The Road To VAR | Moments
They define football matches, seasons and tournaments. Memorable goals, legends made and broken. Epic encounters, red cards, iconic celebrations. Some tournaments have them all.
In 1982, the World Cup finals returned to Europe. The 1978 World Cup was held in South America with hosts Argentina emerging victorious. This time, the hosts were Spain and the stage was set for one of the great World Cups. In the smouldering heat of a Spanish summer, a galaxy of stars gathered.
Platini, Zico, Socrates, Keegan, Dalglish, Rossi and an emerging Diego Maradona. An array of talent the likes of which few tournaments had ever seen before or since. The 1982 World Cup would be a tournament of firsts and lasts. It was the first time that the number of teams were expanded to 24, allowing greater participation from Africa and Asia. It was also the last World Cup to use two group stages. The semi-finals would then kick off the knockout stages. On a darker note, the 1982 World Cup finals also entered footballing infamy.
Germany and Austria were involved in what many thought was tantamount to match fixing. And a shocking challenge by a German goalkeeper on a French midfielder in the semi-finals raised fundamental questions about refereeing.
Episode 2. West Germany vs France 1982 World Cup semi-final.
Arriving in Spain, tournament favourites Brazil were confident of securing their first World Cup and fourth in total since the fabled team of 1970 captivated the world of football. The Brazil team of 82 was a fabulous collection of gifted, mercurial craftsmen. Zico, the "white Pele" as he was sometimes known, was the team’s talisman and much of the country's hopes rested on his shoulders. As Brazil's number 10, it came with the territory.
He was by no means alone. The midfield was packed with creative and goal-scoring talent. Socrates, the kind of wiry, spindly chain-smoking Che Guevara, was the team's captain and embodiment of the spirit of the class of 82.
Eder brought the finesse and silky touch that often seems to be the exclusive preserve of the left-footed Brazilian. Falcao, the eighth king of Rome, as the AS Roma fans had dubbed him in Italy, brought a little and I do stress the word little defensive bite to this team. Even in defence, the full-back junior was effectively a winger, which seemed had the option to track back once in a while.
After some memorable performances in the first group stages, the Celisau looked to wrap-up group two proceedings against Italy. They needed just a draw to book their rightful place in the semi-finals. They expected them. The world demanded it, but the Azzuri had other ideas. Italy came into the 1982 World Cup as rank outsiders. A betting scandal had seen clubs relegated and players banned. One such player was Paolo Rossi. Rossi had made a name for himself in the 1978 World Cup and was given his debut by Enzo Bearzot, who would also lead Italy in 1982. Whilst on loan at Perugia, Rossi became engulfed in the infamous Totteneiro betting scandal, and despite always maintaining his innocence was banned for three years. On appeal, his sanction was reduced to two years, and he was signed by Juventus. Rossi had missed the 1980 European European Championships as a result of the ban, and after only playing three games in two years, was called up to the Italian World Cup Squad by Bearzot. The Italian media was aghast that Rossi was selected, especially since Roma striker Roberto Pruzzo was left out after finishing Top Scorer in Serie A, and after the first group stage ended with Italy not registering a single win against either
Cameroon, Peru or Poland, it seemed that Bearzot's gamble had backfired. Italy however managed to scrape through the first group stage by virtue of a superior goal difference to Cameroon. The second group stage would leave no hiding place. The Italians were drawn against reigning Champions Argentina, and tournament favourites Brazil. Paolo Rossi, was still without a goal even after Argentina were beaten 2-0 in the opening game of the second group stage.
With Brazil beating and knocking out archrival’s Argentina, the scene was set for an epic encounter between the free-flowing musicians of Brazil and the pragmatic Machiavellians of Italy, yellow versus blue, attack versus defence. Despite the calls for Rossi to be dropped, Bearzot persevered with his striker, his loyalty would pay off in spectacular fashion. The Estadio Sarria in Barcelona was set for the deciding game of the round, Italy had to win to secure a semi-final spot whilst Brazil needed just a draw. What was expected to be a game of cat and mouse, attack versus defence, instead turned into a match for the ages. Bearzot surprised many by attacking, exposing a dark truth many dared not utter... that Brazil could be got at. And with just 5 minutes played, Antonio Cabrini's cross was met by Paulo Rossi to put Italy ahead and score his first goal of the tournament. It would not be his last.
