Assault on Battiston

Harald Schumacher's assault on Battiston has been described as the worst and most brutal tackle on a soccer field.

Schumacher assaulted French substitute Battiston in the 1982 semi-final. He lost 3 teeth and his life was in danger at one stage.

Schumacher escaped without even a caution. The referee awarded a goal kick!

The semi-final between West Germany and France proved to be an epic confrontation.

For sheer drama and ceaseless debate, it is arguably unrivalled in the annals of World Cup finals history.

Now simply known as ‘the game that had everything’, the semi-final match is remembered not for substitute Karl-Heinz Rummenigge dragging his side back from 3-1 down in extra-time to set-up the competition's first-ever penalty shoot-out; or the inspired play from Platini that appeared to put the French in an unassailable position.

It is remembered for Harald Schumacher's assault on Patrick Battiston in the 66th minute, with the scores tied at 1-1.

The aggressive style of the German goalkeeper was well known. He had broken all but two of his fingers in a long career.

But the diabolical challenge on Battiston - the German racing from his goal to smash hip and forearm into the face of his set-to-score opponent to shatter jaw and remove three teeth - chilled, as well as fractured, bones.

It ensured such everlasting notoriety for Schumacher that he pushed Hitler into second place in a French newspaper poll of historical hated figures conducted shortly after the finals.

Incredibly, the malicious, potentially life-threatening battering of Battiston went unpunished.

That decision was fundamental to France becoming the second-best side never to win the World Cup.

Battiston was unconscious for three minutes and required oxygen to be revived before being taken to hospital. At one point Platini thought his team-mate was dead.

The French luminary, however, has since refused to allow the incident to overshadow the footballing brilliance he helped create that night, which ended with West Germany prevailing 5-4 on penalties after Schumacher saved three.

"In the heat of the action, I felt a profound sense of injustice after Schumacher's foul but now I remember that match as one of the most thrilling moments of my life," Platini said years later.

For me, no book or film or play could ever recapture the way I felt that day. It was so complete, so strong, so fabulous, incredible."