The miracle of Stuttgart: West Germany 0-1 Portugal, 1985 World Cup Qualifier | OneFootball

A miracle. A miracle indeed. A long-range shot by one of Portugal’s most loved and most hated, albeit talented, midfielders brought about the impossible. West Germany were not accustomed to losing at home under any circumstances. Portugal were definitely not used to winning away to big names, and in 1985 there was no bigger national side in world football.

The Mannschaft had won, over the previous thirteen years, a total of three tournaments, a World Cup and two European Championships. They also reached two other finals, losing one each in both competitions and were about to play three more over the following seven years, with yet another World Cup title in the bag.

Portugal had been the surprise package in the previous Euros but everybody knew how that had fortuitously qualified, and few imagined it could happen again. At this stage the Seleção had a solitary World Cup appearance to their name, with the Eusébio-inspired qualification in 1966. To be at the biggest sporting event on the planet again, they needed a goal. One shot. One opportunity. They had it. And they didn’t miss it. A miracle.

German rebuild

By 1985 West Germany was reconstructing itself under the leadership of Franz Beckenbauer. The debacle at the Euro 84 group stage – with the Germans being ousted by the combined efforts of both Portugal and Spain – had left a deep scar and Jupp Derwall was out. He, who won the 1980 European Championship and lost the final of the 1982 World Cup in Spain, had been only the third national manager since the end of World War II, forty years previously. Sepp Herberger had first taken the job that was his for two decades, culminating in that brilliant, unexpected win against Hungary in the 1954 World Cup final, the match that put the Germans back on the football and political map of Europe.

When he finally left, his job went to his deputy, Helmut Schön, who then gave way to a new generation to shine with the celebrated white shirts. The 1972-1974 titles, won brilliantly with the likes of Beckenbauer, Netzer, Gerd Müller, Maier, Breitner and Hölzenbein made them the greatest nation on the international stage. They lost the 1976 final on penalties against Czechoslovakia and were knocked out of the 1978 World Cup earlier than expected.

Schön was also replaced by his number two, following a longstanding trend. Yet, Derwall was neither Herberger nor Schön and despite the quality of players like Rummenigge and Schuster proving enough to win yet another Euro in 1980 and to play another World Cup final, when it came to starting a generational shift, he wasn’t able to implement it. Beckenbauer, who after his brilliant playing career was expected to become a high-profile manager, used all his influence to get the job, mainly focused on the Euro in 1988 that was going to be hosted by the Germans.

Eyes on the future

He saw the 1986 World Cup as the first step on a long journey and oversaw an important change in the national squad playing style as well as calling up several youngsters to the roster. Come the match with Portugal, the West Germans were all but qualified for the finals, with 11 points in six matches played, with only the Portuguese and the Czechs to come. Portugal had 8 points in the bag, two more than the Swedes and three more than the Czechs, who had to play each other that very same afternoon. Portugal needed to win in Germany and hope that Sweden, who had a better goal average after winning 3-1 in Lisbon back in November 1984, wouldn’t beat Czechoslovakia and Malta.

There was only a minor issue. West Germany hadn’t lost a qualifying game at home since…well, never.

Their only official home defeat had been against the East Germans in the 1974 World Cup group stage. All other official matches had been won or drawn so everyone, both in Portugal but also in Sweden and even Czechoslovakia, hardly believed the Seleção could manage the unthinkable. One man did, at least. Before boarding the plane to Germany, former international star and then national manager, José Torres, told the press that they should “let us dream at least.”

Torres of course had been a Portugal player in the 1966 World Cup and a European Cup winner with Benfica, so he knew all about dreaming. A towering force in the box, one of the best headers of the game, when his playing career ended at Setúbal, where he moved after more than a decade with Benfica in the same deal that took Vitor Baptista to the Estádio da Luz, he became a manager. In 1984, after all the chaos that surrounded the national side, with four different managers in a single committee, the Portuguese Football Federation went back to appoint a single man for the job.

Torres: O Bom Gigante – The Gentle Giant

José Torres was well loved by everyone for his kindness and open heart, but he was no tactical genius nor did he know too much about the game besides motivating players to do their best. Portugal had an irregular campaign that included home defeats against the Germans and the Swedes but also surprising wins like the one in Stockholm. Still, come the final days of the qualifying stages, it seemed yet again Portugal would be out of another World Cup, the 1966 edition even more of a distant memory. Not even the explosion of the talented Paulo Futre, who had helped Porto reclaim back the league title in June of 1985, striking up a lethal partnership with Fernando Gomes, seemed to have sufficed.

