The semi-final of the 1970 FIFA World Cup between

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

has been called the "Game of the Century" ( es, Partido del Siglo; it, Partita del secolo; german: Jahrhundertspiel). It was played on 17 June 1970 at the ''

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of Association football, football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of a ...

'' in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. Italy won 4–3 after five of the seven goals were scored in extra time, the record for most goals scored during extra time in a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

game. The result eliminated West Germany from the tournament while Italy went on to lose to Brazil in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

The match

Italy led 1–0 for the majority of the match, after

Roberto Boninsegna Roberto Boninsegna ( born 13 November 1943) is an Italian former football player, who mainly played as a forward. After retiring, he worked as a football manager. As a player, he represented the Italian national side at two World Cups, reachin ...

scored in the 8th minute. West German defender Franz Beckenbauer dislocated his shoulder after being fouled, but stayed on the field carrying his dislocated arm in a sling, as his side had already used their two permitted substitutions. Defender

Karl-Heinz Schnellinger Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (born 31 March 1939) is a German former footballer who played as a defender. An athletic and hard-tackling player, with a strong physique, he was nicknamed the "Volkswagen" for his continuity of performance, both in qu ...

equalised for West Germany in the 90th minute. German television commentator Ernst Huberty famously exclaimed ''"Schnellinger, of all people!"'' (in German: ''"Schnellinger! Ausgerechnet Schnellinger!"''), since Schnellinger played in Italy's professional football league,

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

, at

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

(for whom he had never scored). It was also his first and only goal in a career total of 47 matches for the West German national team. At the end of regulation time, the score was level at 1–1, forcing the match into extra time. Had the match remained drawn after extra time, lots would have been drawn to decide which team would progress to the final. Gerd Müller put West Germany ahead in the 94th minute following a defensive error by

Fabrizio Poletti Fabrizio Poletti (; born 13 July 1943) is a former Italian football (soccer), football Association football manager, manager and former association football, player who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, full-back. He is reme ...

who had just come into the game as a substitute, but

Tarcisio Burgnich Tarcisio Burgnich (; 25 April 1939 – 26 May 2021) was an Italian football manager and player, who played as a defender. Throughout his career, Burgnich played for Udinese, Juventus, Palermo, Internazionale, and Napoli; although he won title ...

tied it back up only four minutes later, and then striker

Gigi Riva Luigi "Gigi" Riva (; born 7 November 1944) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-forward. Considered to be one of the best players of his generation, as well as one of the greatest strikers of all time, Riva enjoye ...

put the Italians in front again with a superb goal. Müller scored yet again, this time with a header, for West Germany to tie the score at 3–3. Yet, as the live television coverage was still replaying Müller's goal, Italian midfielder

Gianni Rivera Giovanni "Gianni" Rivera (; born 18 August 1943) is an Italian politician and former footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career as a footballer he was mostly utilised as an attacking midfielder. Dubbed Italy's "Golden Boy" by the ...

scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 111th minute. Being left unmarked near the penalty area, Rivera had connected perfectly with a fine cross made by Boninsegna, clinching the victory for Italy at 4–3.1970 FIFA World Cup Mexico. Match report. Italy - Germany FR

FIFA.com FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

Match overview

References

External links

* Motson, John (2006
Motson's World Cup Extravaganza GREAT GAMES: ITALY 4-3 WEST GERMANY, 1970
{{DEFAULTSORT:Italy 4-3 West Germany (1970 FIFA World Cup) 1970 FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup matches

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

Germany–Italy relations West Germany at the 1970 FIFA World Cup

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

June 1970 sports events in North America Nicknamed sporting events sv:Världsmästerskapet i fotboll 1970#Århundradets match

The match

Match overview

See also

References

External links