the great performance of CSKA (Sofia) at the same time – they eliminated Nottingham Forest, the holders of the European Champions Cup.

The tournament went ahead with some more surprises, but also with predictable results as well. Levski-Spartak was completely destroyed by the new wonder of Dutch football – AZ’67. The first leg ended 1-1 and at home AZ’67 just scored and scored to a final 5-0 victory. Hamburger SV eliminated PSV Eindhoven in the second round, but the real upset came from another pair: 1.FC Koln vs Barcelona. Barcelona won the first leg in Koln 1-0 and seemingly they already qualified. But the Germans did not think so and thrashed Barcelona at their scared stadium 4-0.

West German football suffered big defeat at the 1/8 finals – 4 teams reached this stage, something everybody was used to see after 1975, and three of them were expected to go ahead. One team was to be eliminated, for Lady Luck played quite a few jokes this season, pairing strong teams against each other at early stages. This time VfB Stuttgart was paired with 1. FC Koln, so one German team was going to be out no matter what. Stuttgart lost by one goal. But Hamburger SV was expected to win againt Saint Ettienne, which was not really as strong, as it was a few years back. Not so strong… the French finished one of the strongest European teams at that time in Hamburg – 5-0! The second leg was no longer important, but St. Etienne won again – 1-0. The French were bad luck for the Germans: the modest Sochaux eliminated Eintracht (Frankfurt), after losing the first leg 2-4. At home, they won 2-0. The other two teams unexpectedly eliminated at this stage were still strong Torino, losing to Grasshoppers after penalty shoot-out, and bright and promising Real Sociedad, losing to middle-of-the-road Lokeren.

The quarter-finalists looked somewhat strange, considering some of the club names starting the tournament, but whoever is strong should win on the field. Ones again there was ‘unfair’ draw: Sochaux vs Grasshopper was the weakest pair. Standard (Liege) had the tough luck to play against 1. FC Koln – and lost. St. Etienne faced Ipswich Town and also lost. AZ’67 eliminated Lokeren, as expected, but at least AZ’67 was already noticed for playing strong and attractive football. They were lucky in the semi-finals, drawing Sochaux. The French played bravely, but managed only to lose minimally – 1-1 at home and 2-3 away. Ipswich Town vs 1. FC Koln was perhaps unfair draw… should have been the final. Or may be not: the English won both legs 1-0.

AZ’67 (Alkmaar) vs Ipswich Town (Ipswich). Neither club had won anything on continental level before. Like the Cup Winners Cup finalist, the UEFA Cup was contested between new names – either weakening of the big European clubs, or change of guard, introducing a new order. Yet, it was familiar final – Dutch and English teams ruled European football at least for 10 years. Ipswich Town was climbing up roughly since 1975, so it was about time for something big. AZ’67 were bright newcomers, quickly going up – their policy of gathering big Dutch names was somewhat unusual, but it worked just fine. It was hard to say which team was the favourite – both were strong, ambitious, at their best, and full of very good players. To a point, it was to be Dutch against Dutch, for the key players of Ipswich were Arnold Muhren and Frans Thijssen. Perhaps Ipswich Town was slightly favoured to win, because of the lingering inferiority the Dutch felt to English football. But one thing was sure: the finals were going to be highly entertaining. And the teams did not disappoint.

In front of 27 500 enthusiastic crowd, Ipswich stepped on high gear at home on May 6.

AZ’67 fought back, but were busy with defending.

The Brits were unstoppable, however. They scored a goal in the 28th minute and in the second half added 2 more.

The English Dutch were excellent – here Frans Thijssen clearly dominates his compatriot, playing for the other team. He scored the second goal of the match. Ipswich got huge advantage at home.

Final 1st Leg, Portman Road, Ipswich, 6 May 1981, att 27532

 

Ipswich Town (1) 3 AZ ’67 (Alkmaar) (0) 0

28′ 1-0 I: Wark (pen)

46′ 2-0 I: Thijssen

56′ 3-0 I: Mariner

 

Ipswich Town: Cooper; Mills, Osman, Butcher, McCall; Thijssen, Wark, A.Mühren; Mariner,Brazil, Gates

AZ ’67 (Alkmaar): Treytel; Van der Meer, Metgod, Spelbos, Hovenkamp; Peters, Jonker, Arntz, Nygaard (Welzl); Kist, Tol

Before the second leg AZ’67 coach Kesler stated that his team practically has no chance. It was not a statement of giving up, however: Kesler added that his team had no other option, but to move entirely into attack – all or nothing, all caution abandoned as meaningless under the circumstances. The approach was risky and Ipswich quickly took advantage of it. Frans Thijssen scored the first goal in Amsterdam, where the second leg was played, because Alkmaar had small stadium. Game over in the 4th minute… the Dutch did not think so. They equalized three minutes later and went ahead in the 25th minute, when Metgod scored a second goal.

