Andreas Brehme: He was the West German hero who kept his cool to down Argentina from the penalty spot at Italia 90
ONLY the strongest will survive...
And they don't come more robust than Andreas Brehme. With five minutes left of play in the 1990 World Cup final, the left-back was presented with the opportunity to win the game
His team West Germany were locked in a tense battle with Argentina, with the score at 0-0 in the 85th minute.
A penalty was awarded for a foul on Rudi Völler, and Brehme bravely stepped up to strike the ball home past master penalty saver Sergio Goycochea.
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In a chat with GOAL!, the West German hero that day relives the moment he had to keep his cool and break Argentinian hearts.
Truth be told, it wasn't the best final. But coach Franz Beckenbauer wanted his boys to play with the freedom that saw them reach the final.
Brehme recalled: “[Franz] Beckenbauer didn’t say much, just to play as we had played against England and the Netherlands.
“In the final, considering that Argentina didn’t have a single corner in 90 minutes, not a single scoring chance, they were obviously playing for a penalty shootout.
"(Sergio) Goycochea was a remarkable goalkeeper, who had got them to the final from the last 16 only by way of penalty shootouts.
“It’s a pity that it was decided thanks to a penalty kick, because after 20 minutes we should have been in the lead by three or four goals."
Brehme's golden moment came when both sides were tiring and extra time was looming.
A penalty was awarded in the 83rd minute, which started a melee of Argentines complaining about the spot-kick being given
During the gamesmanship, captain Lothar Matthäus opted out of becoming Germany's savior.
Brehme was the one who shouldered the responsibility.
“Then the climax of the game came when Rudi Völler was fouled in the 83rd minute," Brehme recalled.
"The referee blew the whistle for a penalty. Lothar didn’t want to shoot, but someone had to and I felt in good form.
'He admitted his penalty wasn't a good penalty'
PHOTO-JOURNALIST MICHAEL DONALD came upon the novel idea to track down footballers who have scored in a World Cup final, photograph and interview them about their experience for a book called GOAL!
He tracked down West Germany's Andreas Brehme, the man responsible for sinking Argentina with a calm penalty with just five minutes left of normal time.
Brehme admitted that his penalty wasn't as convincing as he hoped.
"This shoot was done in a restaurant owned by his friend," Donald told SunSport.
"He admitted to me that his penalty wasn't a good penalty and he felt very fortunate and lucky that it actually went in.
"Andreas had a clothes label, designing suits. He was wearing his line in the shoot."
"I grabbed the ball and the worst thing about it was that the Argentines were arguing with the referee and they kept on kicking the ball away.
"That went on for maybe seven, eight minutes, until I could finally shoot.
“Rudi came up to me and said: ‘Andreas, please do me a favour. If you bury the ball in the net, we will be World Cup champions.’
“I said: ‘I wouldn’t mind if you took the shot. We would still be World Cup champions.’
“‘No,’ he said, ‘just do me a favour, and bury the ball in the net.’
“I said: ‘Thanks, I will do my best.’
“With the left foot I can shoot harder, with the right one more accurately. I didn’t ask myself for one second if I was going to shoot with my left or my right foot.
“Rudi came up to me and said: ‘Andreas, please do me a favour. If you bury the ball in the net, we will be World Cup champions
Andreas Brehme, GOAL!
"It was obvious: with the right foot. I knew the corner I would shoot in, and I knew that [Sergio] Goycochea had saved many penalties.
"He guessed the right corner. I wasn’t really paying attention to Goycochea, to be honest.
"I was just glad when the ball was in the net, because it was very, very narrow. It was a relief."
To this day, Brehme is calm when talking about that penalty.
But the German celebrations lasted well into the night, first with a dinner set up by Beckenbauer where he told his players he was leaving his post.
“If you consider that billions of people are watching you shoot this penalty kick, in the end you are either the fool or the hero," Brehme said.
“We had a big party that night. It was at dinner that Beckenbauer said that he was quitting and we could call him Franz from now on.
"I don’t think I went to bed that night."
© Michael Donald 2017
GOAL! by Michael Donald is published by Hamlyn, £20 (