The night of May 25, 1983 was magical for HSV: Felix Magath shot Hamburg in Athens to win against Juventus Turin and to triumph in the European Cup. 40 years later, the NDR traveled again with the goal scorer, Manfred Kaltz and Bernd Wehmeyer to the site of the greatest success in the club’s history. Once to Olympus and back with three HSV heroes.
“Look, look, look, couldn’t he stop!” Felix Magath is again fully immersed in the legendary “Night of Athens”. 40 years later, the 69-year-old is just sitting in a restaurant in the Greek capital and staring at a cell phone. The scorer of what is probably the most important goal in HSV history is known like a sore thumb in Athens, even four decades after the triumph in the European Cup.
Like many others on this trip, the Greek waiters in the cozy tavern immediately recognized the former playmaker genius, picked out a video of the brilliant left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area into the corner and are now enthusiastic about the little journey through time on the small screen together with Magath. One of them was even in the Athens Olympic Stadium when most of the Greeks held on to HSV in the final.
“You get goosebumps when the people in Athens remember it after 40 years and they immediately say: ‘Hamburgo, Hamburgo’!”
— Bernd Wehmeyer
The big favorite Juventus Turin had brought enough fans of their own with them. There had been a regular Tifosi invasion in Athens. “Alitalia” machines like on an assembly line thundered over the heads of the HSV professionals on May 25th when the team stretched their legs on a golf course before the big final and legendary coach Ernst Happel and his top performers the tactics against the Top team around Michel Platini discussed. “We were clear outsiders,” says Magath.
40 years later, Manfred Kaltz, the inventor of the banana flank and HSV title hamster, is back on the plane to Athens with Magath and “Fummel” Wehmeyer and the flax is blooming: “I’m more excited today than I was then,” says the HSV record player and laughs . “I hope that settles down before the game.”
“The Juventus team at the time had the quality of a better Manchester City. That was a world selection.”
— Felix Magath
In 1983, the Hamburgers “went confidently to Athens,” as Horst Hrubesch recalls. The captain at the time (“Manni flank, I head, goal!”) even got a little cocky. “I can remember that before I warmed up in the stadium I asked jokingly: ‘Where do I have to pick up the trophy right away?'”
Magath made sure that the header monster (Magath: “Horst Hrubesch was never scared, he always put his head between his shoulders and marched forward.”) was allowed to pick up the pot in the eighth minute.
1-0 after eight minutes – “Oh shit, too early”
“The ball flew and flew so that it couldn’t be stopped. Right up in the corner. But my first thought was: ‘Oh shit, too soon’,” recalls the goal scorer. “It was untenable, even for a world champion goalkeeper, Dino Zoff,” Wehmeyer notes 40 years later.
Not much has changed for the three HSV heroes in the Athens Olympic Stadium as they let their gaze and their thoughts wander over the empty stands this time. “Here, ‘Joschi’ took the ball away from you,” says Wehmeyer and laughs. “Fortunately, he also played for Magath,” Kaltz is no longer angry about it.
Bastrup after breaking his jaw with a straw
The well-rehearsed and self-confident HSV team, in which everyone was there for everyone, brought home the win despite the early lead and the party night in Athens took its course.
Striker Lars Bastrup, whose jaw was broken by Claudio Gentile with a nasty elbow, could only celebrate “with a straw,” recalls Kaltz, laughing as he imitates the Dane sipping the cold drinks. “He could laugh about it even then,” says Magath. “Just don’t speak,” adds Kaltz.
In the meantime, the three HSV legends have walked on in the stadium, to the spot where “the tall one” Hrubesch lifted the trophy into the Athenian night sky. “You don’t realize at that moment that you’ve done something for eternity,” says Wehmeyer.
But that’s exactly what they did. Especially since HSV also won the championship shortly after the triumph in Athens. “Champion and European Cup winner in one weekend, that’s not something you dream of because it’s far too far away,” said Magath. “That was the greatest success for each individual, but also for Hamburger SV. We’re all proud of that.”
Will the traditional club, which is currently fighting to return to the Bundesliga, ever advance into these spheres again? “I don’t know,” says Kaltz. “We might have to wait a few more years.”
Magath, the “colorful HSV dog from Athens”
The journey back to Olympus ends for the heroes of yore as it began. This man with glasses also looks very familiar to the taxi driver on the way to the airport in Athens. “Show him your passport,” Wehmeyer asks Magath, who is happy to help out a bit this time. A few souvenir photos with the “colorful HSV dog from Athens” leave the Greek taxi driver inspired.
It can’t be ruled out that he then watched the legendary goal on his cell phone and immersed himself again in the magical HSV night in Athens. Even 40 years later, it leaves no one cold.
picture series
40 years after Athens: Olympus and back with three HSV heroes
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sports club | 05/28/2023 | 11:35 p.m
