A brief history of British-German Football

1871 - 1938 The Fifties The Sixties The seventies The eighties the nineties 2000 & beyond

The Eighties

After two unsuccessful attempts at qualifying for a European Championship, England's convincing performance in 1980 took them as far as the last eight, where they went out against Italy. West Germany won its second European Champions title in the tournament. Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and West Germany all qualified for the 1982 World Cup in Spain. While Scotland failed (again) in round 1, Northern Ireland made it to round 2.

England were eliminated in the last 12 on goal difference by West Germany after a lame 0–0 match. The West Germans, who had only lost four games since the 1978 World Cup (3 to Brazil, 1 to Argentina), entered the tournament as one of the favourites but ended as runners-up after a 3–1 defeat at the hands of Italy.

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After the Cup, friendlies resumed as usual, England being defeated by West and Scotland beating East Germany. In the early eighties, English players who had played in German league teams since the mid-seventies (including future coach Kevin Keegan) began to point out many possible reasons why England performed more poorly than West Germany in international competitions. German training, the reported, tended to be harder, and players who hadn't trained would not be considered for a match. Moreover, the approach to football was more scientific, and consequently, players had to follow a stricter drinking and eating regiment.


Nevertheless, in November 1982, West Germany got a knock on the head by Northern Ireland in a European Championship Qualifier, followed by another in the second match in 1983. Both matches showed that a decent defence could hold this German team down.

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Euro 84 marked something of a bottom line for British and German football. None of the British teams had qualified and the Germany team dropped out as soon as round 1. In the wake of the Championship, the West Germans installed their former top player Franz Beckenbauer as national team coach. Beckenbauer, it was hoped, would be able to put an end to West Germany's descent into mediocrity.

The next British-German encounter came during a 1985 four-nation mini-tournament in Mexico. Beckenbauer had been against coming, but as the tour had been arranged before his appointment, there was little he could do. The Germans arrived only 48 hours before the match with not nearly enough time to shake off jet-lag or acclimatise. Things did not look too promising for the England team either, who had already lost 2–1 to Italy and 1–0 to Mexico.

During the first thirty minutes, the match was even. Then, a Robson volley put England in the lead. When Shilton turned a Brehme penalty round the post a few minutes later, the German's seemed to lose heart. When they returned after half time, it quickly became clear that this German side would not have the energy to mount a fight-back. Some eight minutes into the second half, Dixon netted a rebounding Terry Butcher shot and followed it up with the final goal of the match ten minutes later.

England had quite comfortably pocketed their second victory over the old enemy. Nevertheless, under the circumstances, the achievement was nothing to get too excited about.

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In the 1986 World Cup, both teams performed better than many had expected.
West Germany finished as runners-up for the second consecutive time, beating France 2–0 in the semi-finals and losing 3–2 to Argentina in the final.

After nearly going out in the group phase (losing to Portugal and holding Morocco to a draw), Englands excellent attacking line recovered sufficiently well to beat Poland and Paraguay. In the Quarterfinal tie, however, two goals by Maradona spelled the end of England's progress in the Cup that year (final score 2–1 to Argentina).

It was little consolation, that these two goals were also great football moments, later ranked sixth in the "100 Greatest Sporting Moments by Channel 4. Replay footage showed that the first goal was scored with the aid of Maradona's hand. Maradona's second goal, in contrast, made history as one of the greatest goals ever. He had run past five English players (Hoddle, Reid, Sansom, Butcher, and Fenwick) along half the length of the pitch, finally outsmarting goalkeeper Peter Shilton to put his shot through. In a 2002 online poll conducted by FIFA, this goal was voted "Goal of the Century."

Scotland went out in round 1 yet again, losing 1–0 to Denmark, 2–1 to Germany, and holding Uruguay to a draw. Northern Ireland also went out in the first round, after a 1–1 draw with Algeria, a 2–1 defeat at the hands of Spain and a 3–0 to Brazil.

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As teams were preparing for the Euro 88, England and Germany played a friendly in 1987, which ended with a 3–1 defeat of England. Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and East Germany failed to qualify while both England and West Germany went to lose to an excellent Dutch team (England losing 3–1 in round 1 (last 8); and West Germany losing 2–1 in the semi-final).

In the run-up to the 1990 World Cup in Italy, West Germany and Wales played two qualifiers in 1989 – a draw and a 2–1 German victory.

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1871 - 1938 The Fifties The Sixties The seventies The eighties the nineties 2000 & beyond


   
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