Rio de Janeiro: The Germany-USA match in Recife on Thursday has rekindled memories of an infamous contest at the 1982 World Cup. Austria and West Germany joined hands to mastermind a result that sent Algeria home from the event. A shocking loss at the hands of the Algerians had pushed West Germany to the brink of elimination and they had to beat Austria in their final league match to progress.
Knowing that a 1-0 win would ensure a place for them in the second round along with Austria as Algeria had finished their group engagements earlier, the Germans promptly scored an early goal and stopped playing thereafter. The Austrians, too, never tried to venture into their opponents’ half to the utter shock of fans at Gijon in Spain.
Algerian supporters were aghast and they gave vent to their frustrations by waving wads of money from the stands. The north African country’s federation appealed to Fifa to nullify the result of the match but to no avail. But the world governing body decided to conduct the final league matches in a group simultaneously from the 1986 World Cup to prevent teams from fixing results.
United States' Brad Davis (right) during a practice session. Photo: AP
Even when final round matches are played simultaneously, friendly contests become inevitable sometimes. The situation is ripe for Germany and the USA in Brazil to play out a draw and qualify together for the next round, although both teams have announced that they would go for a win. The match between Ghana and Portugal could end up being an exercise in futility if there is no result in Recife. Germany and the USA are leading the table with four points each while Ghana and Portugal only have a point each.
Read: Ronaldo's Portugal face early exit
USA coach and former Germany international Jurgen Klinsmann swatted away comparisons with the 1982 match in a press conference. “You’re talking about a game that is decades ago. That is only a part of Germany’s history and not part of the United States’ history. I think if you look at the past of the US team, we always try to make things happen,” he was quoted in The Guardian.
The former coach of Germany cited the way the US fought back to dash Panama’s hopes of qualification for the 2014 World Cup, even though they had sealed the No. 1 position in the Central American region before the match. The USA scored two second-half injury-time goals in a 2-1 win to end the playoff chances of Panama. The result helped Mexico edge out Panama and take the inter-continental playoff place against New Zealand.
Reporters went to the extent of asking Klinsmann on what he would do if he got a message from Germany coach and his former assistant, Joachim Loew. The US coach said there was no time for friendship in the World Cup.