Just 7 minutes later, Socrates levelled for the Brazilians with a goal that epitomised the attacking verve of the tournament favourites. Picking up the ball in the middle of the park, Socrates plays the ball forward to Zico while continuing his run forward. Zico spots the run and with a back-heel pass plays the ball perfectly into the path of Socrates. From an acute angle, the Brazilian captain fires low and hard, beating veteran goalkeeper Dino Zoff at the near post. Socrates even produced a cloud of chalk dust as it hit the goal line as if only to add to the aesthetic. On 25 minutes, with shades of the 1970 World Cup final between the two teams, Brazil’s lackadaisical approach cost them concession of another goal when Cerezo's loose pass was intercepted by Paulo Rossi, who fired home his second to put the Italians ahead once more.
Still the Brazilian’s charged forward and it was to be one of Italy's adopted sons that would put one foot in the semi-finals for the Selecao.. Falcao, plying his trade at AS Roma, picked up the ball on the edge of the area, and rifled a thunderous shot past the despairing Zoff. Falcao's iconic celebration, neck muscle straining and veins set to burst, suggested that the Brazilians had done enough, but the Italians and one Paulo Rossi were not yet done.Described as a ghost by the Italian press for his performances during the first group stage, Rossi pounced in the penalty area once more to seal a memorable hat trick and the Azzuris place in the semi-finals.
The Brazilians, the entertainers and champions in waiting were on their way home.Football fans from around the world mourned the exit of the world's favourite second team.Who would now pick up the mantle of entertainers, who had the swagger, the flair, the "juade vive” to save football from the pragmatists of Italy and Germany? Enter France. If Brazil were the entertainers, a footballing carnival dancing its way through defences with musical abandon, then the French were the artisans, a carefree band of poets, philosophers and musketeers, seeking fortune and glory, be it in swashbuckling victory or glorious failure.
Captain Michel Platini epitomised the team's gaelic flair. Long, tousled hair, shirt untucked and socks often around the ankles, Platini was the heart and soul of this French team. Nicknamed the King, Platini played for his hometown team of Nantes, before moving to St Etienne. Outside of France, he's most well known for his time in Italy, playing for Turing giants, Juventus. In a success-laden spell, Platini won the Italian Cup in his first season before going on to win the Scudetto, the European Cup winners Cup and the European Super Cup in 1984, the European Cup and Intercontinental Cup in 1985, and the Scudetto again in 1986.The remarkable thing about Platini was his goal-scoring record. A midfielder playmaker, Platini won the coveted Capocannoniere given to the league's top scorer on three consecutive occasions between 1983 and 1985. All the more remarkable given the Italian league's reputation for watertight defences. But this was no one-man team. In midfield in particular, the French could boast the talents of Jean-Tigana, Alan Giress and Bernard Gengini. The French started their World Cup campaign with a defeat against England, conceding a goal after just 27 seconds, but recovered to get through the first group stage. The second group stage was a rather more straightforward affair with Austria and Northern Ireland both dispatched. A first semi-final since 1958 awaited this time against rivals West Germany.
West Germany, reigning European champions, started their campaign on the receiving end of one of the World Cup's most sensational ever-up sets, going down 2-1 to minnow's Algeria. The shock defeat was soon followed by a game so scandalous that FIFA was forced to change its format for subsequent tournaments. With Algeria on the verge of qualification, West Germany faced off against neighbours Austria in the final group game. Algeria had already played their game. It left West Germany and Austria safe in the knowledge that a West German win by a 1-0 or 2-0 scoreline would send both teams through and Algeria home. The Germans came out of the traps quickly and once they had scored off to 10 minutes, the game was effectively over as a contest with both teams settling for the result and qualification. Algerian fans waved banknotes in desperate protest, but they were not alone in their disgust. Spanish fans howled and whistled and even some German fans were outraged, one supporter burning the German flag outside the team hotel. The disgrace of Qijon as it came to be known meant that all final group games of subsequent World Cups would be played at the same time, scant consolation for the Algerians. For the Germans, the controversy and scandal meant that few neutral supporters were in their corner. Few still would remain, the Germans having navigated their way through the second group stage once they faced the new darlings of the World Cup. France. On the 8th of July 1982, in Seville, France and West Germany, prepared for battle. Whatever anyone had anticipated, nonecould have predicted what was to come. The game was a late evening kickoff, 9pm UK time, but the temperature on the field was still in the 90s. The captains, Michel Platini and Manny Kaltz, exchanged peasantries, and with the formalities done, the game was underway. Germany started brighter, the French seemed unprepared for a German side on the front foot, and after 17 minutes Pierre Littbarski, Germany's find of the tournament, fired them ahead. Stirred into action, it didn't take the French long to hit back. On 27 minutes, the French were level, Bernd Forster was judged to have fouled Dominique Rocheteau. Platini despatched the spot-kick with predictable ease. 1-1. The Germans now seemed rattled. They became increasingly physical, none more so than German goalkeeper Harold Schumacher. "He seemed very aggressive", commented French midfielder Alan Geras.
