Miracle of Cordoba

1978 FIFA World Cup
Group A

Event	1978 FIFA World Cup
Austria West Germany 3 2
Date	21 June 1978
Venue	Chateau Carreras, Córdoba
Referee	Abraham Klein (Israel)
Attendance	38,318

The Miracle of Cordoba describes the game of football between defending World Champions (West) Germany and Austria that occurred on 21 June 1978 at the conclusion of the second round of the 1978 FIFA World Cup, in Córdoba, Argentina. The game is sometimes remembered by the losing Germans as "The Disgrace of Cordoba", while it is fondly remembered by fans of the Austrian national team for being the first time in 47 years that Austria had defeated Germany (during partition, called West Germany). In between, in spring of 1938, following the Anschluss, Austrian players had to be merged in the (Greater) German team, leading to an early exit at the 1938 FIFA World Cup, Germany's worst result in a World Cup.

In the first round, Austria had surprisingly won their group, ahead of Brazil even though they had lost to them. A rather lackluster Germany had only finished second in their group, following two scoreless draws. While the German team still contained a number of players who had contributed to winning the 1974 World Cup, others had retired from the national team, being dissatisfied with the old-fashioned attitude of DFB leaders and coach Helmut Schön, who at age 62 was about to retire after the tournament.

In the second round, the Austrians lost their first two games, against the Netherlands (1-5) and Italy, which meant that they were already eliminated from contention before the last game. The Germans had managed another two draws against the Dutch (opponents in the 1974 final) and the Italians (opponents in the 1970 semifinal, the Game of the Century), which gave these two teams an occasion to determine head to head who would advance to the Final. If their simultaneous game (both at 13:45 local time) ended in a tie (no overtime or penalty shootout, as it was a group stage game), though, a decisive four goal victory by Germany over Austria would give the Germans the advantage over the Dutch, and a berth in the Final. If the Netherlands-Italy game had a winner, Germany could still qualify for the third place match by beating Austria, or in case of an Italian loss, even with a draw.

In both games, the first goal was scored in the 19th minute, by Germany and Italy. When Dutch tied in the 49th, the Germans were still three goals shy of advancing to the Final. Then Vogts scored in the 59th, but in his own net. Krankl put Austria ahead, and Hölzenbein tied it again a few minutes later. When the Dutch scored their winning goal in the 76th, the Germans were placed second in the group, ahead of the Italians, having a goal tally of 4-4, compared to the lesser 2-2 of Italy. German fans could look forward to the Third Place match, until Krankl scored the 3-2 in the 87th minute. The Germans were not able to score in the remaining minutes, and, having also been eliminated, spontaneously joined the Austrians on their pre-arranged flight home.

The commentary provided during the last few minutes of the game by Edi Finger, and in particular his exclamation following Krankl's goal "Tor! Tor! Tor! Tor! Tor! Tor! I wer' narrisch!" are familiar to most Austrians and Germans from being repeated many times on radio and television. Although the Cordoba game was not a World Cup final, in Austrian popular culture Finger's commentary is comparable with Herbert Zimmermann's famous commentary at the end of the 1954 World Cup Final, between West Germany and Hungary, the game often called The Miracle of Bern.

A translation of Finger's commentary follows:

[Krankl] is in the box. He shoots! Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal! I am going bonkers! Krankl has scored. It is 3-2 for Austria! Ladies and gentlemen, we are hugging each other here, Rippel, my colleague, graduate engineer Posch, we're kissing each other ... 3-2 for Austria, by our Krankl's magnificent goal. He beat all of them. And just wait a minute, wait a minute and perhaps we can pour ourselves a small glass of wine. That's something you have to have seen. I'm standing up now, the South American [crowd]. I think we have beat them! However, the Germans attack again, watch out, headed away again. The ball goes to the left, to Pezzey, Pezzey, but lads, don't break down back there, stay upright! Still two minutes to go, the ball's with the Austrians, but we don't want to jinx it. There is a cross into the box, but Kreuz has saved again! Germany sends everyone to the front. A chance for the Germans! Well? It is wide! Oh, Abramczik, I'd like to kiss Abramczik for it. He really helped us -- alone in front of the goal. Brave Abramczik has shot wide. The poor guy will fret. 30 seconds to go. 3-2 for Austria. After 47 years, ladies and gentlemen, an Austrian national team, but what a team, a world class team that's performing today, is in the lead 3-2 against the Federal Republic. And I don't dare to watch anymore. The ball's kicked out of the match. Referee Klein from Israel, a truly outstanding referee, it was not easy for him today, but he performed magnificently up to now. 45th minute, once again the ball's with Germany and Prohaska kicks it away. And now it is over! It's over, it's finished it's done, it's over! Germany has been beaten, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in 47 years, Austria has defeated Germany.

German fans were dissatisfied with the performance and attitude of their 1978 team, contrasted with the Austrians, who fought fiercely with their neighbours in a game that had no significance in terms of further progression in the tournament. Finger's often-repeated commentary added insult to injury. With a new coach, the Germans went on to win the 1980 European championship. At the 1982 FIFA World Cup, Germans and Austrians again met in a final group stage game, West Germany v Austria (1982), with the Germans in a must-win situation, while Austria would advance even in case of a one goal loss. After Germany scored early, the Austrians, unlike 1978, made few efforts to tie the game which is dubbed Non-aggression pact of Gijón. Both teams advanced. Since then, the Germans played in four World Cup finals, and the Austrians only qualified for two World Cups, in which they were eliminated early. Having little contemporary achievement to celebrate, the Austrians keep celebrating the 1978 game with Schadenfreude.

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References

1. ^ "APA - Austria Presse Agentur / 55-85 apa historisch ť zeitgeschichte online". Historisch.apa.at. 2004-12-20. http://www.historisch.apa.at/cms/apa-historisch/dossier.html?dossierID=AHD_19780621_AHD0001. Retrieved 2011-08-19. 
2. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}