Soccer World Cup semi-final Sweden - Germany 1958
The semi-final game of the 1958 World Cup between hosts Sweden and the Federal Republic of Germany , the 1954 world champions, ended with a 3-1 win for Sweden. It was in Germany under the name of scandal and hatred play from Gothenburg or Battle of Gothenburg known because the German public felt unfairly treated by the Swedish spectators and players as well as by the Hungarian referee. The game took place on June 24, 1958 in front of 49,471 spectators in Gothenburg's Nya Ullevi Stadium . Stockholm was originally planned as the venue. The organizers moved the venue to Gothenburg at short notice. Due to the events during the game and after the final whistle, which in some cases led to xenophobic attacks against citizens of the other nation in both countries, the game went down in the international history of the German Football Association .
prehistory
Before the tournament, the Swedish team was only treated as an outsider, also because discussions had previously been held about whether so-called "football legionaries " from Italy could play for Sweden at the World Cup tournament. Swedish players such as Nils Liedholm , Bengt Gustavsson , Kurt Hamrin , Arne Selmosson or Lennart Skoglund had already switched to the Italian Serie A a few years before , which was rather unusual for the conditions at the time. Against all odds, however, the international professionals harmonized with the rest of the players, so that the team could surprisingly reach the semifinals through a draw against Wales , victories over Mexico , Hungary and the Soviet Union .
Four years after the World Cup victory in Bern , many German supporters traveled to Sweden to cheer on their team , also due to the improved social and economic situation during the economic miracle. However, some of these fans, known at the time as “battle strollers”, attracted negative attention away from the stadiums, so that the Swedish media soon concentrated on the drunk, loud and arrogant fans. Not infrequently, military metaphors such as "war footballer" , "bone breaker" or "tank" were used . The German media countered by stirring up displeasure against the Swedish team before the game. The players in Italy in particular were described by the press as “legionnaires”, which at the time was still negative. Today a common term for a foreign professional, at the time the name was a synonym for buyability and deterioration of character. Three years later, for example, Uwe Seeler's planned move to Italy, which had been criticized by the theologian Helmut Thielicke , caused a sensation in Germany.
Stimulated by the surprising successes of their own team, the Swedish fans created a tense atmosphere several hours before the game with hateful chants and anti-Germany slogans. The game had been moved from Stockholm to the Ullevi Stadium at short notice, so the German team had to move into new quarters at the last minute. German players reported after the game that they had been provoked by the loud “Heja, Heja” calls from the Swedes, forced by paid singers with megaphones, even before kick-off. In addition, according to their own statements, many German supporters were refused entry, so that ultimately only 1000 German visitors were present in the stadium. According to other sources, due to an organizational breakdown, there were only 60 places left. Only after vigorous protests by the German Consul General and the DFB were some places created for German fans.
The referee allocation for the game by FIFA ensured a controversial discussion among the reigning world champions, who had made it to the semi-finals after a draw against Czechoslovakia and Northern Ireland and victories over Argentina and Yugoslavia . As the main referee of the game, the Hungarian István Zsolt was to lead the game. Since the Germans quite Football Hungary had plunged through the final victory in Bern in a deep crisis and also the national team at the World Cup in Sweden without a living because of illegal emigration in exile and therefore no longer considered Stars Ferenc Puskás , Sándor Kocsis and Zoltán Czibor already in the preliminary round was eliminated, the DFB saw in the use of the Communists, who were loyal to the line in their own opinion, additional explosiveness. The Austrian Friedrich Seipelt and the English Arthur Ellis acted as line judges .
The game
Team lineups
 Sweden |
 BR Germany
|
|
|---|---|---|
| goal | ||
| 1 Karl Svensson ( Helsingborgs IF ) | 1 Fritz Herkenrath ( Rot-Weiss Essen ) | |
| Defense | ||
| 2 Orvar Bergmark ( Örebro SK ) 3 Sven Axbom ( IFK Norrköping ) |
7 Georg Stollenwerk ( 1. FC Köln ) 3 Erich Juskowiak ( Fortuna Düsseldorf ) |
|
| midfield | ||
| 15 Reino Börjesson ( Norrby IF ) 14 Bengt Gustavsson ( Atalanta Bergamo ) 6 Sigvard Parling ( Djurgårdens IF ) |
4 Horst Eckel ( 1. FC Kaiserslautern ) 2 Herbert Erhardt ( SpVgg Fürth ) 6 Horst Szymaniak ( Wuppertaler SV ) |
|
| Storm | ||
| 7 Kurt Hamrin ( Calcio Padova ) 8 Gunnar Gren ( Örgryte IS ) 9 Agne Simonsson ( Örgryte IS ) 4 Nils Liedholm ( AC Milan ) 11 Lennart Skoglund ( Inter Milan ) |
8 Helmut Rahn ( Rot-Weiss Essen ) 9 Fritz Walter ( 1. FC Kaiserslautern ) 12 Uwe Seeler ( Hamburger SV ) 11 Hans Schäfer ( 1. FC Cologne ) 14 Hans Cieslarczyk ( SV Sodingen ) |
|
| Trainer | ||
| George Raynor | Sepp Herberger | |
Playing clothes
The Swedish national team competed in yellow jerseys with the Swedish national flag on the chest, dark blue shorts and dark blue socks, while goalkeeper Karl Svensson played all in blue. The German team wore white jerseys with the DFB eagle on their chest, black shorts and black socks. Goalkeeper Fritz Herkenrath was dressed in black, as were the referees.
