60 years ago today: FC Oberau achieved a cup sensation against TSV 1860 Munich.
Mixture of luck, the right tactics and smart decisions pave the way to victory.
Oberau - you are the blatant outsider.
Without the slightest chance.
This is also what the footballers of TSV 1860 Munich assume.
You can be photographed while the FC Oberau players are standing in the corner.
“They said they'd be done with us in a minute,” says Conny Märkl.
His former teammate Anton Hibler sees it similarly.
“They thought they'd go there and punch us full.” Wrong thought.
The small town becomes known beyond the national borders overnight.
Märkl, the goalkeeper, Hibler, the captain and the rest of the team achieved the unbelievable on October 23, 1960, exactly 60 years ago.
The miracle of Oberau.
The team bowled the three classes higher playing TSV in front of 2,400 spectators with 3: 2 from the DFB-Pokal.
In the first main round.
"Provincial club throws lions out of the cup!"
“That was a world event,” says the now 88-year-old Hibler.
The next day the Bild newspaper headlined: “Provincial club throws lions out of the cup!”.
The world of football was completely different back then.
The Bundesliga does not exist, it was only introduced in 1963.
However, TSV 1860 Munich plays in the highest league, the Oberliga Süd.
Three classes lower - FC Oberau is located in the 2nd amateur league and has stayed there for four years.
Apart from FC Penzberg, which at that time even played two classes higher, no club in the area managed to establish itself that high up.
The lions, the opponent, are number one in Munich at the time.
Not about the now overpowering FC Bayern.
The years after the bankruptcy in Oberau were probably the most successful in the club's history: 1963 South German champion, 1964 DFB Cup winner, 1965 European Cup finalist and finally German champion in 1966.
“Sixty was a big team back then,” says Mayr in awe.
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60 years later, they still showed their skills: (from left) Conny Märkl, Alfons Stühler, Eberhard Stahl, Willi Wackerle and Anton Hibler.
© Kraus
A long way for FC Oberau to the game against TSV 1860 Munich
Even in the previous cup rounds, the Oberau footballers have to overcome a number of hurdles.
They won against 1. FC Garmisch-Partenkirchen and SV Shell Munich, against 1865 Dachau they tortured themselves to victory in extra time.
With a 7-2 win over Hertha Munich, the village club made it into the Upper Bavarian final round.
There, the late Georg Antor ensured another sense of achievement with the 2-1 winner shortly before the end against arch rivals SV Daglfing.
Then the climax of the club's history is imminent.
Nobody expects victory.
Rather with a hearty watschn.
The team is concentrating on the league games at the time.
“We trained twice a week.
Then it was said, it is now against the sixties in the cup, ”said the then very young 21-year-old keeper.
"Then we just played."
The lower class team sells dearly.
Again it is Antor who brings FC Oberau into the lead after a quarter of an hour.
The game is balanced.
The audience - they come from all over the Werdenfelser Land - cheer the outsider on frenetically.
“There were more spectators than Oberau residents,” emphasizes Märkl.
Löwen Coach berates his players at half-time
The lion coach is not satisfied with his team.
At halftime he insulted his players as “tired farm horses”, says the FCO goalkeeper.
After the break, the Löwen's offensive pressure increases, but the defense around Hibler withstands the onslaught.
“I organized everything well back there,” says the “stopper”, a position that no longer exists in football these days.
The late Karl Bauer scores in the 60th minute to make it 2-0, and in the 76th minute it even increases to 3-0 for Oberau.
Chants from the fans set in: “Munich away - it's no good,” they roar across the lawn.
The youth calls out: “Oberau in front - another goal.” What madness!
Three boxes against the supposed superior force.
The big surprise - within your grasp.
The lions furiously throw everything forward, Höck (85th) and Brunnenmeier (88th) shorten to 2: 3.
But Hibler and his comrades bring victory over time.
Spectators and players raise their hands and cheer.
On the other hand, the stunned guests quickly leave for Munich.
In the sports center, on the other hand, the village footballers celebrate their triumph over the top division.
"When we left it was already bright as day," remembers defender Alfons Stühler.
Captain Hibler, who still lives in Oberau today, adds: "We were a sworn bunch." Eleven friends.
With great thirst that day.
Sometimes too big.
Märkl is such a candidate who brings his fluid balance back into order after the game.
Not with water, of course.
He drinks so much that his service with the Bundeswehr in Mittenwald suffers the next day.
“I couldn't do anything,” he says.
"I was so intoxicated." But his commander is left behind.
If he had known that Oberau would win, he would have given the goalkeeper three days off.
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Snack and beer for the heroes: (from left) Willi Wackerle, Conny Märkl, Eberhard Stahl, Anton Hibler and Alfons Stühler enjoy it
© Kraus
The right decision by FC Oberau-Coach paves the way to success
Oberau's coach Anderl Wallertshauser played a major role in the success over the sixties.
“The trainer hired us.
But he also knew that he could rely on me, ”says Hibler.
What Wallertshauser said, the team followed.
A charismatic guy.
“We had to say 'Lord' to him,” reports Märkl.
Around 1860 the master - 32 years old at the time - resorted to a trick: Wallertshauser set himself up.
Because no changes were allowed at the time, another player had to give way.
It caught Willi Mattern, who had to take a disappointed seat in the stands.
The then eleven-year-old Mayr followed the game from a different perspective.
"We children weren't so interested in the game." For the next generation of soccer players, the huge kiosk next to the square is more exciting on that Sunday afternoon.
“It was well stocked, we looked at what types of ice cream there were,” Mayr looks back with pleasure.
The fact that their own club scores one goal after the other against the huge favorites - "We took note of that," says the 71-year-old.
The young kickers are not aware of the importance of this cup sensation.
Recipe for success, not to let the lions play
Seven players of the Oberauer Elf against the lions are still alive today.
In addition to Hibler, Märkl and Stühler, these are Hermann Fellermeier, Hans Doll, Eberhard Stahl and Willi Wackerle.
"The sixties were good in terms of play," says Hibler.
The recipe for success: "We didn't let them play."
Four weeks after the cup sensation, the next round of SSV Ulm will play against the green-whites.
"Offside goal", that's what Hibler and Märkl say like a shot when they think of this game.
Because the Donauspatzen - they play like the lions in the Oberliga Süd - score an apparently irregular hit shortly before the break.
Tells.
Oberau loses with 0: 1.
This ends the chapter of the DFB Cup.
What a shame, because: "The next opponent would have been Borussia Dortmund", Märkl thinks he remembers.
Then the black and yellow might have experienced their green and white miracle.
(ALEXANDER KRAUS AND MARCO BLANCO UCLES)
