ROME: Andreas Brehme’s penalty kick in the 84th minute gave West Germany a 1-0 victory over Argentina on Sunday in perhaps the least artful World Cup final ever played.
It was the third World Cup title for West Germany, equaling Brazil and Italy atop the all-time standings.
The Germans dominated from start to finish against an Argentina team crippled by injuries, the suspension of four starters and the eventual expulsion of two more players that had the defending champions playing with nine men at the end.
The result was the first shutout in World Cup final history.
“You can’t talk about a good game in the final because they were too weak to stand up to us,” said West German coach Franz Beckenbauer, rumored to be considering a job with the U.S. Soccer Federation
“It’s too bad Argentina didn’t participate in the game. They tried to destroy it.”
Beckenbauer made no apologies for winning on a penalty kick
“We clearly deserved to win,” he said. “We played in their half of the field for 90 minutes.
“It’s too bad for the final but ‘we can’t choose our opponents,”
Argentina defeated West Germany 32 in an exciting title game four years ago.
Beckenbauer agreed a West Germanltaly title game likely would have been more interesting, but Italy lost to Argentina on penalty kicks in the semifinals.
During that game, however, four Argentine players (including star forward Cladio Caniggia) earned penalties that left them ineligible for Sunday’s game.
It became clear within minutes of the kickoff before the pro German crowd of 73, 603 at Rome’s Olympic Stadium that the Argentines were in trouble.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 13, 1990
