Even the cost of training: it was like that when Diego Maradona arrived in Switzerland

Of course, it is this whistle that shapes memories. At least one scandal. He brought the 2: 1 for the favorite, on a penalty, late and undeserved and for nothing. “Fraud on All Saints’ Day,” scolded the local newspaper when it was all over.

It has been 30 years since SSC Napoli joined Zurich. This competition was still called the Uefa Cup at the time and although the first leg was held in Letzigrund, the opponent was not called FCZ. Not even GC, no: his name was Wettingen, FC Wettingen. For younger readers: The Aargau village club briefly played at the top of Switzerland at the time.

The bossy opponent didn’t just come to Zurich for the first leg. But with a team full of stars. They were called Careca, Ferrara, De Napoli, Carnevale or Alemao, but above all there was him: Diego Armando Maradona. Footballer of the century, top scorer of the century, number ten of the century. World champion, hand of God. He played three games during his career on Swiss soil: two friendlies with Argentina (1987 at the Hardturm in Zurich against Italy, 1990 in Bern against Switzerland). And the only compulsory match was this European Cup match against little Wettingen.

About 20,000 Italians, most of them at home in and around Zurich, filled the Letzigrund on October 18, 1989. They paid 100 francs for the ticket. A brace from Maradona crossed the athletics track on a gray horse and greeted the audience, and then the spectators, 23,000 in total, watched a 0-0, a match with no major highlights, even from Maradona.

Almost three decades later, after the unequal duel with the Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, a trio is sitting in the Spitzbueb bakery in Wettingen and remembering. The Altenburg stadium can be seen through the window, with its 1,500 covered seats, too small for this task since then. The trio at the table: Martin Rueda, the captain and free, Alex Germann, the tough central defender, Brian Bertelsen, strategist and forward. It was the Dane who scored the first 1-0 in the return leg in Naples, with a direct drop, and so in the end he shook the favorites.

It was only the last day of the previous season that Wettingen, the surprisingly strong climber, slipped into the European Cup. In the first round, the Irish from Dundalk were an easy obstacle for the defensively strong team of Udo Klug, the tactical fox from the Bundesliga, “and when we were drawn after Napoli, the phone never stopped,” says Bertelsen. The tickets were so popular that the club waited until the last moment to send them out for fear of counterfeiting.

Hundreds of people were in Letzigrund the night before the game, because the final training sessions were public, yes: they too cost entry. Maradona got angry about it, but he gave the spectators the show they were waiting for. Bertelsen, who, like many of his teammates, was watching from the aisle of the booth, says: “I’ve never seen so many photographers. When Diego and Andrea Carnevale exchanged the ball across the pitch, the fans went wild and we suspected: it won’t be that easy. “

Jan Svensson, one of two Swedish national team players on Wettinger’s side, was in charge of Maradona’s men’s marking. “He did it incredibly well,” praised Rueda. Since Maradona usually remained standing in the counter-movement, Svensson himself had a lot of space in the offensive. “We still had to be careful,” adds Rueda. «Diego’s genius was evident with every move. Even if he didn’t walk ten kilometers. Probably not even eight. “Rueda secured the number 10 jersey after the game.

If the first leg was already crazy enough for the village footballers, they finally dove into another world for the second leg. A local businessman had sponsored a private plane for the team, “with leather seats and a bar,” recalls Germann. When they arrived in Naples, the team was collected on the asphalt and taken to the hotel by bus and a police escort, beyond the red light. “Pedestrians had to get to safety,” says Rueda. Bertelsen adds with a laugh: “An absolutely insane journey”.

And Rueda is still fascinated today: “This away match had nothing to do with everything we knew about the National League A.”

There, in the national championship, the weather was rather uncomfortable. A few weeks earlier, FC Wettingen had caused one of the biggest scandals in Swiss football: after referee Bruno Klötzli had just finished the match in Sion, before Rueda’s long-range shot flew into goal for the 1 1, several Wettinger players attacked him. The criminal case was still pending when Wettingen met Napoli, four players are expected to be punished with long suspensions, Germann for a full year. The appearances against Maradona were a change in a dark moment for him and for the club.

But the superstar herself also went through difficult times. His best years were already behind him in 1989 and he was already addicted to drugs. In the second leg against Wettingen he was missing, internally suspended for a short time, it was said. But the exact reasons were never fully known. Bertelsen met him briefly in the aisle of the cabins of the San Paolo, shortly thereafter Maradona is said to have furiously left the legendary stadium. In its place, the then 23-year-old Gianfranco Zola wore the number 10.

After Bertelsen’s first leadership, there was an open exchange of blows. Napoli fans, who had shown the swimmers all five fingers the day before for the number of goals they had to expect, have become increasingly restless. Soon they even whistled. Jörg Stiel in Wettinger Tor held out, but the outsiders sinned in return. Marcel Heldmann, Dan Corneliusson, Andreas Löbmann – all came out of the best position. Shortly after the interval, Napoli equalized.

And then, on the counterattack after a great Löbmanns chance, the decision against the brave Wettinger fell. Because sometimes it happens as it has to happen: this unwarranted penalty whistle from the Maltese referee. Massimo Mauro scored 2-1 in the 74th minute.

Bertelsen: “What a pity, we didn’t make it.”

Germann: “We were simply too inexperienced”.

Rueda: “But that’s the way it goes sometimes in the David vs. Goliath duel. It was all our fault that we didn’t go further. We don’t really have to talk about this rigor. You can’t have more chances than us. We didn’t deserve to go on. “

The European Cup season ended shortly after also for Napoli: Werder is too strong in the second round. In return, Maradona led the team to their second Scudetto title in four years, the last at SSC Napoli to date.

Wettingen fared even worse: the big stage appearance was followed by a rapid decline. In 1992 the club was demoted from the NLA – a year later it no longer existed. President Hubert Stöckli, who had made a fortune with slot machines to squander it, had to file for bankruptcy.

The memories of the protagonists remain. Brian Bertelsen, the Dane who has settled in Aargau, thinks: “For all of us, the years at FC Wettingen were the best times as footballers.”