John Wark scored his second goal in the finals in the 32nd minute, equalizing the result. In the 40th minute Tol made it 3-2 for AZ’67. The Dutch were still fighting against the odds, but 5 goals in the first half were wonderful for the fans and the way the match was going the second half was promissing even more fun. AZ’67 continued to attack and in the 70th minute Jonker scored their 4th goal. 4-2.

Ipswich never dug themselves in the back, but used every opportunity to attack – here Eric Gates troubles the Dutch defense. But it was 4-2 at the end.

Final 2nd Leg, Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, 20 May 1981, att 28500

 

AZ ’67 (Alkmaar) (3) 4 Ipswich Town (2) 2

4′ 0-1 I: Thijssen

7′ 1-1 A: Welzl

25′ 2-1 A: Metgod

32′ 2-2 I: Wark

40′ 3-2 A: Tol

74′ 4-2 A: Jonker

 

AZ ’67 (Alkmaar:Treytel; Reynders, Metgod, Spelbos, Hovenkamp; Peters, Jonker, Arntz, Nygaard; Welzl (Talan), Tol (Kist)

Ipswich Town: Cooper; Mills, Osman, Butcher, McCall; Thijssen, Wark, A.Mühren; Mariner, Brazil, Gates.

Ipswich Town won 5-4 on aggregate, but even if they lost by three goals the second leg, they were going to win thanks to their away goals. AZ’67 really had no chance, but must be credited for maiing everything possible to change the result in their favour.

One may be sorry for AZ’67, but Ipswich Town was really deserving winner and Mick Mills got the UEFA Cup.

After Mills received the Cup, it was the usual English happiness.

Followed by drinking adult beverages from the same cup in the dressing room. Who can blame Ipswich Town? They won fair and square.

Lovely losers, but losers. Standing from left: Hovenkamp, Metgod, Van Der Meer, Spelbos, Jonker, Treytel.

Crouching: Tol, Arntz, Peters, Nygaard, Kist.

AZ’67 reached its peak, but was unable to win the UEFA Cup. One may argue that they were lucky and had easy road – playing against Red Boys Differdange (Luxembourg), Levski-Spartak (Bulgaria), Radnicki Nis (Yugoslavia), Lokeren (Belgium), and Sochaux (France) – but they reached the final with 6 wins, 3 ties, and lost only the second leg against Lokeren 0-1. They scored 29 goals and received 9 – truly attacking and high scoring team. At the end, Ipswich outscored them only by one goal and the Dutch failed to score in just 2 games during the campaign. True, the club came out practically from nowhere, but the players they had were not at all anonymous: about 10 firmer, current, and future Dutch national team players appeared in the finals. Add the Austrian national team striker Welzl. Treytel, Hovenkamp, Metgod, Spelbos, Peters were already well known names. Arntz, Tol, Jonker were just becoming known. Kees Kist was currently the best scorer in Europe. The team was no joke, had plenty of experience, had ambitious players and if there was something on the negative side, it was the predicament of any small club: AZ’67 was going to sell players too good for such a club. Reaching European final could only speed up the inevitable. They gathered good players, but there was no way to add more class to the squad. Too bad, though – during this season AZ’67 were exciting team, perhaps the most exciting on the continent. Unfortunately, they had Englsih opponent at its prime.

Ipswich Town were more than worthy winners.

The victory was a great recognition for the work Bobby Robson had done – slowly and carefully, he built the excellent squad, which reached its peak this year. As for Robson, he established himself as one of the leading coaches in the world with this victory – which was in a way too bad for Ipswich, for Robson was not going to stay much longer with the club: he was already hot commodity. As for the players, Kevin Beattie was perhaps the only player beyond his peak and on the way down. John Wark, Alan Brazil, Russell Osman, and Paul Cooper were perhaps at their peak just at that time. Terry Butcher, George Burley, and to a point Allan Hunter were not yet at their peak, but near. Mick Mills was the great captain and constant feature of the Engliah national team. Solid squad to begin with, but two fantastic additions made it really great: at the time English coaches were reluctant of foreign players, Bobby Robson made a big step ahead – he bought two Dutch midfielders, trusted them, and they not only delivered, but became great stars of 1980s English football. What an eye Robson had – Frans Thijssen and Arnold Muhren were hardly among the big names of Dutch football in the 1970s. Their careers at home were rather modest and they were no longer young promising players. To buy them was risky… but the Dutch invigorated Ipswich’s midfield, quickly became the playmakers of the team, adding continental creativity to normally unimaginative English midfield football. As for fitness and toughness – they lacked neither. Their addition was the finest final touch of Robson’s creation – and with them came the biggest triumph of Ipswich Town. Lovely winners of UEFA Cup.

