The legendary can-throwing game, Gladbach’s 7:1 against Inter, is 50 years old. Rainer Bonhof (69) sees a mission: This history must never be forgotten.
There is only one suitable place for the interview with Rainer Bonhof: In the “Büchsenwurf” room on the ground floor of Borussia Park, kicker meets Gladbach’s vice-president to talk to him about the Fohlenelf’s legendary 7:1 win over Inter Milan. At first, Bonhof sips his cup of coffee in a relaxed manner, but it quickly becomes clear how much the events of that day still occupy him today. “A lot of emotions come up again when you talk about it. Even 50 years later, you still feel a bit angry,” says Bonhof. “The fact that this game was erased from the statistics hurts. They took away this fantastic evening from us. “
“Even 50 years later, you’re still a bit sore. That this game has been erased from the statistics hurts. “
COACH BONHOF
As a “can throw game”, the 7:1 against Inter on 20 October 1971 became a myth. It is considered the best game in Borussia Mönchengladbach’s club history. Günter Netzer’s young team overran Inter’s star team in the round of 16 of the European Champions’ Cup, but UEFA disallowed their triumph at the green table. In the 28th minute, Inter striker Roberto Boninsegna was allegedly hit on the head by a Coke can thrown from the stands and went down. The supposedly unconscious attacker is taken off the pitch on a stretcher.
Acting? Yes, says the Borussia side. But at the instigation of the Italians, UEFA annuls the 7:1, Gladbach are eliminated after a 2:4 in Milan and a 0:0 in the replay in Berlin. Bonhof, 19 years old at the time and a midfielder on the pitch, says: “Everyone who was there that night at the Bökelberg must tell the story of the 7:1 and the can toss as long as they can. That’s how this unbelievable performance lives on, even if the result doesn’t appear in any official statistics. “
Mr Bonhof, Gladbach have played 2289 competitive matches across all competitions since their promotion to the Bundesliga in 1965. How many of them do you think you have witnessed as an active player or watched as a spectator?
Maybe 1100? Even 1200 or even more? I’m sure I’ll end up in the four-digit range if I add everything up over the decades.
“A night when the Bökelberg shook, a performance like intoxication.’
COACH BONHOF
Then you can surely tell us which Borussia game was really the best ever.
There were so many fantastic performances that it’s hard for me to pick out a single game. Think of the historic 12-0 win over Borussia Dortmund, legendary European Cup battles against Liverpool FC or Real Madrid, and there were always memorable games in the other decades too. But if I had to settle on a single game: Yes, the 7:1 against Inter Milan was probably the best game ever in Borussia’s club history. It was a night when the Bökelberg shook, a performance like a frenzy.
Is the sting still deep that this 7:1 was taken away from the team and the club?
The fact that UEFA erased this 7:1 against Inter from all annals is a disappointment that will never go away – and the feeling of having been cheated remains just as strong to this day. The 7:1 does not appear in any official results list, it is as if this match had never taken place. Actually, the anniversary would be a fitting occasion to include this match in the statistics with a note that it was subsequently annulled. But I’m afraid that will never happen. That’s why all of us who were there at the time feel obliged to talk about it. The story of this unique game must be told and passed on to future generations. That is our mission.
You can feel that the topic still really moves you after 50 years.
Looking back, you still get upset. The pain has lessened over the years, but the story still hurts today.
“I have forgiven Roberto. But it still hurts today. “
COACH BONHOF
How great is the anger 50 years on at Roberto Boninsegna, the supposed actor?
I forgave Roberto during a phone call last year. When we meet, we will greet each other normally. Nevertheless, it remains the case that everyone has their own view of things. Our phone call has not changed that.
And the different opinions are?
Roberto has stuck to his version that he was unconscious and the can was full. I say: the can was empty. Luggi Müller, who sadly passed away in June, had also taken the can in his hand at the time and found that there were at most a few drops in it.
Müller later spoke of Boninsegna’s “outstanding acting performance”.
We played man against man at that time, Luggi was Boninsegna’s counterpart. He was right on him at the moment it happened and then tried to help Boninsegna up – but he resisted and stayed down. Then Inter captain Sandro Mazzola and Günter Netzer arrived and it was all over the place. As I said, everyone has their own opinion about this scene.
“We were able to get high on our own game and then we were unstoppable, unstoppable by anyone. “
COACH BONHOF
How do you look back on the game itself, Borussia’s goal rush?
Inter were among the crème de la crème in European club football at the time, a team full of internationals, while we were just blossoming with Borussia. And quite honestly, the Inter stars didn’t even know where Mönchengladbach was. That’s what we showed them. We immediately went out at full throttle and realised pretty quickly that the Milanese had no idea what was going on. You could see from their faces that they were asking themselves: What have we got ourselves into here? That was one of our strengths, we were able to get intoxicated by our own game and then we were unstoppable, unstoppable by anyone. One goal more beautiful than the next. We could have beaten any team in the world on that night.
What was the situation like after the final whistle?
There was rather subdued joy at this magnificent victory because everyone was probably wondering how UEFA would react.
Why couldn’t the team build on the 7-1 performance in the second leg and the replay?
We weren’t doing too badly in Milan – until we conceded 2:4 in that interminably long injury time. Making up for two goals against Inter’s world-class team, which only has to keep its own goal shut, meant a Herculean task. When Klaus-Dieter Sieloff missed the penalty in Berlin in the first half, we gradually lost the conviction that we could turn things around.
“My goodness, what they did in San Siro. “
COACH BONHOF
In the two games after the 7:1, the action was mighty.
At the San Siro it was everybody against everybody! My goodness, what a lot of reaching was going on. In Milan, that had little to do with football.
And stepped up again in Berlin, when Boninsegna again played a starring role.
In Berlin we went in with our jugular throbbing after the anger over the annulment and the anger over the 2:4. And then there was that momentous duel between Boninsegna and Luggi Müller, in which Luggi broke his leg. After that, football was finally a secondary matter, the motto on the pitch was: it was you or me.
The 7:1 was annulled, but like the broken post against Werder, also in 1971, the can throw contributed to the creation of a myth around Borussia and the Bökelberg.
Decisive from my point of view: After the 7:1, the whole world knew Mönchengladbach, the city with that unpronounceable name. And of course also the excellent Borussia team, which later set some footballing highlights, also at international level. From that moment on, Europe was warned that this small village in the Lower Rhine could play good football. The Inter game meant a starting signal in many respects.
Last season Borussia met Inter again in the Champions League. Was there any contact with former Inter players on that occasion?
When handing over the guest gifts to the representatives of Inter Milan, I casually mentioned that I had been on the pitch myself in 1971. But that was politely ignored by the officials – they’ll know why. (laughs)