Franz Beckenbauer vs Barcelona SC: Referee kicks, blackout and goals at Modelo Stadium in ‘friendly’ game with New York Cosmos

Franz Beckenbauer (1945-2024) Earth, from Spain, said this Monday: “You cannot leave a deeper mark than the one he leaves in the collective memory of football.” In 1978, Guayaquil was lucky enough to see the greatest German football legend of all time in action. The star, then 33 years old, had sparked a revolution since arriving at the old Simón Bolívar airport. He Kaiser came in the star of the famous New York Cosmos, the team that faced Barcelona SC in a historic friendly match. For this huge undertaking, the Canarians were reinforced by three elements from Emelec.

Once called “the most glamorous team in world football”, sort of A dream team In the 70s, he shook up the sport in the United States as a result of hiring several superstars. That’s how he caused a media explosion, the impact of which is still felt at the very mention of the name: Cosmos, from New York.

the newspaper Brand, from Madrid, He stated in 2016 that “Cosmos is a name synonymous with one of the most memorable teams in football history. Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia and Carlos Alberto, among others, were part of the old New York team in the 70s. Magazine Libero He recalled in 2013 that “in 1977, when the Cosmos won their second division, they had thousands and thousands of followers in the United States, and the stadiums were full to see Pelé, Beckenbauer or Chinaglia.”

Beckenbauer in Guayaquil

In a series about the great teams of all eras, AS, a Madrid newspaper, reserved a chapter for the unforgettable Cosmos. “From New York, the Cosmos managed to introduce spectacle to soccer in the United States. If football in that country has become successful, it is because of the ambition of this team that has signed big stars. The best of them all came to the Big Apple, about the king, Edson Arantes Do Nascimento, Pelé. And with him the other heroes of that time: Carlos Alberto, Giorgio Chinaglia (who later became the president of the club) and, above all, Franz Beckenbauer.”

“Cosmos, the soccer team that New York fell in love with. The most expensive tickets in New York were not those of the Knicks (from the NBA) or the Yankees (from the Major League), but those for the Cosmos, the most representative team of the North American Soccer League (NASL, predecessor of MLS). ). “Celebrities of all kinds, like Muhammad Ali, Henry Kissinger, Mick Jagger, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, have been seen in the box at Giants Stadium,” he said. Confidentiallyfrom Spain in 2016 in a long note that recalled the transcendence of the Cosmos.

Without Pelé – retired in 1977 – but still a “show team”, as EL UNIVERSO put it, the Cosmos took on Barcelona SC at the Modelo Stadium on October 31, 1978. Of the presence of the New Yorker, this Diario commented: “Luxury is for the country and especially for the fans of Guayaquil to have the most famous team in the United States, the New York Cosmos, in this city and present it to compete with Barcelona. “Some time ago the national leaders wanted him to make a presentation in Guayaquil.”

‘Kaiser’, in the model

“Previously, no one was able to bring Cosmos because of a series of pre-contracted obligations. From that point on, negotiations continued until they were finally able to come to Guayaquil, to satisfy the fans’ desire to see in person this million-dollar team that has the luxury of including the world’s most famous players on its roster.” , added in a note dated October 29, 1978 under with the title ‘Cosmos from New York arrives in Guayaquil today’.

Guayaquil was the first place in South America that Cosmos visited on its tour that started in Europe. The delegation that led to Kaiser Beckenbauer as the main attraction – along with Carlos Alberto, captain of Brazil at the World Cup in Mexico in 1970 – stayed at the now defunct Hotel Humboldt (Avenida Olmedo and Malecón).

“Directly from the airport, (Cosmos) stopped at the Modelo Stadium, which already had a great fan environment for the Barcelona-El Nacional match, took a bus from Germany’s Humbolt School to the end, and then got off the bus. “The players themselves, who greeted the thousands of fans in the stands and generals with raised hands, were easy targets for photojournalists and journalists, television cameramen, especially when they were cheered on by fans, undisputed figures of world football, such as Beckebauer”, according to the edition of EL UNIVERSO dated 30 October 1978.

Against Barcelona SC, strengthened

That Monday the 30th, “Beckenbauer and Chinaglia were among the most obsessed fans who wanted to sign autographs” in Modelo, where the Cosmos were training.

Beckenbauer, champion of Euro Cup 1972, World Cup 1974 and multiple monarch of the Old Continent with one of the strongest versions of Bayern Munich, played 90 minutes against Barcelona SC led by Peruvian Marcos Calderón. Chinaglia, the eternal symbol of Lazio and a World Cup player with Italy in 1974, opened the scoring in the 41st minute. “Robert Iarusci passed for Chinaglia, who extended for Zeninho. He dribbled past Alberto Oyola and made way for Chinaglia, who beat Gerardo Rodríguez with a cannonball volley,” this newspaper writes.

“Barcelona improved in the second half with the arrival of Antonio Sacconi (from Emelec) in place of Pepe Paes, González Pajuel in place of Juan Madruñero and Ángel Licardi in place of Víctor Ephanor. “All three responded brilliantly.” It was emphasized that Sacconi was “a character in the midfield, throwing deep balls for his forwards, and he came onto the Cosmos pitch to compete for rebounds.” EL UNIVERSO’s review added that “soon, Aníbal Cibeyra, Lupo Quiñónez (also an Emelecista reinforcement) and González Pajuelo put the Cosmos backline in trouble.”

Blackout and strikes

Barcelona dominated and attacked furiously in search of an equaliser. In stoppage time, four minutes later, Garbett tried to pass the ball to the Cosmos goalkeeper, but Oyola, who was coming in quickly, managed to touch his skin and send it into the net. Then Chinaglia attacked Oyola and the referee Elías Jácome, and three Cosmos players were sent off (Chinaglia protested the validity of the Canarian’s goal and as his claim had no effect “he took out his right hand and hit the referee, breaking into a brawl.” Forward Erol Yasin and Gary Etherington were sent off with 30 seconds remaining. The game ended with that incident. The game was stopped for an hour due to a power outage.”

Despite the violent event, extraordinary Kaiser and there were praises for Cosmos: “the meeting was pleasant. During the first leg, the Cosmos exhibited their entire international class, led by high-ranking men such as Beckenbauer and Chinaglia, prominent figures who form the core of the Cosmos. The audience that attended the Modelo stadium (about 45,000 people) was satisfied with the performance of the New York team in the first half.”

For EL UNIVERSO, “Cosmos of New York imposed a suffocating trail from the start of the game, that is, an almost individual pressure, which burdened Barcelona’s performance. “He also showed excellent physical fitness and a modern football scheme.”

The obituary of El País thus on this day shows the extraordinary quality of Kaiser, the one that Guayaquil enjoyed one magical night in 1978: “They say that football elevates deception to the status of art. Franz Beckenbauer made fraud prevention a paranormal activity. There is no man in the annals of the ball game who has dismantled more ambushes, attacks, dribbles and opponent feints with greater notice or with greater economy of resources.” (D)