Estadio Municipal El Molinón, Gijón, 20.06.1982
4-1 (1-0)
Rummenigge 9., 57., 66., Reinders 81. / Moscoso 90.
After their humilating 2-1 defeat at the hands of North African minnows Algeria, Jupp Derwall’s side knew that nothing less than a win was required against Chile. In spite of the statements he had offered prior the opening match the Nationaltrainer had neither returned to Germany nor thrown himself into the Mediterranean – though many fans must have been wishing that he had.
The Chileans had over the years created something of a reputation for themselves: they were hard-tackling bordering on dirty, volatile bordering on violent, and completely unpredictable. The South Americans’ opening match had seen them go down to a two-goal defeat to Austria, so like the Germans it would be a case of victory or bust: the loser, barring a series of extraordinary mathematical miracles, would be packing their bags and heading home.
The Mannschaft had beaten La Roja – the “red one” – in their two previous World Cup meetings; a 2-0 victory on Chilean soil in 1962 had been followed by a much closer encounter in Germany in 1974 which resulted in a single-goal win for Helmut Schön’s side.
The team would see no personnel changes from the one that started against Algeria, but would see a slight change in formation as Derwall plumped for a more orthodox 4-4-2 – though it was in reality more like a 4-3-1-2 – with skipper Karl-Heinz Rummenigge sitting between the midfield and the from pairing of Horst Hrubesch and Pierre Littbarski.
With the Nationalmannschaft in their traditional white and black ensemble and their Chilean opponents in red shirts and white socks, Swiss referee Bruno Galler got things underway in front another good-sized crowd at the El Molinón.
[match report]
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge’s hat-trick would be his first at a major tournament finals, and fifth time a German player had achieved the feat after Edmund Conen (1934 v Belgium), Max Morlock (1954 v Turkey) and Gerd Müller (1970 v both Bulgaria and Peru).
After the shock opening loss against Algeria, the convincing victory over the Chileans seemed to suggest that things were back on an even keel again for the Germans – but there would still be work to do. With two matches played they would be level with Algeria on two points with Austria on top having won beaten both Chile and Algeria, meaning that the Mannschaft would have to beat their Austrian neighbours to be certain of a place in the second phase.
The opportunity to avenge the humiliating 3-2 defeat in Córdoba at the hands of the Austrians four years earlier would be there for Jupp Derwall’s side, but nobody could have even imagined what would happen next when the two teams would meet at Gijón’s Estadio El Molinón.
Germany FR: Schumacher – Kaltz, Stielike, Kh. Förster, Briegel – Dremmler, Breitner (63. Matthäus), Magath, Kh. Rummenigge (c) – Hrubesch, Littbarski (80. Reinders)
Chile: Osbén – Valenzuela, Figueroa, Bigorra, Garrido – Yáñez, Soto (46. Letelier), Dubó, Bonvallet – Gamboa (66. Neira), Moscoso
Referee: Bruno Galler (Switzerland)
Assistants: Vojtěch Christov (Czechoslovakia), Tony Boskovic (Australia)
Yellow Cards: – / Dubo, Gamboa
Red Cards: – / –
Attendance: 42,000