Decision game of the GDR football league 1952/53

The playoff for the championship of the East German Football League 1952/53 took place on July 5, 1953 between SG Dynamo Dresden and BSG Wismut Aue , because both teams had reached the same number of points at the end of the season. Dynamo Dresden won 3-2 after extra time.

prehistory

The final of the GDR soccer championship was exciting until the very end. This was also ensured by the fact that the last championship games were played according to a completely diffuse schedule. The last four rounds were played on seven different dates between April 26th and June 3rd. Four games before the end of the season, five teams still had title chances: Stahl Thale , Rotation Dresden , Motor Zwickau , Wismut Aue and Dynamo Dresden. Thale gambled away the championship in his penultimate game on May 10 in the 1: 2 defeat in Lauter . Rotation Dresden and Zwickau missed their chances on their last game day. Rotation lost 2-1 at home to Rotation Babelsberg on May 14th , Zwickau lost 2-1 at Vorwärts Berlin on May 31st . The supporters of Dynamo Dresden and Wismut Aue had to fear for their team for a long time. Before Dresden finally secured the top of the table in its last game on May 31st with a 3-1 win in Dessau, seven games without a win had preceded it. Wismut Aue also failed on the third and penultimate matchday in two home games against Oberschöneweide (3: 4) and Vorwärts Berlin (2: 2). On May 31, all teams except Rotation Babelsberg and Wismut Aue had finished the season, Aue was two points behind Dynamo Dresden before the season finale and was only able to catch up with Dynamos with a win that brought two points. This was achieved with a smooth 2-0 home win.

The playoff took place just under three weeks after the popular uprising on June 17, 1953 . There was still a state of emergency in East Berlin . Dynamo Dresden took this as an opportunity to travel without its own fans, while Wismut Aue brought its fans with them on several special trains.

Course of the game

Both teams came up in their regular formation and had played their last league game with the same line-up. Dynamo immediately went on the offensive and had a great chance after five minutes through Holze, but the right winger shot the ball, which the Wismut goalkeeper had defended too short, over the goal. Just a minute later, Dynamo's right-back Manfred Michael was more successful. Dynamo received a free kick 30 meters from the bismuth goal. Since goalkeeper Erhard Schmalfuß did not allow a wall to form, Michael had a clear shot. His sharply shot ball first jumped goalkeeper Schmalfuß on the shoulder, then on the crossbar and finally into the goal. Immediately after falling behind, the Wismut-Elf began the counter-offensive. But the attacking game of the West Saxons was too imprecise and too little was played over the wings. With the strikers pushing inwards again and again, the dynamo defense, which was excellently organized by Schoen, had no problems. Nevertheless, Wismut managed to equalize shortly before the break. Aue's best player up to then, center forward Tröger, reached a cross in his left wing quarter and was able to overcome Klemm with a low shot into the right corner.

Immediately after the whistle for the second half, the tide seemed to turn in favor of Wismut Aue. A header from the Dresdner Schoen landed at the bismuth striker Karl Wolf, who immediately used his strike partner Günther, who was standing free in front of the dynamo goal. He had no trouble guiding the ball past the goalkeeper. After their opening goal, the Wismut players concentrated on defending the lead. Both midfielders now acted defensively, even the strikers Karl Wolf, Günther and Viertel withdrew into defense. The dynamo players initially failed to overcome this compact bulwark. Schmalfuß only put wood to the test once. In the final quarter of an hour, both coaches sent fresh forces onto the field. In Dresden, Hänel replaced center forward Hänsicke, and in Aue Gräfe came on for the left winger Viertel. As surprising as Dynamo Dresden had taken the lead, so unexpectedly did the team equalize three minutes before the final whistle. Aues goalkeeper Schmalfuß fisted a corner ball right in front of Schröter's feet, who pulled the ball past several Bismut players into the goal.

Initially, no team was able to gain advantages in extra time. As the length of the game increased, the players got problems with their stamina. When eight minutes before the end of the game everyone was expecting a replay, Dynamos Holze forced the decision. After a one-two between Usemann and Fischer, Matzen was played. This crossed right in front of the goal, Holze hit with a force shot. In the end, the game was decided by two goalkeeping mistakes by the Wismut goalkeeper Schmalfuß.

Opinions

Paul Döring, Dynamo trainer: “It was an exciting and rich game, which from a technical point of view probably had a few shortcomings. I attribute this to the fact that both opponents were completely equal and therefore had to take the combative note more into account. "

Karl Dittes, Wismut coach: "The happier of two teams of equal value has won."

statistics

pairing	SG Dynamo Dresden - BSG Wismut Aue
Result	3: 2 nV (2: 2, 1: 1)
date	5th July 1953
Stadion	Walter Ulbricht Stadium , East Berlin
spectator	50,000
referee	Gerhard Schulz
Gates	1: 0 Michael (6th) 1: 1 Tröger (43rd) 1: 2 Günther (46th) 2: 2 Schröter (87th) 3: 2 Holze (112th)
SG Dynamo Dresden	Heinz Klemm - Manfred Michael , Herbert Schoen , Erhard Haufe - Kurt Fischer , Günther Usemann - Karl-Heinz Holze , Günter Schröter , Gerhard Hänsicke (74th Wolfgang Hänel ), Rudolf Möbius , Johannes Matzen Trainer: Paul Döring
BSG Wismut Aue	Erhard Schmalfuß - Johannes Löffler , Heinz Glaser , Siegfried Naeke - Erhard Süß , Heinz Weißflog - Siegfried Wolf , Karl Wolf , Willy Tröger , Armin Günther , Kurt Viertel (76th Alfred Gräfe ) Trainer: Karl Dittes

swell

GDR sports newspaper Deutsches Sportecho , edition of July 6, 1953
Andreas Baingo, Michael Horn: The History of the GDR Oberliga. Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2003, ISBN 3-89533-428-6 , p. 38.