Course of the game
Although the Swedes opened the game with clear offensive efforts in the direction of the German goal, in this attack phase, however, the surprising 1-0 for the DFB-Elf fell in the 23rd minute of the game by Hans Schäfer . The German team now increasingly dominated the game, but after a clear but unpunished handball by Nils Liedholm , the Swedes equalized just ten minutes later through Lennart Skoglund . In the 58th minute after a duel there was a scramble between the German defender Erich Juskowiak and the Swedish attacker Kurt Hamrin , after a kick by the striker Juskowiak also returned the favor with a kick. Thereupon the German defender was sent off by Zsolt, but Hamrin went unpunished. 15 minutes later, outside runner Parling Fritz Walter hit the ankle so badly that he had to be treated injured. Since substitutions in compulsory football games could only be made after the 1966 World Cup , Walter returned to the field limping once more, but was de facto no longer able to participate in the game. Against the nine remaining Germans, the Swedes Gren and Hamrin managed to score the decisive goals in the final minutes. The last goal came after a spectacular dribble by Hamrin, as he played around three German defenders and shot the ball past Herkenrath into the goal. The defeat meant that Germany only reached the "small final", in which they lost 6-3 to France and for the Swedes the only final participation in the country's football World Cup history, in which Sweden beat Brazil 2-5 lost.
| pairing |
 Sweden - FR Germany
|
| Result | 3: 1 (1: 1) |
| date | June 24, 1958 at 7:00 p.m. |
| Stadion | Nya Ullevi , Gothenburg |
| spectator | 49,471 |
| referee |
István Zsolt ( Hungary )
 |
| Gates | 0: 1 Schäfer (23rd) 1: 1 Skoglund (33rd) 2: 1 Gren (81st) 3: 1 Hamrin (88th) |
| Sweden |
Kalle Svensson - Orvar Bergmark , Sven Axbom , Nils Liedholm - Sigvard Parling , Kurt Hamrin - Gunnar Gren , Agne Simonsson , Lennart Skoglund , Bengt Gustavsson , Reino Börjesson Trainer: George Raynor |
| BR Germany |
Fritz Herkenrath - Herbert Erhardt , Erich Juskowiak , Horst Eckel - Horst Szymaniak , Georg Stollenwerk - Helmut Rahn , Fritz Walter , Hans Schäfer , Uwe Seeler , Hans Cieslarczyk Trainer: Sepp Herberger |
| References | none - Juskowiak (59.) |
transmission
Although the ARD showed nine of the total of 35 games live on television , the transmission of all German World Cup games could not be guaranteed, as the live games were determined by FIFA. This meant that the broadcaster could only broadcast the second semi-final match between Brazil and France. Although 2.13 million households in Germany already owned a television set at the end of the year, audience ratings were not yet measured at that time.
The game between Germany and Sweden was broadcast exclusively on the ARD radio program . The game was commentated by Rudi Michel in the first half and by Herbert Zimmermann in the second half .
rating
The German public as well as the German Football Association quickly spoke of a "scandalous game" , the referee performance was seen as one-sidedly favoring the Swedes, their style of play as brutal. The journalist Horst Vetten stated that "King of football's simplest-minded vassals [fought] an embarrassing hedge battle" . The participants themselves tried to be restrained, however, so national coach Herberger congratulated the opponent on the sporting success ( "The Swedish team is a first-class team and deserved to win" ), players like Helmut Rahn described the atmosphere as not influencing ( "I just thought of the game, whoever wanted could scream and whistle. ” ). The Times also described the Swedish victory as deserved in its longer match report and did not mention a particularly brutal style of play by the Swedes, nor did it criticize the referee's performance.
Peco Bauwens , controversial as DFB President due to previous comparisons with the Third Reich , spoke of “sedition” and asserted “We will never enter this country again, we will never play against Sweden again!” . The Swedish tabloids responded with similarly chauvinistic statements. Bauwens then declined the invitation from the world association FIFA to the Brazil-Sweden final and let the German team fly home.
