Uli Hoeneß and Eduard Geyer went on an exciting journey through time with the kicker. The occasion: 50 years ago, in the fall of 1973, they met in the European Cup. The duel between FC Bayern and Dynamo Dresden was the first German-German comparison in the European Cup. There was no VAR at the time, but today it is always a topic of discussion.
Criticizes the VAR: Uli Hoeneß. picture alliance / sampics / Stefan Matzke
The facts from 1973: Bayern narrowly prevailed, the 4:3 in the first leg was followed by a 3:3 in Dresden, in which Hoeneß eluded his opponent Geyer twice and scored twice. “I’m still amazed today at how calm I was in front of the goal, I was only 21 years old,” recalls Hoeneß in the kicker interview (Monday edition).
Speed was the later manager’s trump card. And Geyer came up short. “Do you know, Uli, what our problem was? We talked about you later in the team and always asked ourselves why we played so offensively from the first minute. A 1-0 would have been enough for us. I don’t want to make excuses “Uli was supposed to cover and I was responsible. But we were open. There was no signal from the coaching bench to close the back,” says Geyer, now 79 years old.
Today I think: I should have knocked Uli out.
Today, Geyer reveals, he would act differently: “Before the 0-2 you started just behind the halfway line, and I later thought to myself: Why didn’t you just knock Hoeneß down? Back then there was no red card for emergency brakes. But the distance to the goal was still so far that I thought: Somehow I’ll get it. Today I think: I should have knocked Uli down.” The 71-year-old honorary president of FC Bayern has to smile about this and counters: “But that was only possible in the first five meters. After that I was gone.”
Goal celebration? Today fans have to “wait five minutes”
The look back gave both Hoeneß and Geyer plenty of opportunity to talk about the development of football, keyword VAR (Dresden would probably have gotten a penalty with this in the second leg). Neither of them are happy with the current practice. Hoeneß says: “What bothers me most: It was said that the VAR should prevent gross mistakes. But if someone’s toe is a centimeter offside, where is the gross mistake? In the past, goals were scored, often even nicer ones than today. When the referee pointed to the center circle after a goal, the fans were happy. Today they have to wait five minutes before they can be happy.”
Geyer brings another aspect into play: “What I don’t understand is: If a player is clearly offside, the flag isn’t raised at first. The players then make two more tackles and maybe tear their cruciate ligaments. That’s crazy.”
Read the big kicker interview in Monday’s edition (here also as an eMagazine) also why Hoeneß had to postpone his wedding, what experiences he had with English people at the banquet and what happened to Geyer in the car repair shop after the loss against Bayern. Hoeneß also reveals the role that cold roast pork and beer played in preparation for a game, while Geyer tells how he later annoyed Hoeneß and Bayern with energy in Cottbus.
2023-10-22 20:57:59
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