Harald Schumacher

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Harald "Toni" Schumacher.
Harald "Toni" Schumacher.

Harald Anton Schumacher (born March 6, 1954 in Düren, Germany), commonly known as Toni Schumacher, was a football goalkeeper of the 1980s, member of the West German national team, with which he won the 1980 European Championship and lost two World Cup finals, in 1982 and 1986. He was also involved in a highly controversial incident in the 1982 World Cup semifinal against France.

On the field, Schumacher was an effective goalkeeper, and was one of the first keepers to master a one-armed throw that could propel the ball well into the opponents' half.

Contents

[edit] Club career summary

[edit] International career

Schumacher played 76 international matches for West Germany between 1979 and 1986, including 15 World Cup qualifying matches and 14 World Cup finals matches.

[edit] Controversy at 1982 World Cup

Schumacher was involved in a collision with a French defender, substitute Patrick Battiston, in the semi-final of the 1982 World Cup. Both Battiston and Schumacher were chasing down a long-ball pass, sprinting at each other and the ball from opposite directions. Battiston arrived just before Schumacher, firing off a shot to the left of Schumacher. Just before the resulting collision, Schumacher jumped and put his hands in the air and to his left, trying to stop the ball that was whizzing past him. He also seemed to oddly twist and contort his legs off to the side of him while mid-flight, resulting in his buttocks actually making the first impact with Battiston.

Thus we have the controversy: some say he jumped and performed this maneuver assuming that Battiston would dive to the ground in an attempt to avoid the collision, while others say the entire challenge was completely malicious. All that can be said for sure is that the referee was merely a few yards from the play. He had a much better vantage point than any cameras, and he seemed to find no foul play in the incident.

Afterwards, Battiston was prone, unmoving on the pitch, with his two front teeth knocked out and damaged vertebrae. He received oxygen on the pitch. [1] Platini later said that he thought that Battiston was dead, because "he had no pulse and looked pale". [2]

The Dutch referee Charles Corver awarded a goal kick, since Battiston's shot had sailed wide of the goal and rolled out of play.

When West Germany and France met again in World Cup 1986, Battiston said that the incident was "forgiven and forgotten". However, he said that he was wary of getting "close to Schumacher" and said that he would hold a distance of at least 40 meters from the German goalkeeper. Schumacher would not comment on the incident. [3] Germany went on to win the game 2-0.

A photograph of the incident can be seen at the BBC News article "World's worst refereeing decisions". [4].

[edit] Autobiography

In 1987, Schumacher's autobiography, Anpfiff was published.

There was much interest in Schumacher's comments on the Battiston incident and he maintained that his actions did not constitute a foul.

The book achieved its own measure of controversy for entirely different reasons; it included graphic accounts of alleged but unproven improprieties by German football players, including substance abuse. This resulted in Schumacher's exclusion from the German national team and his long-term Bundesliga club, 1.FC Köln.

[edit] Trivia

[edit] External links

West Germany West Germany squad - 1982 World Cup Runner-up West Germany

1 Schumacher | 2 Briegel | 3 Breitner | 4 K. Förster | 5 B. Förster | 6 Dremmler | 7 Littbarski | 8 Fischer | 9 Hrubesch | 10 Müller | 11 Rummenigge | 12 Hannes | 13 Reinders | 14 Magath | 15 Stielike | 16 Allofs | 17 Engels | 18 Matthäus | 19 Hieronymus | 20 Kaltz | 21 Franke | 22 Immel | Coach: Derwall
West Germany West Germany squad - 1986 World Cup Runner-up West Germany

1 Schumacher | 2 Briegel | 3 Brehme | 4 Förster | 5 Herget | 6 Eder | 7 Littbarski | 8 Matthäus | 9 Völler | 10 Magath | 11 Rummenigge | 12 Stein | 13 Allgöwer | 14 Berthold | 15 Augenthaler | 16 Thon | 17 Jakobs | 18 Rahn | 19 Allofs | 20 Hoeneß | 21 Rolff | 22 Immel | Coach: Beckenbauer
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