Belgrade night

The final of the 1976 European Football Championship between Czechoslovakia and world and European champions Germany went down in football history as the night of Belgrade . The winning team on June 20, 1976 in the Belgrade Stadium was that of Czechoslovakia.

prehistory

It was the first final of a major tournament to be decided by penalty shoot-out . Shortly before the final , the DFB requested that there would be a penalty shoot-out instead of a replay in order to accommodate its players on vacation. Eight years earlier ( EM 1968 ) there had been a replay, four years earlier ( EM 1972 ) the Germans were so superior that they had easily won the final.

Both had previously won their semi-finals after extra time. For Germany it was the third final in a row, the previous finals (EC 1972 and World Cup 1974 ) Germany had won. For Franz Beckenbauer it was his 100th international match , only five players had more internationals at the time. For Czechoslovakia it was the third final participation, both previous finals ( World Cup 1934 and 1962 ) were lost. Germany was considered the favorite, although Czechoslovakia had been unbeaten since October 1974.

Course of the game

Czechoslovakia took the lead early 1-0 after a mistake by Berti Vogts and expanded it to 2-0 in the 25th minute after Beckenbauer's header was too short. Just three minutes later, Dieter Müller scored the next goal with his 4th tournament goal. Despite many scoring opportunities, it took until the last minute before Hölzenbein managed to equalize 2-2. The subsequent extension brought back chances on both sides, but remained goalless.

So it came to the first penalty shootout in an important final. Originally, in the event of a tie after extra time, a replay was planned for the following Tuesday, but at the request of DFB President Hermann Neuberger , national coach Helmut Schön and team supervisor Erich Deuser , a replay was waived and instead a penalty shoot-out was set as a decision. This was only decided a few hours before kick-off. The German players found out about the rule change during the warm-up and were surprised by it. Particularly remembered was the penalty missed by Uli Hoeneß and the last penalty that was played by Antonín Panenka and decided the game. Franz Beckenbauer was no longer allowed to compete as the 5th German shooter. Unlike all the players before, who shot the ball into the goal with full power, Panenka lifted the ball into the middle of the goal while Sepp Maier was already in the left corner.

Czechoslovakia		BR Germany
	final Sunday, June 20, 1976 at 8:15 p.m. (CET) in Belgrade ( Red Star Stadium ) Result: 2: 2 n.v. (2: 2, 2: 1), 5: 3 i. E. Spectators: 30,800 Referee: Sergio Gonella ( Italy )
	Ivo Viktor , Ján Pivarník , Anton Ondruš , Jozef Capkovic , Koloman Gögh , Karol Dobiaš (93. František Veselý ), Antonin Panenka , Jozef Móder , Marián Masný , Ján Švehlík (80. Ladislav Jurkemik ), Zdeněk Nehoda Coach: Václav Jezek	Sepp Maier , Berti Vogts , Bernard Dietz , Georg Schwarzenbeck , Franz Beckenbauer , Rainer Bonhof , Uli Hoeneß , Herbert Wimmer (46th Heinz Flohe ), Dieter Müller , Erich Beer (80th Hans Bongartz ), Bernd Hölzenbein Trainer: Helmut Schön
	1-0 Ján Švehlík (8th) 2-0 Karol Dobiaš (25th)	2: 1 Dieter Müller (28th) 2: 2 Bernd Hölzenbein (90th)
	penalties shoot
	1: 0 Marián Masný 2: 1 Zdeněk Nehoda 3: 2 Anton Ondruš 4: 3 Ladislav Jurkemik 5: 3 Antonín Panenka	1: 1 Rainer Bonhof 2: 2 Heinz Flohe 3: 3 Hans Bongartz Uli Hoeneß shoots over the goal
	Karol Dobiaš (55th), Jozef Móder (59th)

Viewers and coverage

30,800 spectators followed the game. Since the home team from Yugoslavia was eliminated in the semi-finals against Germany, the stadium was not fully occupied. Around one billion people around the world are said to have watched the game on television. The original commentary on German television came from Ernst Huberty .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kicker Edition: 100 Years of German International Games , p. 111

Web links

• 11freunde.de: "We were afraid" (Branko Oblak's memories of the game)