Mexico Is Booted Out in Shootout : W. German Goalkeeper Stops Pair of Penalty Kicks for a 4-1 Victory
Goalkeeper Harald Schumacher stopped a pair of penalty kicks in a shootout, and none of the West German shooters missed Saturday as they moved into the World Cup semifinals with a 4-1 victory over host Mexico.
The West Germans will next meet France, which was extended to penalty kicks in beating Brazil, 4-3. It was West Germany that eliminated France from the 1982 World Cup semifinals, also on penalty kicks.
After a scoreless 120 minutes Saturday, West Germany’s Klaus Allofs began the shootout with a goal, which was matched by Mexico’s Manuel Negrete. West Germany’s Andreas Brehme scored, and Schumacher got his leg on Fernando Quirarte’s weak kick to thwart the attempt. Lothar Matthaeus beat Mexican goalie Pablo Larios to the lower left, and Schumacher easily dived to stop Raul Servin’s low shot.
When Pierre Littbarski also beat Larios, the game was over.
Coach Bora Milutinovic, the Yugoslav who built Mexico’s best World Cup team, could not hold back the tears afterward. His team mounted several threats in regulation but failed to score.
“Mexico deserved to win and go on to the semifinals,” Milutinovic said. “We made an effort better than ever before seen in the history of Mexican soccer. We did not disappoint the Monterrey fans and the fans of all of Mexico. It is sad that we were so close to victory and did not win.”
In contrast to the Brazil-France thriller, most of this game lacked pattern and cohesion. Both teams were extremely cautious. Only in the late going of regulation time did things open up, as Mexico challenged with a man advantage.
But Schumacher made several big saves. He stood his ground to field a header by Javier Aguirre and sprawled on a loose ball with several Mexicans dangerously nearby. Then he came through with the save of the contest, a leaping hand stop of Aguirre’s blast with less than two minutes to go.
Aguirre was ejected midway through the first overtime for a rough foul on Matthaeus, offsetting the manpower edge created at 65 minutes when West Germany’s Thomas Berthold was sent off.
Berthold was ejected for punching Quirarte in the head after being held back by the Mexican defender.
The rough game was marred by the two ejections and six yellow-card warnings.
Mexico played six minutes of overtime with only nine men after star striker Hugo Sanchez hurt his foot. But the hosts survived, and Sanchez returned with about 10 minutes to go in extra time.
The Mexican captain, Tomas Boy, was carried off on a stretcher with an apparent leg injury in the first half and had to be replaced by Carlos de los Cobos.
