The Game of the Century: Italy 4–3 West Germany, 1970 semi-final

Some matches you watch and forget within a week. And then there are matches that get a plaque outside the stadium where they were played. This one got the plaque.

The 1970 semi-final between Italy and West Germany became forever known as "The Game of the Century" — a title that sounds like an exaggeration until you actually watch it. Then it makes sense.

First half: a well-told lie

The match began on the back foot. The Italy of 1970 was famous for catenaccio — a hyper-defensive system that suffocated opponents and let Italian fans sleep peacefully and bored. It was no surprise, then, that the first half felt more like a chess match than a football game.

Boninsegna opened the scoring for Italy and the match looked exactly like what everyone expected it to be: locked down, tense, dull for anyone who liked goals. Italy went into half-time 1–0 up and, by every indication, would spend the second half killing the clock. "By every indication."

The man with the strapped arm

At 25 minutes of the second half, Franz Beckenbauer — Der Kaiser, Germany's leader, the best player on that team — was fouled and landed badly. Fractured collarbone.

The problem: West Germany had already used all their permitted substitutions. Beckenbauer either walked off and left his team down to ten men — which in those days was practically a death sentence — or stayed on injured. He stayed.

His arm was immobilised in a makeshift sling, strapped to his body. And Beckenbauer went on playing with a broken collarbone, contesting duels, moving around the pitch, refusing to be a ghost with one arm tied down. The score was still 1–0 to Italy when the 90 minutes ran out.

Extra time: five goals in thirty minutes

What happened in extra time has no rational explanation. In 30 minutes of added time, the two teams combined for five goals — something that had never happened before and has never happened again at a World Cup.

1. Schnellinger equalised for West Germany almost on full time (1–1)
2. Müller put West Germany ahead in extra time (2–1)
3. Burgnich levelled it for Italy (2–2)
4. Riva put Italy back in front (3–2)
5. Müller equalised again (3–3)
6. Rivera scored the decisive goal for Italy (4–3)

At one stage of extra time, the scoreline changed four times in less than twenty minutes. The Azteca crowd no longer knew whether to scream or cry.

Italy won 4–3. Beckenbauer played the whole of extra time with his arm strapped. The plaque outside the Azteca simply reads: "Here took place The Game of the Century."

"Here took place The Game of the Century."

— Plaque at Estadio Azteca, Mexico City