Torres believed in the core players that had been in France, but many had been slowly ousted. Chalana had suffered recurrent injuries at Bordeaux while Jordão, Nené and Manuel Fernandes had also been out of form. Torres might have requested permission to dream but the previous home match had almost been a nightmare. Portugal hosted Malta and many expected a thunderous display. Yet twice the Maltese levelled the score and only a late effort by Gomes allowed Portugal to claim the win and the much-needed points. No wonder then that few believed a side that had suffered dearly to beat the Maltese at home could trouble the mighty Germans away from home.

Good news from Prague

But luck did seem to be on their side. As the squad travelled from the hotel to the Neckarstadion in Stuttgart, news filtered through of an unexpected defeat of the Swedes in Prague. That, at least, guaranteed that a Portuguese win would see them top the Swedish side no matter what, while the Czechs could still aspire to that second place if Portugal lost that very same afternoon and then they could manage a win in Germany a month later. It was game on for everybody.

Czechoslovakia gave Portugal a helping hand by beating Sweden hours before Portugal kicked off against West Germany

Even with good news coming from Prague, everyone was aware of the gigantic task of beating the Germans. Beckenbauer, on the other hand, was more concerned with crafting a side that reflected what he wanted to do in Mexico in eight months’ time. He called up some untried players and had some surprises for the starting eleven. Harald Schumacher was still in goal, while Jakobs, Berthold and Forster comprised the usual back three with Andreas Brehme and Hans-Pieter Briegel as wingbacks. Littbarski and captain Karl-Heinz Rummenigge played up front but, in the middle, the likes of Herget, Allgower and Maier were novelties for the Mannschafft.

Parking the (double-decker) bus

Torres, on the other hand, surprised many by placing not four, not five but six defenders in the starting eleven. João Pinto, Veloso, Inácio, Frederico, Venâncio and José António, all played in front of Bento, with António as the libero and Veloso as the holding midfielder. For a side that needed a win, it seemed they were more afraid of losing. Carlos Manuel, Jaime Pacheco and Mário Jorge were left in the middle to try to create something out of thin air with Fernando Gomes playing solo upfront. If there was ever a scared side to come out for a decisive match with Portugal’s shirt, this was it.

It was a statement of intent and Portugal were very lucky to get to half time with the match still goalless. Germany were the dominant side, causing mayhem at ease and if it wasn’t for Bento and some missed shots, they could have walked into the interval with the game done and dusted. But they didn’t. Torres changed nothing at half time. It seemed he was only looking for the honourable result of drawing against the Germans instead of actually pressing for the win. It was no surprise that Portugal had failed to qualify for so many big tournaments as that was the usual mindset for decisive moments. But then, absolutely against the run of play, something happened that wasn’t scripted.

Thunderbolt out of nowhere

Littbarski tried to connect with Rummenigge but lost the ball to Jaime Pacheco who immediately released it to Carlos Manuel. From his half of the pitch, the Benfica midfielder started to run furiously as Mário Jorge opened on the left and Gomes on the right. Brehme tried to take the ball from him but couldn’t and from more than forty metres away, the Benfica midfielder blasted a shot that whistled by Schumacher right into the net. Out of nowhere thousands of Portuguese flags erupted from the stands, and the presence of more than 10,000 Portuguese immigrants, which had been much talked about the days before, was finally noticed. Manuel celebrated in disbelief like all his teammates who surrounded him.

The Germans couldn’t believe it and pressed for the draw. Twice the ball hit the woodwork, and twice Manuel Bento made spectacular saves to deny them. If the Portuguese had defended like lions for almost an hour, the goal gave them an extra push to hold on for the remaining thirty minutes, so much so that Torres only decided to move some pieces right at the end to buy some time. If they had needed the draw, possibly the Germans would have been even more all over the place than they were, but it wasn’t for lack of trying that the game ended with a historic win for the visitors. Portugal had just become the first international side to win on German soil in a qualifier and that win sealed their ticket to Mexico, regardless of what would happen with the matches yet to be played by the Swedes and the Czechs in November.

Rare Portuguese communion around the Seleção

The same West Germany side that would end up losing the final against Maradona’s Argentina and would then win the 1990 edition of the tournament as Beckenbauer had predicted. After the match, many immigrants invaded the team hotel in Stuttgart and stayed with the players and staff drinking in the bar until it was light and they resumed work, as the squad departed for the airport to return to Lisbon. It was rare celebratory moment of union between players and fans alike.

If the qualification for Euro 1984 at the Luz had been preceded by a penalty that wasn’t, the Carlos Manuel goal entered the collective memory and lingered for almost two decades, until Portugal once again booked a place in a World Cup, in 2001.

The miracle of Stuttgart

The experience in Mexico would end up being traumatic for Portuguese football, but getting there resumed the virtues and flaws of the national side like few matches had ever done in their history. The ability to suffer, the individual talent of their most iconic players, the perennial fear of managers and a lack of belief in themselves usually did more damage than good. All these ingredients combined for an unforgettable night in Stuttgart. A miracle indeed.