Cup Winners Cup continued to suffer: the tournament was constantly losing people’s interest, because the teams were weaker and there was no way to change that. This season the stronger clubs were few: Valencia, Roma, Feyenoord, Celtic, West Ham United, Benfica, and Fortuna Dusseldorf. The favourites were expected to go far easily and one of them to win, but none was particularly strong leading European club at the moment. Predictions were quickly destroyed: Celtic and Roma were eliminated in the first round. Celtic lost on away goal to Romanian Politehnica (Timisoara) and may have been unlucky, but Roma won its opening home match 3-0 and was seen as sure winner. Their East German opponent Carl Zeiss (Jena) managed incredible come back in the second leg, destroying the Italians 4-0. Two favourites out after the first round and in the second they were three – Carl Zeiss again was destroyer, this time of the reigning cup holder Valencia. Carl Zeiss took big advantage at home – 3-1 – and Valencia, not the most exciting team anyway, managed to win only 1-0 at home, so they were eliminated. Two more casualties in the ¼ finals: one was inevitable, for the draw paired Fortuna and Benfica. Benfica managed to end the opening match in Dusseldorf 2-2 and improved on their small advantage at home, beating the West Germans 1-0. Meantime West Ham United faced Dinamo (Tbilisi) . The Soviets were good, and the English hardly at their best, but English clubs ruled European football in the recent years and West Ham was expected to win. What a surprise: Dinamo thrashed them 4-1 in London. The second leg was more or less mere protocol – West Ham won, but only 1-0 and was out. Feyenoord had an easy draw – Slavia (Sofia). They lost the first match in Bulgaria 2-3, but there were no worries: two away goals favoured the Dutch and they won confidently in Rotterdam 4-0. One thing to keep in mind from this clash: Feyenoord discovered Slavia’s striker and captain Andrey Zhelyazkov and few years later bought him. Arguably, Zhelyazkov became the biggest and most successful Bulgarian transfer of the 1980s – he played well for Feyenoord and after that for two other West European clubs. Cral Zeiss had the easiest draw at this stage: Newport County from Wales. After playing against Roma and Valencia, this opponent should have been a leisurely walk in the par, but instead happened to be the most difficult challenge Carl Zeiss faced. Newport extracted a 2-2 draw in Jena and Carl Zeiss had to win the second match – they did with difficulties, a measly 1-0.

The draw for the semi-finals practically spelled out the finalists: Carl Zeiss vs Benfica and Dinamo Tbilisi vs Feyenoord. So, Benfica and Feyenoord would meet at the final… it was not to be: the East European teams got strong leads after their opening home games. Carl Zeiss won 2-0 and Dinamo – 3-0. The Westerners were unable to come back – they won at home, but both teams fell a goal short: Benfica won 1-0 and Feyenoord 2-0. All favourites were eliminated – usually a victory of the underdogs are nice and pleasant surprise, but not this time: it was just one more nail in the coffin of the Cup Winners Cup. The final in Dusseldorf was going to be played practically without audience: Soviet and East German fans were not allowed to travel to the West and neutral public was not going either – neither finalist attracted foreign viewers. Two very small and carefully selected groups came from USSR and DDR and this final one of the least attended in the history of the tournament with 9000 attendees – only the 1964 final between Sporting (Lisbon) and MTK (Budapest) was attended by less, 3000 people. It was inevitable: Eastern European countries did not allow people to travel abroad and little known clubs did not attract Westerners. As a result, the final became the forgotten one – few paid attention at the time and even fewer remember it today. Which is ironic, because the final was lively and entertaining. Both teams were unable to field their best lines: Dinamo’s captain Shota Khinchagashvili was suspended for yellow cards received in the previous games and Carl Zeiss had two starters injured – Konrad Weise and Martin Trocha. There were fears that three more Georgians would not be able to play because of injuries and sickness – Sulakvelidze, Chivadze, and Gabelia – but the team doctor managed to get them on their feet. The opponents were quite different in their making and style: the East Germans depended on well established veterans, well known for their play for the national team of DDR – Grapentin (37 years old), Vogel (38), Kurbjuweit (30), Lindemann (31). They were very disciplined and fit squad, dedicated to attacking football, but a bit predictable. In defense, they employed personal marking, which was risky approach. Dinamo Tbilisi was slightly younger and much more exciting team, lead a great midfielder – David Kipiani. As a team, Dinamo was at its peak, playing fast attacking football. The Georgians were very skillful, creative and loved to improvise – a team difficult to beat and full of Soviet national team players (Kipiani, Chivadze, Sulakvelidze, Shengelia, Daraselia, Gutzaev, Gabelia). Observers favoured Dinamo, but not by much. It was not expected to be attractive game, which happened to wrong – whoever watch the final was pleasantly surprised by the fast, open, attacking match, full of scoring chances. At first the Germans pushed ahead and slightly dominated the match for 30 minutes. Eventually Dinamo equalized the game and had the upper hand to the end, but not for a moment there was big dominance of one team. Both goalkeepers were busy and made great saves. Carl Zeiss pressured the Georgians, but they were more dangerous on counter-attacks, thanks to their technicality and creativity. To a point, Carl Zeiss suffered from their defensive scheme – personal marking did not work well against imaginative and very skillful players. The Germans had problems when their attacks were broken – gaps opened, which immediately were used by the Georgians for dangerous counter-attacks. No wonder Grapentin was the best German player – the collective approach did not allow to any field player to shine. On the other side Shengelia, Daraselia, Gutzaev shined with their quick improvisations and Kipiani was clearly the star of the game.

