Football rivalry

During the group stage of the 1974 World Cup, the two German teams meet for their only ever game against each other. East Germany wins 1-0, thanks to a goal by Jürgen Sparwasser. Among the almost 60,000 people in the stadium are Chancellor Schmidt (seventh from left), Hamburg mayor and fellow SPD party member Peter Schulz, and CDU federal chairman Helmut Kohl. Prominent political attendees also include »Permanent Representatives« Michael Kohl and Günter Gaus, who function as de facto ambassadors from East and West Germany in each other’s capital. Schmidt tells the press that his own team was »too indecisive« and that the result was »deserved«; however, two weeks later, West Germany become world champions.