1990 FIFA World Cup Final

1990 FIFA World Cup Final

The final was played at the Stadio Olimpico
Event 1990 FIFA World Cup
Date 8 July 1990
Venue Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Referee Edgardo Codesal (Mexico)
Attendance 73,603

The 1990 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match played between West Germany and Argentina to determine the winner of the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The game took place on 8 July 1990 at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome, and was won 1–0 by West Germany, with a late penalty kick taken by Andreas Brehme being the game's only goal.

It was the first time a team from UEFA had won the World Cup final against a non-European team. Argentina were the defending champions, having beaten West Germany 3–2 in the 1986 FIFA World Cup Final in Mexico. Thus the 1990 final was the only 'repeat' final at consecutive World Cups.[1] It was West Germany's last World Cup match; the team played three more games before a unified German team was formed.[2]

Overview

The 1990 Final is often cited as one of the most cynical and ugliest World Cup Finals. It was an ill-tempered game, notable for the first two sendings off in a World Cup final. During the match, Mexican referee Edgardo Codesal refused to award a penalty kick to German player Klaus Augenthaler. Later, he incurred the wrath of the Argentinians by not awarding them a penalty kick after Lothar Matthäus allegedly tackled Gabriel Calderón. Pedro Monzón had the distinction of being the first player in the 14 final games of the FIFA World Cup to be sent off, after being shown a straight red card for a hard leg tackle on Jürgen Klinsmann; FIFA had warned its officials to enforce the rules and Monzón had raised his foot during the tackle, a foul that Klinsmann claims left a 15-centimetre (5.9 in) gash on his shin.[3] Gustavo Dezotti, already booked earlier, received his second yellow card late in the match when he hauled down Jürgen Kohler with what The New York Times described as a "neck tackle right out of professional wrestling", after Kohler refused to give-up the ball in an alleged attempt to waste time. After dismissing Dezotti, Codesal was surrounded and jostled by the rest of the Argentinian team.[4] Diego Maradona burst into tears at the final whistle and blamed the referee for the loss.[5] Argentina entered the game with four players suspended and ended it with nine men on the field, overall losing over half their squad due to injury or bookings.[6][7][8]

It was also the lowest-scoring final yet seen with Argentina becoming the first team not to score during a World Cup Final, having only 1 shot on goal, while Germany had 16 scoring chances out of 23 shots.[9] Argentina's strategy had been to defend at all costs and reach the penalty shootout, having already advanced twice in the tournament by this means.[6][7][8] The only goal of the contest arrived in the 85th minute when Codesal awarded a controversial penalty to West Germany, after Roberto Sensini fouled Rudi Völler, and Andreas Brehme (who took the place of regular penalty taker Matthäus) converted the spot kick with a low right footed shot to the goalkeeper's right.[10]

This victory gave West Germany their third FIFA World Cup title, also making them the team to have played in the most FIFA World Cup finals at the time (three wins, three second places), as well as avenging their defeat at the hands of Argentina in the previous final.

Route to the final

West Germany Round Argentina
Opponent Result First round Opponent Result
 Yugoslavia 4–1 Match 1  Cameroon 0–1
 United Arab Emirates 5–1 Match 2  Soviet Union 2–0
 Colombia 1–1 Match 3  Romania 1–1
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 West Germany 3210103+75
 Yugoslavia 320165+14
 Colombia 311132+13
 United Arab Emirates 3003211−90
Final standing
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Cameroon 320135−24
 Romania 311143+13
 Argentina 311132+13
 Soviet Union 31024402
Opponent Result Knockout stage Opponent Result
 Netherlands 2–1 Round of 16  Brazil 1–0
 Czechoslovakia 1–0 Quarter-finals  Yugoslavia 0–0 (aet) (3–2 pen.)
 England 1–1 (aet) (4–3 pen.) Semifinals  Italy 1–1 (aet) (4–3 pen.)

Match details

8 July 1990
20:00 UTC+2
West Germany  1–0  Argentina
Brehme  85' (pen.) Report
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Attendance: 73,603
Referee: Edgardo Codesal (Mexico)
West Germany
Argentina
GK 1 Bodo Illgner
SW 5 Klaus Augenthaler
CB 6 Guido Buchwald
CB 4 Jürgen Kohler
RWB14Thomas Berthold  73'
LWB3 Andreas Brehme
DM 10Lothar Matthäus (c)
CM 8 Thomas Häßler
CM 7 Pierre Littbarski
CF 9 Rudi Völler  52'
CF 18Jürgen Klinsmann
Substitutes:
GK 12Raimond Aumann
DF 2 Stefan Reuter  73'
MF 15Uwe Bein
MF 20Olaf Thon
FW 13Karl-Heinz Riedle
Manager:
Franz Beckenbauer
GK 12Sergio Goycochea
SW 20Juan Simón
CB 18José Serrizuela
CB 19Oscar Ruggeri  46'
RWB4 José Basualdo
LWB17Roberto Sensini
DM 13Néstor Lorenzo
CM 21Pedro Troglio  84'
AM 10Diego Maradona (c)  87'
SS 7 Jorge Burruchaga  53'
CF 9 Gustavo Dezotti Yellow cardYellow cardRed card 5', 87'
Substitutes:
GK 22Fabián Cancelarich
DF 5 Edgardo Bauza
DF 15Pedro Monzón Red card 65'  46'
MF 6 Gabriel Calderón  53'
FW 3 Abel Balbo
Manager:
Carlos Bilardo

Linesmen:
Armando Pérez Hoyos (Colombia)
Michał Listkiewicz (Poland)

Match rules:

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary
  • Five substitutes named, two of which may be used

References

  1. The only other 'repeat' final was Brazil v Italy in nonconsecutive World Cups (1970 and 1994). As the unified German team is the official successor to West Germany, the 2014 Germany v Argentina final was technically the third final between those teams.
  2. Portugal v W Germany (August 29, 1990), Sweden v W Germany (October 10), Luxembourg v W Germany (October 31). Unified team's first game: Germany v Switzerland (December 19)
  3. "Klinsmann: the rise...and the falls". Guardian News and Media. 7 March 2004. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  4. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=365940&root=worldcup&cc=5901
  5. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/argentina-germany-have-rich-world-cup-history/2014/07/11/2b3c1b6e-092f-11e4-ba5b-b9d8a4daba13_story.html
  6. 6.0 6.1 Glanville, Brian (2005). The Story of the World Cup. Faber. p. 303. ISBN 0-571-22944-1.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Vecsey, George (9 July 1990). "Winning Ugly, Losing Ugly, Just Plain Ugly". The New York Times.
  8. 8.0 8.1 "A poor display bare of class". The Times (London). 9 July 1990.
  9. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/argentina-germany-have-rich-world-cup-history/2014/07/11/2b3c1b6e-092f-11e4-ba5b-b9d8a4daba13_story.html
  10. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/argentina-germany-have-rich-world-cup-history/2014/07/11/2b3c1b6e-092f-11e4-ba5b-b9d8a4daba13_story.html