When Wolfgang Funkel collapsed and Ronald Koeman spread his arms – an entire stadium was still.
Photo: image/sports service
Football lives from illusions. From the wishful thinking that David occasionally misses the Goliath such a kick against the shin, that he gets into stumbling and falls. Only these illusions have to be fed every now and then, otherwise they will look at. If Bayern Munich wins eleven from twelve possible championships, this does not help to believe in the unpredictability of this sport.
My dream structure of professional football was smashed on Wednesday, November 6, 1991. The 1st FC Kaiserslautern competed in the second round of the European Cup of the national champions against FC Barcelona. A clear thing on paper. The German surprise master seemed without a chance against the starting force from Spain, which was trained by Johan Cruyff.
How should NO-Names like Frank Lelle, Marcel Witeczek, Oliver Schäfer and Guido Hoffmann even have a chance against a team that consisted of top players from top players from different countries from the goalkeeper to the wing striker! There was the Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov, the Danes Michael Laudrup and the Dutch Ronald Koeman Plus the Halbe Spanish national team, including a certain Pep Guardiola, who was still kicking himself. To make matters worse, Lautern’s only show player was missing alongside Stefan Kuntz: Libero Miroslav Kadlec, who would otherwise be a defense together.
The worst clubs
FIFA is currently hosting the club World Cup in the USA. It is the next level of money bags in professional football. And a good occasion to think about the most overestimated football clubs in Loser episode.
The first leg had lost the 1st grade of 0: 2. In the second leg on the Betzenberg, which was then a claustrophobic fortress in which referees and opposing team were regularly grueled, the Lauterer turned up. After 89 minutes it was 3-0 for the Palatinate. The favorite stumbled on the abyss.
In the 90th minute, José Mari Bakero, also Spanish international, headed the 1-3. More than an honor goal. Due to the away goal control, Kaiserslautern was eliminated. Barcelona got on and won the European Cup a few months later. The Champions League was introduced the following season.
I have never experienced the Betzenberg as calmly as after the Spanish goal. It was not just the horror about the K.O at the last minute. The shock went deeper. Football fans are usually world champions in finding and inventing explanations as to why the hoped -for success failed. Sometimes you push it on the poor people’s visual impairment, which was unable to recognize a foul in the opposing penalty area as such. Sometimes you curse the posts and latte that stood in the way of the goal. And often enough, the inability of your own team to transport the ball into the other network are liable for failure.
So far have been published in this series:
Tumb is the hope (Schalke 04) by Alfons Huckebrink
Sorry, model boy (Arminia Bielefeld) by Fritz Tietz
Smooth as a Weseraal (Paris Saint-Germain) by Christian Klemm
But in the specific case, things were different. Kaiserslautern had dominated the game. The underdogs had played into a intoxication that Barcelona knew nothing to oppose. It was great football that only deserved one winner: the FCK. David had shown Goliath – up to the 89th minute. There was no explanation for the fatal goal. It fell out of nowhere, was unfair, cruel, bestial.
Of course, life continued afterwards. On the hunt for a sense of achievement, we drove to the DFB Cup game to Bremen and experienced how Lautern left with 0: 2-this time earned. We looked at a bleak 0-0 kick in Bochum. And at some point we dared to go back to the Betzenberg. But even the victories now felt different. Through Barcelona we had lost our children’s belief in football. Is there anything worse?
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