Almost no pictorial material exists from this final – no wonder, for the picture shows the empty stands. Time was running and there was no goal – both goalkeepers were outstanding. The first goal was scored in the second half, when Dinamo was clearly the stronger – but the goal was in their net. In the 63rd minute the central defender of Carl Zeiss Hoppe scored wonderful goal. Dinamo equalized 4 minutes later – one more excellent goal, thanks to Gutzaev. In the 87th minute they scored again – Daraselia was the hero this time.

Everybody celebrates the second goal and scorer Daraselia cannot be seen. Three minutes were not enough for any change – there was no extra time. Dinamo won and rightly so – they were the better team and it was only just. Carl Zeiss played well and had their chances, but Dinamo deserved the victory and got it. The second all-East European final ended as the first one: the Soviet club won.

Final, Rheinstadion, Dusseldorf, 13 May 1981, att 9000

 

Dynamo Tbilisi (0) 2 Carl Zeiss Jena (0) 1

63′ 0-1 C: Hoppe

67′ 1-1 D: Gutsayev

86′ 2-1 D: Daraselia

 

Dynamo Tbilisi: Gabelia; Kostava, Chivadze, Khisanishvili, Tavadze; Svanadze

(Kakilashvili), Sulakvelidze, Daraselia; Gutsayev, Kipiani, Shengelia

Carl Zeiss Jena: Grapenthin; Brauer, Kurbjuweit, Schnuphase, Schilling; Hoppe (Övermann), Krause, Lindemann; Bielau (Töpfer), Raab, Vogel.

Captain Chivadze lifts the Cup Winners Cup.

Happy Georgians, no matter the empty stadium.

Tamaz Kostava, one of the lesser known players, proudly poses with the cup.

David Kipiani, the genius midfielder, with the cup – perhaps the most deserving player.

Worthy finalists, standing from left: Eberhard Vogel, Jurgen Raab, Andreas Bielau, Rudiger Schnuphase, Gerhard Hoppe, Hans-Ulrich Grapentin, Lothar Kurbjuweit.

First row: Wolfgang Shilling, Lutz Lindemann, Gerd Brauer, Andreas Krause.

Surprise finalists, but Carl Zeiss (Jena) were one of the three best East German teams in the 1970s. To a point, this was their swan song – the key players were getting too old: Grapentin, Vogel, Weise, Lindemann, Kurbjuweit. To a point, the team already reached its peak a few years back. But it was a team full of national team players, including 5 members of the 1974 World Cup team – perhaps the best squad DDR ever had. Currently, 6 players were members of the national team – Grapentin, Schnuphase, Brauer, Lindemann, Kurbjuweit, and Bielau. Jurgen Raab was rapidly becoming the next generation star and would be constant member of the national team in the 1980s. Strong team, no doubt, but just a bit over the hill and may be too disciplined for its own good. Carl Zeiss played very well at the final and had a chance to win, but they were slightly weaker than Dinamo.

New Cup winners, standing from left: V. Daraselia, A. Chivadze, D. Kipiani, N. Khizanishvili, A. Andguladze, T. Sulakvelidze, V. Zhvania, G. Tavadze.

Crouching: V. Gutzaev, R. Shengelia, O. Gabelia, Z. Svanadze, N. Kakilashvili, T. Kostava.

Dinamo (Tbilisi) were always among the best Soviet clubs, but the late 1970s were their best time – winning the Soviet title and cup, and finally – the Cup Winners Cup. Fine crafted team, which had something unusual for a Soviet team – a flair. Very attractive kind of football, based on technical skills and improvisation – something fans always enjoy. There was one misfortune – Shota Khinchagashvili, their long time central defender and captain missed the final. Misfortune on personal level, but not on team level – Nodar Khizanishvili perfectly replaced Khinchagashvili, which was no wonder: he was experienced player, who would have been regular in almost any other Soviet team. As a contrast, Carl Zeiss had no so good replacement for their injured central defender Konrad Weise – the veteran striker Vogel played at his place at the semi-final and Hoppe at the final. He scored the German goal, but… Khizanishvili played his part to neutralize the German attack, when Hoppe was not able to stop the Georgian strikers. Dinamo had a whole bunch of able and eager to win players – no line was lacking class and some players would be important part of the exciting Soviet national team of the 1980s – particularly Chivadze, Sulakvelidze, and Shengelia. Gutzaev was one of the most interesting wingers of Soviet football in the 1970s, but little known abroad, because he was rarely called to the national team. But the great star was David Kipiani – wonderful attacking midfielder, who also was the key playmaker of the team. Very skillful, imaginative, precise, entertaining, scoring – Kipiani was world class player, one of the top midfielders in the world, but unfortunately playing at a time the Soviet national team was weak, missing two World Cup finals, and, therefore, the international exposure. The other problem was that he was not called often to play for USSR – coaches preferred Moscow and Kiev players and thought technical Georgians unreliable. Kipiani got his revenge, so to say, by shining at the final and winning the Cup Winners Cup. Dinamo Tbilisi was deserving winner – they were the better team for the most of the match, played excellent football, pleased the eye, and evidently were at their peak as a team at this moment. USSR got her second European club trophy; DDR did not.

