When looking at the Saarbrücken lawn, Rainer Bonhof was reminded of the “Water Battle of Frankfurt”. The game between Germany and Poland at the 1974 World Cup that was decisive for reaching the final went down in football history under this name. “We had to play back then,” said the vice-president of Borussia Mönchengladbach on Wednesday evening. And he made it clear that, based on this experience, he also thought it was right to cancel the cup quarter-finals at third division club 1. FC Saarbrücken.
“Absolutely,” said Bonhof: “It was a very prudent decision by the referee. Saarbrücken had a huge desire to make the pitch playable. But it didn’t work. The risk of injury was simply too great.”
In 1974, Germany won 1-0 against Poland with Bonhof and became world champions with a 2-1 win against the Netherlands in the final.
DFB announcement about the cancellation