After the initial outrage about the German supporters and the war metaphor used in the Swedish press against the German players, the excitement about the game in Sweden subsided over the years. Today the semi-final game in Sweden has little significance compared to the final against Brazil five days later. The final and the vice world championship won in it, however, is seen by many Swedes as the greatest success in the history of the Swedish Football Association and the game is accordingly mentioned more often in national and international reviews in World Cup history.
Effects
Even during the game there were fistfights in and around the stadium between Swedish and German football fans, which ultimately degenerated into feelings of hatred towards members of the other nation in both Germany and Sweden. Vacationers were molested in public in both countries, and the guerrilla war quickly took on absurd effects. For example, there were signs in front of some German pubs and bars with the words “Sweden undesirable” . A Hamburg restaurant removed the “ Smörgåsbord ” and, due to the Hungarian referee, the “Paprikagulasch” from the menu, which was mentioned above all in the German tabloid press. In Sweden, too, there were several riots between Germans and nationals of the host country in the days after the game. There were other hostile incidents in Germany: a Swedish children's band was booed at Kieler Woche. The Swedish flag was taken from the mast at the horse show in Aachen. Companies terminated their trade relations with long-term business partners. At the insistence of other customers, German tank attendants refused to use petrol for Swedes traveling through, while other Swedes had their tires stabbed.
The sporting relationship between the two countries remained tense over the next few years; only the German victories in qualifying for the 1966 World Cup in England, for which ultimately only the DFB team was able to qualify, as well as the Germans 4-2 against Sweden in the second final round of the 1974 World Cup, the situation calmed down, as many Germans considered Gothenburg Looking at "avenged".
For the Swedes, the win against Germany meant their first participation in the final since the existence of the World Cup, but there the team was defeated by the outstanding Brazilians around the future world star Pelé with 2: 5. The German team started the game for third place, also due to the injuries sustained in the semi-final game, with a team changed to seven positions and lost to France 3: 6. The 38-year-old captain Fritz Walter also never recovered from his ankle injury from the semi-finals, so that the game against Sweden was also his last in the jersey of the German national team.
literature
- Friedebert Becker : Football World Cup 1958 , Copress-Verlag, Munich, 1958.
- Manfred Breuckmann : Juskowiak and the confectionery bowl , published in Frank Goosen (ed.): Fritz Walter, Kaiser Franz and we - Our world championships , Heyne Verlag, Munich, 2006, ISBN 978-3-453-40124-2 .
- August H. Esser: The 1958 Soccer World Cup in Sweden , Limpert Verlag, Wiebelsheim, 1958.
- Wilhelm Fischer: King football rules from Bern to Chile. Sepp Herberger and the games of the German national team from 1954 to today , W. Fischer-Verlag, Göttingen, 1962.
- Werner Skrentny: Football World Cup 1958 - Sweden , Agon Verlag, Kassel, 2002, ISBN 3897841924 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ World Cup 1958: Inedible Schwedenplatte Weltfussball.de, June 10, 2014, accessed on July 10, 2014.
- ↑ cf. Wilhelm Fischer, King of Football, rules from Bern to Chile. Sepp Herberger and the games of the German national team from 1954 to today , W. Fischer-Verlag, Göttingen, 1962, p. 43 f.
- ↑ fifa.com FIFA World Cup Sweden 1958 ( Memento of the original from October 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Neue OZ online, 1958: The hatred of Gothenburg and the evil consequences
- ↑ HELMUT THIELICKE . In: Der Spiegel . No. 49 , 1966 ( online ).
- ↑ Fischer, p. 43 f.
- ↑ a b faz.net, Fear opponent Sweden: Rain battle and cauldron
- ↑ cf. Friedebert Becker: Football World Cup 1958 , Copress-Verlag, Munich, 1958
- ↑ a b Süddeutsche online, A day in the hell of Gothenburg
- ↑ fifa.com, Official FIFA Match Report
- ↑ Super8 color film: Sweden vs. West Germany, FIFA World Cup 1958 . In: YouTube
- ↑ Tagesanzeiger online, substitutions allowed since 1965 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Wissen.de, Fußball-WM 1958: Perfektion am Ball ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Media Perspektiven 9/2006, The Soccer World Cup as a television event ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 270 kB)
- ↑ Istvan Zsolt - The man who started a war ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 315 kB)
- ↑ Sweden too skilful, The Times, June 25, 1958, p. 5.
- ↑ Meller Kreisblatt online, “We'll never play again in Sweden” ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ svenskfotboll.se, international classic: World Cup final 1958 (Swedish)
- ↑ fifa.com, FIFA World Cup Sweden 1958 ( Memento of the original from October 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ cf. Werner Skrentny: Football World Cup 1958 - Sweden , Agon Verlag, Kassel, 2002, ISBN 3897841924
- ↑ rz-online, Football World Cup history: 1958 ( Memento of the original from February 6, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Also: "The Disaster of 1958"; FAZ of June 21, 2018, page 38; Author: Bert-Oliver Manig.