The European Champions Cup was true to expectations right to the final, save for one surprise. One, but huge: in the first round the reigning cup holders were eliminated by CSKA (Sofia). The Bulgarians won both legs against Nottingham Forest – 1-0 each match. True, Nottingham Forest were never overwhelming team and already showed signs of reaching the top of their potential and losing interest. True, CSKA dethroned Ajax in 1973 and by 1980 managed to build new strong team after years of uncertainty, lead by young talented coach Asparoukh Nikodimov. But it was great surprise nevertheless: Bulgarian teams never performed well against British teams and Nothingham was the best team in the world at the moment. Reason failed, the underdogs won.

Georgy Iliev (CSKA, in white) tackles Frank Gray – determined Bulgarians won and the days of Nottingham Forest were over. Forever.

The draw was easy on the favourites all the way to the ¼ finals and CSKA was lucky too – they played against Szombierki (Bytom) in the second round. The weakest ever Polish champion was no match and lost both legs. In the ¼ finals CSKA met the second English representative – Liverpool – and this time nothing unusual happened: Liverpool, in perfect form, destroyed the mavericks 5-1 and 1-0. Only Inter (Milan) and Crvena zvezda (Belgrade) was tough pair and after the first leg the Yugoslavian champions seemingly had the edge – they managed a 1-1 tie at the inhospitable Italian ground. In Belgrade Inter won 1-0 and qualified.

No more easy games at the semi-finals: Liverpool vs Bayern and Real Madird vs Inter. All former Champions Cup winners with great ambitions. Real won 2-0 at home and lost only 0-1 away, thus reaching the final for the first time since 1966. Bayern survived in Liverpool – 0-0 – but Liverpool was not giving up: 1-1 in Munich. The away goal qualified Liverpool, may be luckily.

On May 27, 1981 Liverpool and Real Madrid met at Parc de Princes, Paris. In front of over 48 000 spectators, not the greatest crowd attending a final, the opponents had a lot at stake: Liverpool wanted their 3rd Cup – Real Madrid its 7th. Perhaps the pressure was more on the Spaniards – their fantastic dominance in the late 1950s and early 1960s was a heavy burden. The club lost a lot of its aura after 1966 and was desperate to restore its fame as a world football leader. But times changed… the battle was heavy and not very inspiring.

Laurie Cunningham in attack – an Englishman against English team made largely of Scots.

Liverpool defended well, not forgetting to attack. As a whole, they were slightly better, but the strikers were unable to put the ball behind the goalkeepers.

Near the end a goal was scored at last – Alan Kennedy, the left full back of Liverpool, gave the lead to the British in the 82nd minute. And they preserved it to the final whistle.

Final, Parc des Princes, Paris, 27 May 1981, att 48360

 

Liverpool (0) 1 Real Madrid (0) 0

82′ 1-0 L: A.Kennedy

 

Liverpool (trainer Paisley:Clemence; Neal, Thompson, Hansen, A.Kennedy; Lee, McDermott, Souness,R.Kennedy; Dalglish (Case), Johnson

Real Madrid (trainer Boskov: Agustin; Cortes (Pineda), Navajas, Sabido; Del Bosque, Angel, Camacho, Stielike; Juanito, Santillana, Cunningham

Referee: Palotai (Hungary)

Phil Thompson receives the European Champions Cup.

After that – happy winners Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish, and Alan Hansen make their lap of triumph.

Real Madrid was perhaps bitterly disappointed – no 7th Cup for them – but the truth was they did not really deserve it. Compared to Liverpool, Real was inferior team. Yes, they had Stielike, Santillana, Camacho, Del Bosque, Juanito, Cunningham, but the defense was rather ordinary. Even in the 1970s Real had stronger squads. They fought, but it was clear that winning would have been possible only with grit and cunning. Real had to wait and reshape before winning anything in Europe.

Kings of Europe for a third time. What more to say? Liverpool came even with the great teams of the early 1970s – Ajax and Bayern – thus becoming one of the greatest clubs ever. In consistency and wise policy they surpassed everybody: Real was unable to keep excellent squad after 1966, Ajax disintegrated after 1973, Bayern had 5 miserable years after their last triumph, but Liverpool kept strong squad since 1964, which seemingly was only getting better and stronger. Changes were carefully made and those gone were replaced by new excellent players. Not long ago Kevin Keegan was the bog star – and he still was arguably the best European player – but Liverpool had a new emperor, Kenny Dalglish, and better don’t ask who was the better player – he or Keegan. New boys were pushing ahead all the time: Hansen, Alan Kennedy, Johnson, Lee. A national team player – Case – was already reduced to a substitute. Liverpool was already a legend and beloved across the world. With them, the English club dominance continued: the European Champions Cup was kept in England for a straight 5th year and rightly so: European football became too tactical and physical. The English teams were the only ones playing brave attacking football – the fans liked that. It was only fair Liverpool to win and they did. Kings of Europe indeed.

