National team
11.06.24
Following in the footsteps of Nogly, Kargus and Kaltz
Ahead of the European Championships getting underway on Friday, HSV.de takes a look back at the tournament’s Rothosen representatives from years past. A trio of legends were the trailblazers in 1976, and Laszlo Benes is set to become HSV’s 26th player at the competition.
On Friday evening, the wait will be over as EURO 2024 gets underway with the opening game between hosts Germany and opponents Scotland in Munich (21:00 CEST). 24 teams will take part in the 17th edition of the tournament, with holders Italy looking to defend their title. The eyes of the country and the world will be on 51 games and ten different stadiums, including the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, which will host four group games and a quarter-final tie.
Hamburger SV will be represented at the tournament not only by their home ground, but also one of their players. Slovakia’s Laszlo Benes will be the 26th HSV man to take part in the competition, following in the footsteps of a host of stars. Manfred Kaltz, Rudolf Kargus and Peter Nogly were the first, back in 1976 in Yugoslavia. Their West Germany side reached the final, only to suffer a dramatic 5-3 penalty shootout defeat to Czechoslovakia. Uli Hoeneß would likely still do anything to be able to take his decisive kick again.
A decisive impact in the final
Four years later at EURO 1980 in Italy, West Germany finally got their hands on the trophy with a 2-1 final win over Belgium. And, in contrast to 1976, when the above trio failed to get on the pitch, Horst Hrubesch, Manfred Kaltz, Felix Magath and Caspar Memering all played their part in their country’s second continental triumph. All four featured at some point in the tournament, and Hrubesch made a decisive contribution by netting a brace in the final in Rome. Firstly, he hammered home a powerful effort from the edge of the penalty area (10’), before scoring a trademark header in the closing stages (88’). HSV’s fifth representative, England icon Kevin Keegan, was forced to watch this unforgettable match from home after his country’s group-stage elimination.
After final appearances in 1976 and 1980, the next few EUROs were somewhat of a disappointment from a HSV perspective. Wolfgang Rolff (West Germany) at France 1984, Stéphane Henchoz (Switzerland), Yordan Letchkov and Petar Hubchev (Bulgaria) at England 1996 and Thomas Gravesen (Denmark) and Jörg Butt (Germany) in 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands were all knocked out in the first round.
A record six Rothosen at one EUROs
This run did finally come to an end. After Tomas Ujfalusi (Czech Republic, semi-finals) and Raphael Wicky (Switzerland, group stage) had both emerged with credit from the 2004 edition in Portugal, HSV had their highest number of players at one tournament in 2008 in Austria and Switzerland. Ivica Olic (Croatia), Nigel de Jong, Joris Mathijsen and Rafael van der Vaart (see photo) (Netherlands), David Jarolim (Czech Republic) and Piotr Trochowski (Germany) were the half-dozen Rothosen on the continental stage. Although he didn’t make an appearance, the latter was part of the Germany squad that reached the final once again, losing 1-0 to Spain.
‘Only’ four HSV players have travelled to the EUROs since then. Jaroslav Drobny was a reserve goalkeeper for the Czech Republic in 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. Johan Djourou (Switzerland), Albin Ekdal (Sweden) and Zoltan Stieber (Hungary, officially on loan to 1. FC Nürnberg at the time of the tournament) were all in action at France 2016. Eight years later. Slovakia’s Laszlo Benes will be HSV’s representative at a very special EUROs. The 26-year-old has played in Germany for eight years and has already appeared at all ten host stadiums. Slovakia get their campaign underway on Monday evening (18:00 CEST) against giants Belgium in Frankfurt. Let the games begin!
HSV players at the European Championships:
Year | Host | Player (Appearances/Goals) | Country | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1976 | Yugoslavia | Manfred Kaltz (0) | West Germany | Final |
Rudolf Kargus (0) | West Germany | Final | ||
Peter Nogly (0) | West Germany | Final | ||
1980 | Italy | Manfred Kaltz (4/0) | West Germany | Champions |
Horst Hrubesch (3/2) | West Germany | Champions | ||
Kevin Keegan (3/0) | England | Group stage | ||
Felix Magath (2/0) | West Germany | Champions | ||
Caspar Memering (1/0) | West Germany | Champions | ||
1984 | France | Wolfgang Rolff (2/0) | West Germany | Group stage |
1996 | England | Stephane Henchoz (3/0) | Switzerland | Group stage |
Yordan Letchkov (3/0) | Bulgaria | Group stage | ||
Petr Houbtchev (2/0) | Bulgaria | Group stage | ||
2000 | Belgium/Netherlands | Thomas Gravesen (2/0) | Denmark | Group stage |
Hans-Jörg Butt (0) | Germany | Group stage | ||
2004 | Portugal | Tomas Ujfalusi (4/0) | Czech Republic | Semi-finals |
Raphael Wicky (3/0) | Switzerland | Group stage | ||
2008 | Switzerland/Austria | Ivica Olic (3/1) | Croatia | Quarter-finals |
Nigel de Jong (3/0) | Netherlands | Quarter-finals | ||
Joris Mathijsen (3/0) | Netherlands | Quarter-finals | ||
Rafael van der Vaart (3/0) | Netherlands | Quarter-finals | ||
David Jarolim (3/0) | Czech Republic | Group stage | ||
Piotr Trochwoski (0) | Germany | Final | ||
2012 | Poland/Ukraine | Jaroslav Drobny (0) | Czech Republic | Quarter-finals |
2016 | France | Johan Djourou (4/0) | Switzerland | Round of 16 |
Zoltan Stieber (3/1) | Hungary | Round of 16 | ||
Albin Ekdal (3/0) | Sweden | Group stage | ||
2024 | Germany | Laszlo Benes | Slovakia | - |