&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "FIFA World Cup | A boot dilemma helped Germany player Andreas Brehme create history in 1990 final against Argentina")
Penalties are the easiest way to score a goal in football and when the opportunity comes at the biggest of the stages - FIFA World Cup final - no team takes any chance. For West Germany in FIFA World Cup final 1990, however, things didn't go as smoothly as they would have liked. The final against Argentina, the match was looking set to go into the extra time with 84 of 90 minutes having gone by with a goal. West Germany then got a chance in the 85th minute to score a penalty but Lothar Matthaus, who had netted one from the spot in quarter-finals against Czechoslovakia, was not up for it. How did they win then?
The boot dilemma of 1990 World Cup final
Matthaus was expected to take the penalty in the 85th minute but he refused to do so because of the new shoes he was wearing. As FIFA reported, Matthaus had said about the situation: "I cracked the sole in my boot in the first half. I didn’t have any spares, so I just had to use the only spare pair the kitman had. They didn’t fit properly and I liked worn-in boots anyway."
Instead of him, Andreas Brehme came up to take the penalty - a curious choice given there were many other players who could be a better fit then him.
"When we got the penalty, I told Andi to take it. We had other options, outstanding penalty takers, but Andi was my room-mate and I knew he was the right man," Matthaus explained about the decision.
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Before taking the penalty in the 1990 final, Brehme had taken a penatly in shootout in 1986 World Cup quarter-finals against Mexico. He had used his left foot in 1986 and in 1990, Brehme used his right foot to score the penalty as West Germany won the title 1-0.
With the winning penalty in 1990 final, Brehme became the only player to score a penalty with both left and right foot in the history of the world cup.
As for the player he substitutd, Matthaus, earlier had become the only player score from outside the box in a World Cup game with both left and right foot - a feat which had come against Yugoslavia in the 1990 World Cup held in Italy.
Germany schedule in FIFA World Cup 2026
The four-time champions started their World Cup 2026 campaign with a dominant 7-1 win against Curacao in Group E. They next face Ivory Coast on June 20 at Toronto Stadium in Canada before finishing off the group-stage fixtures against Ecuador in June 25 at MetLife Stadium in New York New Jersey.
How to watch and stream Germany's FIFA World Cup 2026 matches in India?
Germany's group-stage matches in FIFA World Cup 2026 will be aired across WION's sister company Zee5 app and website.