 

The clash for supremacy between Europe and South America finally was back on solid track in 1981 – the Toyota Cup, which everybody still called the Intercontinental Cup, not only was stabilized by Japanese sponsorship and hosting, but was restored to the actual year: it was played in December, unlike the previous year, when it was scheduled after the end of the actual year. It was still a compromise, but there was no other convenient time in the season: European and South American tournaments run in different months, the calendar was busy. The winter was not to the liking of South American clubs, but they were not really complaining. The time, however, slightly benefited European teams – they were used to winter conditions. Flamengo and Liverpool were the contestants this time and it was hard to predict the outcome: Liverpool were the best club in Europe for some years. They were supposed to be in perfect form, for usually English teams gear to be in top form in the busy and tough December. But they were also so much involved in the domestic championship, so it was not entirely clear were they able to keep their minds on the Toyota Cup. After all, the busy December calendar often decides the championship of England. Flamengo had its own problems – they were busy with the new Brazilian championship in the difficult early stages, plus the Rio championship. English clubs were always considered to be those with most games played in a season, but Brazilians played more – who was the more tired was difficult to decide. Both opponents fielded their best, of course, and the match started in front of 62, 000, mostly Japanese, who may have been fairly ignorant of the game, but enthusiastically cheered both teams.

Neither team was prepared to give up, and seemingly the more physical British players – and also the more famous than the Brazilians – were going to run down Flamengo. But nothing like this happened:

Adilio scored.

Nunes scored twice. Flamengo won 3-0. Liverpool was destroyed – which was a surprise in Europe: not that Flamengo won, but that they won so confidently. In December… the British time.

Tokyo. Field: National Stadium.

December 13, 1981.

Referee: Vasquez (Mexico), att: 62000.

 

Flamengo (Brazil) 3-0 Liverpool (England)

 

Goals: Adilio and Nunes (2).

 

Flamengo: Raul – Leandro, Mozer, Junior, Marinho, Amdrade, Tita, Adilio,Zico, Lice, Nunes.

 

Liverpool: Grobbelaar – Neal, Thompson, Hansen, Lawrenson, R. Kennedy, Lee, McDermott (D. Johnson), Souness, C. Johnson, Dalglish.

Flamengo at the top of the world.

Liverpool before the start of the match. All smiles and confidence. But it was also all or nothing and the best team in Europe got nothing. There were a few newly added players, but to say that Liverpool was weaker than a year or two earlier would be wrong: for years the club was carefully adjusting the team, maintaining its class. Grobelaar was young and compared to Clemence, a weaker goalkeeper, but Clemence was no longer around and Grobelaar was to be constant feature of the very successful Liverpool in the 1980s. There was nothing really to blame Liverpool for – in the clash of two very different football schools, the South American one prevailed. No shame to lose to Brazilian team – even the British recognized the quality of samba football.

As for Flamengo – it was their year. Winning everything internationally and bursting with bright stars, rapidly becoming famous. Nunes was the new discovery and after scoring twice in the net of no other, but Liverpool, Nunes was expected to be the next great thing in the game – the expectations did not come true, but he had his moment of glory. The giant was Zico and there was no longer any doubt about it: he delivered. As it was the first internationally glorious year for Flamengo, the team instantly became a legend, cherished forever:

Today one can use the great winners as wallpaper for his/her computer. In real time – most of this boys became big international stars – in 1982 and 1986 – and... moved to European clubs. The legend lives, though.

South American Player of the Year was voted Zico, followed by Maradona and Junior. Two Flamengo players among the best, which is understandable.

Arthur Antunes Coimbra, known as Zico, was the most popular Brazilian football player for a long time and not at all newcomer to international recognition, but so far his career was kind of strange. He was noticed when he was 14-years old and advised to try Flamengo, which was Zico’s wish anyway, for he was Flamengo fan. And there he played since 1967. He debuted in the first national Brazilian championship in 1971, made big impression almost immediately, and was called the White Pele. But in 1972 he almost quit playing football – he called and played for the Olympic team of Brazil in the qualifications, but was not selected in the team going to the finals in Munich, West Germany. Zico was very frustrated and decided to quit football – he did not join Flamengo’s training camp for 10 days. This was perhaps the most telling moment of his early days: a star, adored by fans, praised by Pele, but… not a national team player and, on top of it, Flamengo did nothing memorable in the national championships. Zico eventually debuted for Brazil in 1976, yet, his career was sketchy: by the end of 1981, he made 49 appearances for Brazil, scoring 34 goals – quite impressive at the time, but… 12 matches and 10 goals belonged to 1981. At the 1978 World Cup he was not exactly memorable player and there was another misfortune: against Sweden he scored after a corner kick in the last minute, but the referee called the end of the game when the ball was still in the air and the match ended 1-1. Meantime everybody started talking of Maradona… Zico was voted South American player of the Year in 1977. Maradona easily left him behind – he was voted number one twice: 1979 and 1980. Until 1980 Zico had only 5 Rio de Janeiro State titles. Nothing bigger than that… so he had to wait until 1980 for real success: to win the Brazilian championship at first and everything internationally the next year. Arguably, his best year was 1981, when he was already 28-years old. Compared to Pele… very little and very late. Compared to Maradona… the Argentine had the future at his side. Zico managed to come equal to Maradona in 1981 – twice number one player of South America.

