Italy 4-3 West Germany (1970)

The semi-final of the 1970 FIFA World Cup between Italy and West Germany is known in those countries as the "Game of the Century" (Italian: "Partita del Secolo"; German: "Jahrhundertspiel"; Spanish: "Partido Del Siglo"). It was played on 17 June 1970 at the "Estadio Azteca" in Mexico City. Italy won 4:3 after five goals were scored in extra time, the only FIFA World Cup game in which this has happened.

The match

Italy led for the majority of the match, after Roberto Boninsegna scored in the 8th minute. However, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger equalised for West Germany during the 90th minute in injury time. German television commentator Ernst Huberty exclaimed "Schnellinger, of all people!", since Schnellinger played in Italy's professional football league, Serie A, at AC Milan (and with AC Milan he never scored) and previously for A.S. Roma and A.C. Mantova. It was also his first goal in 47 matches. The match's regulation time ended with the score tied 1:1 and was the point when the game's extra time turned into an athletic brawl.

Gerd Müller put West Germany ahead in the 94th minute but Tarcisio Burgnich equalised four minutes later and Luigi Riva put the Italians back in front. Gerd Müller scored again for West Germany to level at 3:3. Yet, as television cameras were still replaying Müller's goal, Italy's Gianni Rivera scored the decisive goal in the 111th minute. Being left unmarked near the penalty area, Rivera connected a fine cross made by Boninsegna, securing the victory for Italy at 4:3.

Match overview

footballbox
date = June 17, 1970
16:00
team1 = fb-rt|Italy
score = 4–3 (AET)
team2 = fb|Germany|name=West Germany
goals1 = Boninsegna 8'
Burgnich 98'
Riva 104'
Rivera 111'
goals2 = Schnellinger 90'
Müller 94', 110'
stadium = Mexico City, Estadio Azteca
Ref: Yamasaki (Peru)
Attendance: 80,000

Monument

There is a monument commemorating this match in front of Aztec Stadium. On a plaque the following sentence is engraved: "El Estadio Azteca, Rinde Homenaje A Las Selecciones De: Italia (4) Y Alemania (3) Protagonistas En El Mundial De 1970, Del "Partido Del Siglo" 17 De Junio De 1970." English: "The Azteca Stadium pays homage to the National Teams of Italy (4) and Germany (3), who starred in the 1970 FIFA World Cup, the "Game of the Century". June 17th 1970."

Line-ups

Italy: Enrico Albertosi; Tarcisio Burgnich, Roberto Rosato (Fabrizio Poletti 91), Giacinto Facchetti; Mario Bertini, Giancarlo De Sisti, Pierluigi Cera; Roberto Boninsegna, Sandro Mazzola (Gianni Rivera 46), Angelo Domenghini, Luigi Riva

Germany: Sepp Maier; Berti Vogts, Bernd Patzke (Siegfried Held 66); Franz Beckenbauer, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, Willi Schulz; Jürgen Grabowski, Uwe Seeler, Gerd Müller, Wolfgang Overath, Hennes Löhr (Stan Libuda 52)