Horst Hrubesch opened the scoring for West Germany after 11 minutes and, at that stage, there was at least a semblance of competition and drama. But it quickly became clear it was all a deception.

So, too, presumably did Jupp Derwall, the West German coach, and Austria’s co-managers, George Schmidt and Felix Latzske. As Peter Seddon wrote in The World Cup’s Strangest Moments: “The ...