But he was already a big international star, one of the best players of his time, and it was great that he and his club finally started winning. Zico was wonderful this year and soared above Maradona.

Copa Libertadores. Nacional (Montevideo) entered at the semi-final stage, all other teams depended on the luck of the draw at first as usual. Five groups of 4 teams each, only the winners qualified to the semi-finals. The Uruguayans were the luckiest, playing with the Venezuelan representatives. No fight at all in Group 5: Penarol and Bella Vista had it easy and the only question was who will be number one. As it turned out, the decisive match was the very first one in the group – Penarol beat Bella Vista 3-1 and in the long run this victory ensured them the first place, 2 points ahead of Bella Vista.

Group 1 opposed the Argentines to the Colombians. River Plate was the obvious favourite, but… the team full of reigning world champions lost both legs to Deportivo Cali and consequently finished second. Deportivo Cali lost to Atletico Junior and Rosario Central, so they had the same number of losses as River Plate. However, the Colombians won all other matches, unlike River Plate – it was the other visit to Colombia which decided their fate: Atletico Junior tied River Plate 0-0 and at the end Deportivo Cali triumphed with 1 point more than mighty River Plate.

Group 2 opposed Chilean to Peruvians, fairly equal and balanced group, where anything was possible. It remained exactly that – a duel between rival neighbours. Cobreloa and Sporting Cristal emerged as favourites and 1 point difference decided the winner. It was a surprise one: Cobreloa (Calama), debutants in the tournament. The Chilean sensation did not lose any group match and excelled in something else: along with Penarol, they finished with the best defensive record in the first stage, allowing only 3 goals in 5 matches. In the same time they shared with Flamengo the second best striking record with 14 goals – only Bella Vista (Montevideo) scored more – 16.

Group 3 was supposed to be tough one: Brazilians vs Paraguayans. Skill vs grit, in theory, for Brazilian players were quite dirty and dull in the recent years, and Paraguayans topped South America not long ago on both club and national team level. But nothing difficult this season – the Brazilian clubs were way stronger and fought between themselves. And fought they did… Flamengo and Atletico Mineiro finished with 8 points each after winning 2 matches and tying 4. Goal-difference did not count and the rivals met in a decisive play-off on neutral ground in Goiania. The play-off did not finish – the match was stopped and abandoned in the 35th minute. The result was 0-0, but Flamengo was awarded the win. It was perhaps one of the greatest curiosity in football history: in the 35th minute Atletico Mineiro had its 5th expelled player! Only 6 players remained on the pitch and the ancient rule – so rarely used, people tend to forget its existence – called the end: a team has to have at least 7 players on the pitch, so the game to be allowed.

Play-off decided the winner of Group 4 too, but it was just a normal game. Bolivian vs Ecuadorians quickly became a battle between Jorge Wilstermann (Cochabamba) and The Strongest (La Paz) – traditional Bolivian rivalry. Both teams finished with 8 points and The Strongest had better goal-difference, but a play-of had to be played and was, in Santa Cruz. Now Jorge Wilstermann destroyed The Strongest 4-1, Jairzinho scoring two goals. Jorge Wilstermann qualified, adding one more curiosity to this edition of Copa Libertadores: they qualified without having positive goal-difference.

The semi-final groups was clearly fortunate for Flamengo – their opponents were Deportivo Cali (Colombia) and Jorge Wilstermann (Ecuador). Practically, no opposition – Flamengo won every game they played. The other group was theoretically tougher – two great Uruguayan enemies, Nacional and Penarol, plus Cobreloa (Chile), which was expected to be the outsider. What a surprise! Cobreloa won 3 and tied 1 match, leaving the famous clubs back in the dust. Nacional and Penarol finished without a single victory, evidently suffering from the matches between themselves – both 1-1 draws. Cobreloa took advantage from its home games, but they surprised Nacional in Montevideo, beating them 2-1. And thus the finalists were Flamengo (Rio de Janeiro) and Cobreloa (Calama). Still practically unknown debutantes vs one of the most famous clubs in South America, which, however, not only did not win Copa Libertadores so far, but never even reached a final. One can easily imagine the level of ambition in both camps and also is good to remember that the winner of Copa Libertadores often was decided after 3 games. A decisive play-off did not happened after 1977 and given the difference in class between the finalists – at least on paper – was hardly expected this year.

