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Jahrhundertspiel (English: Game of the Century; Italian: Partita del Secolo; Spanish: Partido Del Siglo) is the German name of the semi-final during the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico between Italy and West Germany, played on 17 June 1970 at Aztec Stadium in Mexico City. Italy won 4:3 after extra time. It is said to be the most dramatic match in football history.
There is a monument commemorating this match in front of Aztec Stadium. On a plaque the following sentence is engraved: El Estadio Azteca, Rinde Homenaje A Las Selecciones De: Italia (4) Y Alemania (3) Protagonistas En El Mundial De 1970, Del "Partido Del Siglo" 17 De Junio De 1970.
The match
After Roberto Boninsegna's 1:0 lead for Italy, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger equalised during injury time. German TV commentator Ernst Huberty then exclaimed ("...it had to be Schnellinger!"), since Schnellinger played in Italy's professional football league, Serie A, at AC Milan (and before that, also at Roma and Mantova), and since this was his only goal in 47 matches.
Gerd Müller's lead during extra time was equalised by Tarcisio Burgnich; later, Luigi Riva scored and gave Italy a 3:2 lead. Gerd Müller equalised again for the score of 3:3. West Germany was then essentially playing a man short, since Franz Beckenbauer's clavicle had been broken during a very serious foul, but since Germany had used up the maximum number of substitutions, he refused to quit and continued playing with a sling. Gianni Rivera then scored the decisive goal.
Line-ups
Italy: Enrico Albertosi; Tarcisio Burgnich, Roberto Rosato (Fabrizio Poletti 91), Giacinto Facchetti; Mario Bertini, Giancarlo de Sisti, Pierluigi Cera; Roberto Boninsegna, Sandro Mazzola (Gianni Rivera 46), Angelo Domenghini, Luigi Riva
Germany: Sepp Maier; Berti Vogts, Bernd Patzke (Siegfried Held 66); Franz Beckenbauer, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, Willi Schulz; Jürgen Grabowski, Uwe Seeler, Gerd Müller, Wolfgang Overath, Hennes Löhr (Stan Libuda 52)
The match in numbers
- Italy - Germany: 4:3 (1:1,1:0) AET
- Goals: 1:0 Boninsegna (7.), 1:1 Schnellinger (90.), 1:2 Müller (95.), 2:2 Burgnich (99.), 3:2 Riva (104.), 3:3 Müller (109.), 4:3 Rivera (111.)
- 102.444 Spectators
- Referee: Yamasaki (Peru), Velasquez (Colombia), Hormazábal (Chile)
External links
1970 FIFA World Cup | FIFA World Cup matches | Football in Germany | Football in Italy | Football in Mexico | Sport in Mexico City | Jahrhundertspiel | Partita del secolo (calcio)
"Game of the Century (football)"