Italy’s star was puzzled
The incredible announcement by Walter Eschweiler
By Ben Redelings
3/13/2022 7:24 am
40 years ago, the German referee Walter Eschweiler caused enthusiasm and quite a few laughs internationally. During the international match between France and Italy, the Rhenish unique made an announcement to an Italian national player – which would no longer be conceivable today.
“Get up at once, the Pope is watching the live broadcast!” Italy international Gabriele Oriali looked up in surprise. Bending over him stood the German referee Walter Eschweiler and gave him his right hand. Oriali looked up at the referee again, visibly irritated, then grabbed his hand and stood up without further contradiction. His four pirouettes on the ground after a harmless jostling by his French opponent were also immediately forgotten.
Walter Eschweiler had done it again. With just a few cleverly chosen words, he had defused a tricky situation. His action caused international enthusiasm – and some laughs. Now they finally got to know the “whistle with the whistle” (as Eschweiler describes himself) outside of the Bundesliga. Just in time for another highlight that was to follow in this World Cup year.
“The performance of a referee cannot be paid for with earthly goods. The eyes don’t see much anyway. A good referee always sees with his heart.” What reads like an excerpt from the book “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry are the words of the man who also liked to describe himself as the “pipe of the nation”. The diplomat Walter Eschweiler once said: “I’m from Bonn, but I don’t have a criminal record.” The Bundesliga unicum adhered to the following maxim both on and off the pitch: “Referees dose wine, women and song. That inspires them to do very well.”
“I was a bad footballer”
Career and life have made Walter Eschweiler one of the few true referee legends in professional football. And it all started quite harmlessly: “I was a bad footballer, broke my foot and wasn’t allowed to play football anymore. And so the luck of the whistle took its course with the whistle, and I traveled all over the world for 30 years. “
And always with a very unique tactic: “Prevention is better than punishing the players. A brisk, friendly saying in hectic situations relaxes the game.” Just like at the end of February 1982 in France with the Italian Gabriele Oriali, Eschweiler has always kept it on the pitch. When Herbert Büssers from Duisburg vehemently demanded a penalty for his team in the 86th minute, the funny referee from Bonn just shook his head: “Mr. Büssers, I’m sorry. You can’t give a penalty that late.” Or when the Frankfurt world champion Bernd Hölzenbein fell again in the opponent’s penalty area shortly after the 1974 World Cup, Eschweiler immediately rushed to him and bent down to Hölzenbein: “Bernd, get up quickly. That’s not right yet, we still have to do that practice once!” Hölzenbein didn’t hesitate, got up and the situation was resolved in a relaxed manner.
“He was shocked enough!”
The story with “Kaiser” Franz Beckenbauer is also legendary. Years later, Hannes Löhr from Cologne was still enthusiastic about Eschweiler’s unique scene with the honorary captain: “He manages to ask Franz Beckenbauer his name and have it spelled out too.” And as unbelievable as it may sound, that’s exactly what happened. When the Bayern professional grabbed something a little more rustic, Eschweiler asked the puzzled national player his name. The “Kaiser” gave the referee a long, irritated look and then waved his hand. But the “whistle of the nation” did not let up. And asked two more times for the name, until the “Kaiser” finally said: “Well, Beckenbauer, what else!?” Eschweiler then nodded briefly and then said: “Can you please spell that, young man!” The Bavarian international ran away shaking his head. And Eschweiler says from memory: “I didn’t have to show a card. He was shocked enough!”
Ben Redelings is a passionate “chronicler of football madness” and a supporter of the glorious VfL Bochum. The bestselling author and comedian lives in the Ruhr area and maintains his legendary anecdote treasure chest. For ntv.de he writes down the most exciting and funniest stories on Mondays and Saturdays. More information about Ben Redelings, his current dates and his book with the best columns (“Between Puff and Barcelona”) is available on his website www.scudetto.de.
However, most football fans know the “black diva” mainly from a legendary scene just a few months after meeting Oriali in the Parc des Princes in Paris. At the 1982 World Cup, Eschweiler was knocked over by the Peruvian player Velasquez, “with a figure like an orangutan” (O-Ton Eschweiler). The Rhenish diplomat rolled backwards, clutched his teeth and sat dazed on the floor for a moment. Then he got to his feet, quickly gathered his “bookkeeping” on the lawn and stood bolt upright on the pitch. “A German oak tree shakes, but it doesn’t fall,” said Eschweiler afterwards. And he also had to hurry because a doctor ran onto the square and introduced herself with the words “Hello, I’m a doctor for animals”. That confused him a bit.
Even Genscher is worried
In the end, his boss was waiting at the radio for the officials in the diplomatic service during the half-time break. Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher asked Eschweiler how he was doing. But the Rhenish cheerful nature was able to calm Genscher. Just a few minutes after lying dazed on the lawn during a World Cup game, Walter Eschweiler replied pointedly: “Dear Minister, apart from the congenital roof damage, there is no significant damage.”
With this action, Walter Eschweiler finally set a monument for himself. Because when he arrived at the airport for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea, an official greeted him with the words: “Hello referee roll backwards, welcome to Korea”. And Gabriele Oriali, one can be sure, will still remember his very special encounter with a German referee on the pitch in Paris exactly forty years ago with a smile.