In front of almost 94, 000 fans the first leg of the final started at Maracana on November 13, 1981.

Captains Soto and Zico shake hands and after that the smiles are gone.

Flamengo attacked, Cobreloa defended, and the result stayed 0-0 until the 12th minute.

Then Zico scored and a bit later scored again – in the 30th minute Flamengo was leading 2-0. Game over? Not at all – in the second half Cobreloa managed to return one goal and the match ended 2-1.

1st leg. Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, 13-11-1981

 

Flamengo – Cobreloa 2-1

12′ Zico 1-0

30′ Zico 2-0

65′ Merello 2-1

 

Flamengo: Raúl, Leandro, Figueiredo, Mozer, Júnior, Andrade, Zico, Adilio, Lico

(Baroninho), Nunes, Tita.

Cobreloa: Wirth, Rojas, Soto, Tabilo, Escobar, Alarcón, Jiménez, Merello, Múñoz

(R. Gómez), Siviero, Puebla.

 

Referee: Espósito (Argentina)

Attendance: 93,985

A week later Flamengo kept Cobreloa at bay until 79th minute, when Merello scored his second goal in the finals and the only one in Santiago.

Zico down, Cobreloa in fighting mood. It was all or nothing.

Raul on his knees – Victor Merello scored and Cobreloa won.

2nd leg. Estadio Nacional, Santiago, 20-11-1981

 

Cobreloa – Flamengo 1-0

79′ Merello 1-0

 

Cobreloa: Wirth, Jiménez, Tabilo, Soto, Escobar, Merello, Alarcón, R. Gómez

(Múñoz), Puebla, Siviero, W. Olivera.

Flamengo: Raúl, Leandro, Figueiredo, Mozer, Júnior, Andrade, Adilio, Zico, Lico

(Baroninho), Nunes (Nei Dias), Tita.

 

Referee: Barreto (Uruguay)

Attendance: 61,721

For the first time since 1977 Copa Libertadores final had to be decided by a third match. It was played on neutral ground – in Montevideo, Uruguay, which immediately dropped the audience. Three days after Cobreloa won, it was Flamengo in full flight.

Of course, it was tough match, but eventually Flamengo was getting the upper hand.

And the Brazilians were running away from the Chileans.

Defending well, but defense can survive assaults only so far.

Zico was unstoppable and in the 18th minute he scored. 11 minutes before the final whistle, he scored again – now it was over. One of his goals was a beauty:

 

A magnificent free kick, making Oscar Wirth entirely helpless. It is good to recall those days: a wall was never positioned at the required distance and moved ahead before the kicker reached the ball.

Zico finished Cobreloa – he scored all the goals for Flamengo, but this one was the sweetest.

Play-off. Centenario, Montevideo, 23-11-1981

 

Flamengo – Cobreloa 2-0

18′ Zico 1-0

79′ Zico 2-0

 

Flamengo: Raúl, Nei Dias, Marinho, Mozer, Júnior, Leandro, Andrade, Zico, Tita,

Nunes (Anselmo), Adilio.

Cobreloa: Wirth, Tabilo, Páez (Múñoz), Soto, Escobar, Jiménez, Merello, Alarcón,

Puebla, Siviero, W. Olivera.

 

Referee: Cerullo (Uruguay)

Attendance: 30,200

And now Copa Libertadores was given to the White Pele. The rest was just happiness.

Life is much better with cup in hands.

Flamengo – campeon!

Cobreloa came close… Of course, there was regret. Yet, the boys from mine town Calama were heroes. Four years ago nobody heard of them. They were still almost unknown in 1981. They were the third Chilean club failing to win Copa Libertadores, but it was still a fantastic achievement, for Cobreloa was the least famous club of all playing at the final so far. They were underdogs in every sense: they had a number of good players, but Soto, Wirth, Merello hardly qualified as huge stars – especially compared to Brazilians, even omitting Zico. Excellent job, but no cup.

Flamengo won its first Copa Libertadores – at last! It was not an easy victory, but finally the famous club managed to put itself on equal footing with the other South American grands. One can think this was a star-studded squad, but at the time it was more potential than actual stardom: Junior, Leandro, Raul, Mozer certainly became world-famous, but not this year. Even Nunes had to wait a little until the world really heard of him. The true star was Zico, pushing 30 already – to a point, his fame was recognized as rightly deserved this year: so far, he won very little on Brazilian national level and won nothing internationally. He even did not play all that much for Brazil – only at the 1978 World Cup. At last he delivered – 4 goals, that is, all Flamengo goals at the finals. It could be said that he won Libertadores alone. And this was not the end of the fairy tale yet. As good as Cobreloa were and as much as one wants the underdog triumph, Flamengo were the classier team and deserved to win.