That aggression would soon boil over into what is still the most horrific incident in the history of the World Cup. With the team's deadlocked at 1-1, French manager Michel Hidalgo replaced Bernard Gengini with Patrick Battiston. Battiston would last just 10 minutes and not kick another ball for six months. Platini, near the halfway line, spotted a surging run from Battiston. In a split second, Battini had played the substitute through with just the keeper to beat. Schumacher came racing out of his area but was in no man's land. Battiston lifted the ball over the stranded Schumacher only for the ball to trickle wide.
In the meantime, Schumacher had continued his forward charge, jumped and turned a solid hip bone straight into the head of the oncoming Battiston. It was a truly sickening moment. Battiston lay stricken on the floor, his body limp. His French teammates waved furiously to the bench for medical assistance. It took a full three minutes for first aid medics to bring a stretcher onto the pitch.Meanwhile, Harold Schumacher was standing, hands on hips, waiting to take a goal kick. For all the world, looking extremely inconvenienced by Battiston's life-threatening injury. Schumacher would later claim rather unconvincingly given his nonchalant attitude while Battiston lay unconscious that he was afraid to approach the stricken Battiston for fear of reprisal from his furious teammates. Battiston was eventually stretched off with Platini walking beside him. But now unconscious Battiston's arm falls, hanging lifelessly from the stretcher, his captain lifts his arm back up and kisses his hand. It's a moving moment. Platini later said that he feared for Battiston's life.His teammate was unconscious, had lost two teeth and cracked a vertebrae.
With Battiston now taken off the field, play could eventually and almost inconsequentially resume. But it would not resume with a penalty or even a free kick. Play would resume with a German goal kick. Schumacher got off Scott free. And the referee in all this? Charles Corva of the Netherlands claimed to have not seen the incident. A much like many other controversial incidents in football in history, Corva claimed to have waited for a signal from his lineman, which never came. It seems inconceivable that neither the referee nor the linesman saw the act of brutality enacted upon Battiston. Corva later said, "I got appointed because the Germans and the French requested me. Meanwhile, the Dutch newspapers reporting on the match gave their opinion on the referee's performance. Corva explained,
"Good performance," said once.
"Sublime referee," said another.
"A few days later, the video from behind the gold was shown in Holland. If I had the opportunity to watch it back, I think I'd have given Schumacher a red card. But in the match, I was convinced I'd made the right call." He continued, "It was difficult to judge what happened because I followed the ball I thought it was going to be a goal. A bit later I recognised the collision between Schumacher and Battiston. I went to my assistant, Mr Valentine, a very good referee from Scotland and asked him if he saw something I missed. The French were furious, arguing understandably that somebody, any one of the on-field officials, must have seen what was such an obvious act of violent foul play. Yet nobody wanted to take responsibility and left it to each other to duck the issue. The lengthy break in play led to none of the on-field officials communicating with one another about the incident.” Battiston took a full six months to recover from his horrific injuries. On his return, he joined Bordeaux and continued picking up domestic titles and representing France in the European Championship winning team of 1984 and the 1986 World Cup before retiring with Bordeaux in 1991. Howard Schumacher never really got rid of the villain tag he rightly earned in that 1982 semi-final clash. He returned to German domestic football and continued to represent the national side, picking up the player of the year award twice. Having lost the World Cup final in 1982 to Italy, Schumacher repeated the experience four years later in Mexico where, after another semi-final win over France and Battiston, lost to Argentina in the final. In 1987, he was banned by the national team.after a book he published, accused several national team players of indulging in substance abuse.
He never played for Germany again. Germany won the World Cup in 1990. There were no real law changes after the Schumacher-Battiston incident, suggesting that the footballing culture was just as much to blame for the German keeper not being sanctioned as it was poor refereeing. Media coverage, not being as all-consuming as it later became, also gave fee for more protection against public opprobrium. The reckless physicality of football continued for many more years until specific rule changes started to impact on the very culture of football itself and not just the refereeing.