World Cup Memories (1982): Rummenigge and the ten robots

The West German football team, led by karl Heinz Rummenigge went in to the 1982 WC in Spain as one of the favorites. They were the European champions at the time and on paper they looked a perfectly balanced outfit. Their skipper, Rummenigge, was among the leading marksmen in world football at the time, and he was supported up front by highly competent Hrubesch and Klaus Fischer; in the midlfeild Felix Maggath (now the Fulham boss) was the relentless worker, Paul Breitner, a hero of the 1974 triumph, was the main playmaker, while Littbarski, of Polish origin, provided the width. The defense was as usual very tight; and in the post, Tony Schummacher of FC Koln, though highly controversial, was among the best in Europe. With this team the Germans were expected to emerge as one of the most exciting teams in the event.

The team eventually finished 2nd, losing to the Italians in the final; yet at no stage did the team perform admirably as a group. Instead, throughout the event, they looked at their captain to provide moments of magic, and it was only the brilliance of their captain that took them in to the finals. And when he failed in the final, they looked hapless. Traditionally, German football is based on team effort rather than individual brilliance. Despite being one of the biggest football nations, Germany, over the years has produced very few superstars. Instead of depending on one or two  players, they like to rely more on combined team efforts. In this regard, the 1982 WG team is a major exception.

FRG's first fixture against Algeria was expected to be a cakewalk; the north Africans were making their first appearance in WC finals. Yet, after a barren first half they took the lead through Madjer, and although Rummenigge equalized in the 67th minute; Belloumi scored in the very next minute to take Algeria to a memorable 2-1 success; this still remains one of the biggest shock in WC history. To their great credit, the German's bounced back, thrashing Chile 4-1 in their next match. Rummenigge led from the front scoring a hat-trick; yet it was in this match that the over dependence of the German team on their captain was evident to everyone. Almost every move revolved around him, he dribbled and dazzled while the others looked just happy to play the supporting role. In fact, it was this solo performance that prompted Pele and the other pundits to describe the team as ‘Rummenigge and the ten robots'.

Germany qualified for the 2nd round after defeating Austria 1-0. Back in 1978, these two teams had produced a cracking match; which ended with Austria winning 3-2; and the historical relationships between these nations gave the match at Gijon extra significance; the match however failed to live up to the billing, and an early goal from Hrubesch was the only memorable moment in the match. The 12 teams of the 2nd round were divided in to 4 groups of 3 teams each. Most of the attention was focused on two groups; Group B, based on Madrid, had West Germany, England and the hosts Spain; Group C, based on Barcelona had Italy, Brazil and the defending champions Argentina.

The spectators at Barcelona saw the best football of the tournament, as Rossi, Conti, Falcao, Zico, Socrates, Maradona and Ardilles enthralled them. In direct contrast, the matches at Madrid were boring and disappointing. The tone was set with a 0-0 draw between Germany and England. Back in 1966 these two nations played a nail biting final match at Wembley where England triumphed 4-2. No less exciting was the QF match in Mexico 1970, where England squandered a 2-0 half time lead to lose 3-2 to their perennial rivals. Yet, in the match at Madrid, there was hardly any action, hardly anything to remember. During the half time break, half the ground was booing, the other half had fallen asleep. Germany took the pole position in the group after beating the hosts 2-1 in their next match, thanks to goals from Littbarski and Fischer, and a 0-0 draw in the England-Spain match ensured their passage into the SF stage. England went out despite not losing a single match in the tournament; while for the hosts it ended a miserable campaign; in their 5 matches they won only one, drew 2, and lost 2; they managed only 4 goals.

So, in early July, the Semi Finals were held. At Barcelona, Italy continued with their triumphant march, beating Poland 2-0, thanks to a double strike from in-form Rossi. At Seville, the Germans took on France in an epic event. The Germans were without their inspirational captain, who was in the subs bench, due to an injury problem. Yet, initially, they looked OK without him, and when Littbarski scored after quarter of an hour, no one was surprised. Yet, the absence of Rummenigge soon became apparent, as Platini and Tigana took control of the midfield, and the French equalized in the middle of the first half, through a penalty, converted by their skipper. There were no goals in the 2ns half, but there were plenty of drama to come.

Defender Tresor scored for the French early in the extra time, and when Alan Girese made it 3-1 in the 98th minute; the match seemed over. In a desperate bid, the German coach, send Rummenigge in, hoping for more magic from him. And he delivered, he scored the German 2nd; and then Fischer scored with an overhead kick to make it 3-3. It finished level and the first ever tie breaker in WC history was required. There Germany prevailed 5-4.

In the final played at Bernabeu, the German's proved no match for the rampant Italians who won 3-1. Rummenigge did start this match, but heavily marked by young Bergomi, he failed to show any magic. When he was substituted in the middle of the 2nd half, some German supporters were booing, but the reality was that he was not fully fit; and apart from him there was hardly any threat on Italian defense. Italy took a 3-0 lead, with 2nd half goals from Rossi, Tardelli and Altobelli; even the missed penalty by Cabrini in the 1st half didn't matter. And although Breitner scored late for Germany, to get his name in the small list of players to score goals in two WC finals, there was no stopping Italy. They won their 3rd WC, as ‘Rummenigge and the ten robots' finished 2nd.

Epilogue: Rumenigge was there again, in Mexico 1986; but this time his influence was far less. His only goal in the event came in the final, as Germany came back from a two goal deficit only to lose 3-2 to Maradona's Argentina. West Germany did win the cup in 1990 with Brehme scoring the winner, but for Rummenigge, it was  just too late