Football, Politics, Propaganda – How a meeting between a West German and an East German led to political repurcussions for years to come.

#PausaHistoria [THREAD]

22/6/1974 – The World Cup draw has ensured one of the most intense games possible in world football. The final round game has pitted the hosts Federal Republic of Germany (FRG/West) against the German Democratic Republic (GDR/East).

The West Germans were labelled heavy favourites due to a core group of players like Franz Beckenbauer, Uli Hoeneß and Gerd Müller all in their prime. As such the East Germans were relatively unknown partially due to the lack of information exchange across the Iron Curtain as well

Due to Chile and Australia playing a draw earlier, it was confirmed that both these teams would progress despite the outcome of the game. However the political tensions across the entire region would mean this would be no dead rubber.

Surprisingly, the game did not follow conventional script. The West Germans looked below par and East Germany’s Jürgen Sparwasser scored the only goal of the game to silence the Hamburg crowd and top the group.

24/6/1974 – The GDR footballers board a plane to Hannover. The Dynamo Dresden striker Hans-Jürgen Kreische (in pic) is approached by a well dressed man. The man introduced himself as Hans Apel, the Minister of Finance for the FRG and a fan of FC St Pauli.

The two casually started talking about football throughout their journey. Apel (in pic) congratuated Kreische on a deserved win. Kreische on the other hand, reassured Apel that the West Germans would most likely win the World Cup.

Apel laughed off the prediction as extreme politeness. However, Kreische insisted that his prediction would happen because the FRG team had too much individual quality to not succeed. To this, Apel offered a bet of 5 bottles of Scotch whisky that his country won’t win it.

Kreische declined the offer citing his lack of money to come good on the wager. Apel shrugged off the concern citing he would do his bit in case he lost and Kreische need not send anything. He took Kreische’s lack of response as a vote of affirmation on the deal.

A few weeks later, FRG did win the World Cup, beating Cruyff’s Netherlands in the final. By this time Kreische was back home in Dresden. Apel came good on his promise and sent 5 bottles of premium whisky along with a letter wishing him well.

However, this turned Kreische’s life upside down. The Stasi (state security service of GDR) blacklisted him for a friendly relationship with an enemy politician. Two years later, he won the golden boot for Dresden 2 years later, scoring 24 goals in the season.

But while 6 of his teammates were selected for GDR's squad for the 1976 Olympics, Kreische was never again selected for the national team. The shadow of a simple bet hung over the rest of his playing career and even a big part in his regular life.

The Berlin wall fell in November 1991. But it would only be 2005 when Apel and Kreische would meet again, at the Hamburg airport in the build up to the 2006 World Cup. Both of them old men, recounted all of their old memories and laughed together.

[END OF THREAD]

To know more about this story and the circumstances surrounding it, we would recommend you to read Uli Hesse's article on this incident from 2014

https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/article/never-twain