Four-country tournament (1988)

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The four-country tournament held by the German Football Association in Berlin in 1988 was an invitation- only tournament for national teams and has so far remained unique under the direction of the DFB. The tournament took place from March 31 to April 2, 1988.

background

The Federal Republic of Germany had been designated to host the European Football Championship in 1988 , but at that time had to forego Berlin as the venue, possibly even as a possible venue for the final, due to the still existing division of the country. At the insistence of the Soviet Union and the GDR, this compromise had been accepted by the DFB, under the leadership of Hermann Neuberger , and thus the FR of Germany was accepted as the host country. To compensate for the fact that Berlin with its Olympic Stadium was not intended as a venue, a four-country tournament was held there over Easter 1988 .

mode

Two semi-finals were planned, the winners of which went into the final and the losers to a game for third place. If there was a tie after 90 minutes of play, there was no extra time, but a direct penalty shoot-out . The following nations were invited to the tournament, in addition to the host and then Vice World Champion Germany:

Tournament course

The first semi-final game was played by hosts Germany and Sweden, with one game developing at a moderate level. Klaus Allofs gave the Germans the lead in front of 23,709 spectators with a 42nd minute free kick, but the Swedes equalized in the 74th minute through Peter Truedsson . In the due penalty shootout, the Swedes converted their first four penalties, while for Germany the later World Cup heroes of 1990 , Lothar Matthäus and Rudi Völler , missed. With the 4-2 on penalties, the Swedes reached the final against the Soviet Union, who beat the reigning world champions Argentina 4-2 in the second game.

In the game for third place, Germany won 1-0 against Argentina in revenge for the lost World Cup final in 1986. Lothar Matthäus scored the winning goal in the 30th minute. In the final, outsiders Sweden prevailed 2-0 against the Soviets, who were considered the secret favorites for the 1988 European Championship.

  Semifinals final
March 31, 1988      
 Germany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany BR Germany 1 (2)
 SwedenSweden Sweden 11 (4) 1  
   
April 2nd, 1988
 SwedenSweden Sweden 2
   Soviet UnionSoviet Union Soviet Union 0
 
3rd place match
March 31, 1988 April 2nd, 1988
 Soviet UnionSoviet Union Soviet Union 4th  Germany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany BR Germany 1
 ArgentinaArgentina Argentina 2    ArgentinaArgentina Argentina 0
1 win on penalties

Final score

  1. Sweden
  2. USSR
  3. Federal Republic of Germany
  4. Argentina

resonance

Although the tournament with world champion Argentina and its world stars Claudio Caniggia and Diego Maradona , as well as the secret European favorite USSR with players like Oleh Protasow or Rinat Dassajew , was not very popular with the audience. The games were attended only moderately to poorly. Ultimately, the performance of the Argentines as the reigning world champion was rather disappointing; at best, the performance of the DFB selection, which wanted to use the tournament as a test run for the European Football Championship in their own country, was average . Overall, the final balance of the tournament was assessed as sobering by those responsible.

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