West Germany triumphs

Press, 23 June 1986, Page 27

West Germany triumphs

NZPA-Reuter Monterrey, Mexico

The goalkeeper, Toni Schumacher, made two saves in the penalty shootout to salvage victory for West Germany over Mexico in a scrappy, illtempered World Cup quarter-final yesterday. The host nation finally made its exit in a game more notable for the fact that eight players were booked and two sent off than for any spectacular soccer action. There were no goals in 90 minutes of normal time and half an hour of extra time. The Germans won the shoot-out, 4-1, after

Schumacher had saved the second and third Mexican penalties, stopping Fernando Quirarte’s effort with his feet and Raul Servin’s by diving to his right. Klaus Allots, Andreas Brehme and Lothar Matthaeus were successful with the first three German penalties and then Pierre Littbarski, who came on as a late substitute in extra time, converted the fourth to seal Mexico’s fate. The West Germans now move on to face France, which also beat Brazil in a penalty shoot-out, in Thursday's semi-final. The West Germans

were under serious pressure in the second half after the right-back, Thomas Berthold, was sent off in the sixty-fifth minute for retaliating when fouled by Quirarte. Even before his saves in the shoot-out, Schumacher had made a massive contribution to the Germans’ effort. He made brilliant saves from the host nation’s best player, Manuel Negrete, who claimed Mexico’s only success in the penalty climax, and Javier Aguirre. But in extra time things began to go the Germans’ way. Aguirre, who had already been booked, was

sent off in the one-hun-dredth minute for a foul on Lothar Matthaeus, leaving both sides with 10 men. Suddenly the Mexicans, who had already made both permitted substitutions, were down to nine men when the striker, Hugo Sanchez, went off for 10 minutes to be treated for cramp. The West Germans looked much the stronger side in extra time but were unable to convert their dominance into goals and they go into the semi-finals with an obvious weakness in finishing, having only scored four goals in their five games to date.

The atmosphere at the University Stadium, which a capacity 44,000 crowd turned into a sea of red, white and green, was heavily charged. But the soccer never matched the occasion.

The Mexicans were too lightweight for the solid West German defence and the visitors too unadventurous.

As fouls proliferated, five Mexicans — Quirarte, Javier Aguirre, Carlos de los Cobos, Servin and Sanchez — found their way into the book of the referee, Jesus Diaz, of Colombia. Three West Germans — Allots, KarlHeinz Foerster and Matthaeus — also received yellow cards.

The West Germans were fortunate that overcast skies limited the usual effects of Monterrey’s sweltering heat. But they had to contend with a noisy, passionate crowd and kept their nerve well at the end when Allofs, Brehme, Matthaeus and Littbarski all converted their penalties in spite of deafening whistles from the home supporters. Crowd noise had earlier erupted in the seventieth minute when the Monterrey star, Francisco “Grandad” Cruz, was sent on as substitute.

At the time it seemed West Germany, down to 10 men, would be drowned in a wave of emotion.