Saturday, August 07, 2021
Li-Bu-Da, Part 5
In (West) Germany's long and proud history at the World Cup, they have put in some less than impressive performances now and then. The 2002 second round match against Paraguay comes to mind, as does the shock loss to Algeria in 1982. But I would suggest that never have the Mannschaft played worse than in the first half of their first match of the 1970 World Cup, against Morocco in Leon. It was excruciating to watch.
The lack of acclimatisation may have been a factor; Helmut Schoen's squad arrived in Mexico surprisingly close to the start of the competition, and still appeared to be struggling with the heat, humidity and altitude of the Estadio Guanajuato. A number of players, notably Helmut Haller, seemed badly out of form. There were no doubt some opening-night nerves as well, especially given that the prospect of failing to beat the competition's African entrants was a worrying one. But one of the other salient factors was that Schoen had brought no fewer than three quality, in-form wingers to the tournament, and not one of them was in the starting eleven against Morocco. The "wingless wonders" philosophy lingered.
Jurgen Grabowski had matured, since 1966, into a tricky, adroit winger with considerable pace and variation. The versatile Hannes Löhr, who had been used in the Germans' ill-fated 1968 Nations Cup campaign, was a willing runner with a penchant for switching flanks. And, of course, there was "Stan" Libuda, now captain at Schalke 04 and in the form of his life: he had taken the unfancied Gelsenkirchen club to the semi-final of the Cup-Winners Cup, and although the Königsblauen were trounced by eventual winners Manchester City, Libuda had scored in both legs of the tie, and shown all his trademark acceleration and subtlety.
After the wretched first half against Morocco, in which the African side went ahead with a simple goal, Schoen belatedly brought on Grabowski, who revived the side almost immediately. Löhr too saw some game time towards the close, as the Germans ran out 2-1 winners. But once or twice, the crowd began to chant the name of the man they really wanted to see on the flank: Li-bu-da.
In the next game, against Bulgaria, they got their wish. In more ways than one.
Following his disappearing act in the second half against Scotland, I suspect that Schoen had suggested to Libuda that he alter his style a little, to maximise his effectiveness for the Mannschaft. And so it was that, against Bulgaria, Libuda added some elements of Zagallo to his Garrincha qualities. He dropped deep to receive the ball. He linked up with the defence. He drifted inside (especially when his colleague Löhr switched wings). He even popped up on the left now and then. He didn't obsessively look to drop the shoulder at every opportunity. And the result was one of the finest individual performances of the World Cup, a match-winning display.
The Germans scored five goals, and Libuda was involved in every one of them.
After the Bulgarians had opened the scoring from a free kick, Libuda hit the by-line in the 20th minute, served by the irrepressible Uwe Seeler, and whipped in a low cross which the Bulgarian keeper Simeon Simeonov fumbled over the line. The second goal, an absolute gem, saw the qualities of the two wingers complementing each other perfectly. The busy Löhr moved over to the right and found Libuda, now in the centre; riding a tackle, he almost lost his balance, but recovered to beat Asparukh Nikodimov with a delightful feint before cutting the ball back sharply for Gerd Muller to send a volley past Simeonov. Just before half-time, Libuda nearly scored again, playing a swift one-two with Seeler before firing just over the bar. The crowd were on their feet. "LI-BU-DA! LI-BU-DA!"
At half-time, the Bulgarian coach Stefan Boskov tried to turn the tide by introducing a winger of his own, Vasil Mitkov, on the Bulgarian right flank. But an important newcomer to the German side, the terrier-like fullback Berti Vogts, had his measure and then some. The assault on the other side of the field continued: Libuda twisted past his man again and was brought down for a penalty, which Muller dispatched. Franz Beckenbauer, coming into his own in midfield, almost scored what would have been the goal of the tournament soon afterwards, dancing past no fewer than six Bulgarian defenders before seeing his shot saved by Simeonov.
A flowing crossfield move, started again by Libuda deep on the right, produced the fourth goal, Seeler taking advantage of an accurate cross from Muller on the left. With only a few minutes left, a typical shoulder drop from Libuda produced a free kick; the winger took it himself, sending in an accurate ball to Muller, who headed in magnificently from 12 yards to complete his hat-trick. Todor Kolev's well-taken goal a minute later provided scant consolation to a Bulgarian side which had been destroyed by the slender Schalke captain.
"Stan won us this game. Fantastic performance," said Beckenbauer after the match. Wolfgang Overath, pointedly, remarked that "[Our tactics] don't work without good wingers. So we have Libuda to thank for that." "The only way to stop this guy is with a gun," grumbled Boskov.
Libuda retained his form in the final group game against Peru, in which Gerd Muller scored another hat-trick, revelling in the service he received both from the wings and from the ageless Seeler. In the sapping heat, Libuda tired towards the close and was replaced by Grabowski, but kept his place for the quarter-final showdown against England.
This, however, was the sort of tough, physical contest which did not suit him quite so well. Up against the dogged Terry Cooper, one of England's best players of the competition, Libuda was far less effective: his crosses were too shallow, and his touches less sure. It was significant, too, that he chose the easy option of cutting inside rather than going for the line most of the time: the heat was having its effect. Eventually, early in the second half, he was substituted for Grabowski, who provided much of the spark for the Germans' remarkable revival.
Schoen continued to shuffle his wingers around. Grabowski started the semi-final against Italy, with Libuda kept on the bench. But with Italy leading 1-0 in the second half and the Germans looking tired after their exertions against England, on came "Stan", in place of Löhr. There followed an intriguing battle with the great Giacinto Facchetti, in which Libuda did not come off worse. His was the first of a rash of German chances just after the hour, when he almost chipped the Italian keeper Enrico Albertosi from a tight angle. In quick succession, Overath hit the bar, Siggi Held had a shot cleared freakishly off the line by Roberto Rosato, and Seeler had an excellent penalty claim turned down by the weak referee, Arturo Yamasaki.
Eventually the veteran German sweeper Karlheinz Schnellinger equalised. In the amazing extra time period, there were five more goals, and once more Libuda was involved in both of the German ones, his crosses from the right providing the platform for Muller to work his penalty-box tricks. Libuda was also at the centre of a crucial, and largely forgotten, incident just prior to Italy's third goal: receiving the ball on the right, he was plainly fouled by Luigi Riva. The referee waved play on, Riva rushed into the German half...and pivoted to score. On such things do matches turn.
After two exhausting periods of extra time, it was no surprise that the Germans looked listless and uninspired in the third-place game; their opponents, Uruguay, would have won easily had they taken their chances. But Schoen's men held on for a 1-0 win and a bronze medal, and yet again Libuda was involved in the game's only goal; his cross was headed back across goal by Seeler for, inevitably, Muller, who this time prodded the ball back for Overath to thrash it home with his unforgiving left foot.
And so, after a long wait, it seemed that Reinhard Libuda was set to play a major role in the Germans' successes of the next few years. Still only 26, he had shown himself worthy of the biggest stage in Mexico. And he had added some modern versatility to his old-fashioned wing play.
Sadly, his career and life were soon to take a sharp downward turn. To be concluded in Part 6.
