5 Biggest Party Crashes in Football History
Today, I look at five occasions from football where the script was completely torn up and re-written.
5. Borussia Monchengladbach 12–0 Borussia Dortmund — 1978
It is the end of the 1977–78 Bundesliga season and Koln are level on points with Borussia Monchengladbach but ahead on goal difference by 10 goals.
Gladbach are hosting Dortmund in Dusseldorf.
By half time — a hat-trick from Juup Heynckes as well as strikes from Carsten Nielsen, Karl Del’Haye and captain Herbert Wimmer have given the hosts a 6–0 lead.
It was must’ve been quite tense in the Dortmund dressing room, with all the substitutes refusing to play in what was turning to out be an absolute demolition job. Otto Rehhagel, then Dortmund manager, offered goalkeeper Peter Endrulat the chance to be subbed off, but he refused.
To be fair to Endrulat, he did make a number of saves in that second half. However, Heynckes, later a world class manager, added two more goals and Nielson and Del’Haye both added an extra goal to their tally. Substitute Edwin Lienen and Christian Kulik added two more late on to make the final score 12–0.
Sadly, it was still not enough as Koln beat St.Pauli 5–0 to capture the title. Imagine scoring 12 goals but still not doing enough to win the title, they would’ve won with four more strikes.
The aftermath was ruthless, with Dortmund’s players having given up after falling behind, they were investigated for match fixing. Rehhagel was sacked, but more on him later. Endrulat was sold to TB Berlin in the second tier and would never appear in the top flight again.
4. El Centenarazio — 2002
By 2002, Real Madrid were firmly in the Galacticos era.
The club were founded on 6th March 1902, and that same date, 100 years later, they found themselves playing in the final of the Copa del Rey at the Santiago Bernabeu, their home ground.
It was the 100th edition of the Spanish national cup tournament, which Los Blancos had not won since 1993.
In front of their fans, with a team packed full of superstars such as Hierro, Carlos, Makelele, Figo, Zidane, Raul and with the likes of Guti and McManaman on the bench, it was expected to be the perfect night for the Madristas.
Deportivo La Coruna, their opponents had won the 2000 La Liga under surprise circumstances, but were unfancied. Star striker Roy Makaay was on the bench, but he wasn’t needed. Midfielder Sergio gave the Galicians an early lead, with Diego Tristan making it 0–2 shortly before half time. Raul pulled one back just before the hour, but it was not enough. Deportivo won the cup with a 2–1 victory.
Valencia would win the league that year, though Real Madrid marked the season with their 9th European Cup, beating Bayer Leverkusen 2–1 at Hampden Park, where, in 1960, they won their 5th European Cup with a 7–3 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt.
The club would have to wait until 2011 before winning the Copa del Rey, however.
3. Lights Down on the Estádio da Luz-2004
The final of the 2004 European Championship was between two teams not expected to get far.
Portugal and Greece.
Portugal, however, were clear favourites. Having knocked out Spain, England and The Netherlands on the way, their team was full of starts for their clubs such as Luis Figo, Rui Costa, Maniche, Pauleta and a young Cristiano Ronaldo.
Greece managed by Otto Rehhagel, who 26 years earlier had lost 12–0 to Gladbach, had already beaten Portugal in the group stages and knocked out holders, France. With a well organised defence, they managed to get all the way to the final. But it was expected to be Portugal’s night in Lisbon.
In the end, Greece set up to defend and Angelos Charisteas scored with their only shot on target on 57 minutes. A well organised Greek defence limited their opponents to 5 shots on target, all saved by Antonios Nikopolidis.
Due to Greece’s rather stubborn tactics, they were described by Barry Glendenning of the Guardian as “the only underdogs in history that everyone wants to see get beaten”. But they weren’t, they held on to pull off a remarkable upset.
2. Déjà vu-2016
France’s squad at the Euro 2016 finals, was one the greatest national squads ever assembled.
At the back they had Lloris, Koscielny, Evra and Umtiti. In the middle they had Matuidi, Pogba, Payet (a snake but a very good player) and Coman. Up top they had Griezmann, Giroud and Martial.
Portugal had only won one match in normal time up to the final match. In the group stage, they leaked goals liked there was no tomorrow. Conceding three to Hungary, for example. The arrival of Jose Fonte in their team lead to their defence tightening up, but they still needed extra time to get past Croatia and Poland.
France had looked as though they were playing under lots of pressure from their home crowd but had turned on the style at points throughout their campaign.
Many looked at Cristiano Ronaldo, now 31, as Portugal’s only chance of victory. When he went off injured in the 25th minute, many thought that was it for the team. But the onslaught from the French never came. Portugal defended well and looked dangerous going forward. As the match went into extra time, substitute Eder, who had been dumped by Premier League strugglers Swansea City, drilled the ball into the net from just outside the box.
Having their party crashed 12 years earlier, Portugal had done it themselves, they had beaten the hosts in the final.
- The Mighty Magyars-1954
As good as France’s squad was, the Hungary side of the mid 1950s was the best side in international history.
Captained by Honved striker Ferenc Puskás, later a legend at Real Madrid, who partnered Sándor Kocsis up front. For a time, László Kubala, voted Barcelona’s greatest ever player ahead of Lionel Messi, ran their midfield. The likes of Czibor and Toth were also very good players. The team were referred to as The Mighty Magyars. With Magyar being the Hungarian word for Hungarian. The side destroyed England 7–1 in Budapest, England’s heaviest ever defeat as well winning 6–3 at Wembley. The matches were known as the “Match of the Century” and the “Re-Match of the Century”.
The side performed well in the 1954 World Cup. They beat South Korea 9–0 and beat West Germany 8–3 to qualify for the knockouts. There, they beat Brazil and Uruguay, the previous finalists, 4–2.
They replayed West Germany in Berne, the Germans had recorded thumping victories over Turkey and Austria, but were expected to be cannon fodder for their opponents.
Within 8 minutes, Puskas and Czibor had put the Hungarians 2–0 up. Max Morlock and Helmut Rahn had bought the scores level within 10 minutes. Rahn would add a second in the 84th minute. Puskas, the maestro would have an equaliser ruled out for offside very late on, after picking up an excellent ball from Toth.
The match marked the end of a 30 match unbeaten run for the Hungarians, lasting 4 years. They would go on another run afterwards, going 18 matches without defeat.
The 1956 Hungarian Revolution would see many of the squad leave Hungary and move abroad as political refugees. Those that did were banned from representing Hungary again. With the break-up of a squad, the Mighty Magyars never had the World Cup, the jewel in their crown that their talent so deserved.
The match did however prove to be a catalyst for German football, with West Germany later establishing themselves firmly on the world scene.