Soren Lebi played for Denmark and Bayern Munich on the same day

memorable

13 November 1985: Sören Lerby played an afternoon match with the Danish national team in Ireland. After six hours of two high-speed trips and a private jet flight, he was in Bochum to play Bayern Munich.

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Sören Lerby was faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, Denmark still needed a point from Ireland's 1986 World Cup qualifiers to qualify for the competition. On the other hand, his club Bayern Munich is also playing in the round of 16 of the German Cup on the same day. Where should he appear?

“Uli Hoeness finally came up with the crazy idea that I should only play two games,” Lebi recalled of this unforgettable day in Der Spiegel many years later. An idea that the midfielder likes. “I really want to help both teams, just like neither team wants to be without me.”

“Uli Hoeness stood on the sidelines looking desperately at the clock.”

Denmark national team coach Sepp Piontek has promised Bayern he will replace his star Lebi when the score is clear, and Bayern coach Udo Lattek agreed. A crazy plan is put into action.

Lebi celebrates a 3-2 win over Belgium to lead Denmark into the semi-finals of Euro 1984.Image: imago/Sven Simon

The Danish team, which reached the European Cup semi-finals a year ago, had a tough time at Landsdowne Road in Dublin on Wednesday afternoon, with the half-time score being only 1-1. “Uli Hoeness stood on the sidelines, looking desperately at the clock,” Søren Lebi said. “I was getting restless. Every minute was important now. We took the lead very quickly and Sepp still didn't make a move. I was running out of focus – how was I going to get there on time? What about Bochum?”

Airport blue lights on

In the end, the Danish team scored again in the 59th minute to expand the score to 3-1. National team coach Piontek kept his promise. He ejected Lebi from the game immediately after the third goal. “I rushed into the cabin and took a shower as fast as I'd probably never do again. Hair wet, I ran out of the stadium and jumped in the car to Uli with the engine running. It turned into a battle with The race against time.”

Irish authorities became aware of the plan and a policeman on a motorcycle with flashing lights and siren drove in front of Bayern Munich's star team, directly onto the tarmac at Dublin Airport. “We boarded a chartered Learjet and took off. Because of the one-hour time difference, we would be arriving in Dusseldorf just after seven.”

Are they now telling each other stories about that crazy Wednesday in November 1985? In the summer of 2013, Hoeness and Lerby were in a meeting.Bild: Imagery

It takes about half an hour to get from the airport to the Ruhr Stadium, so time is tight. “We drove the Porsche to Bochum,” says Lebi. To him, the journey seemed never-ending. Manager Hoeness and his players were then stuck in traffic in front of the stadium. “No forward, no backward, nothing. I was going crazy in the car.” The 27-year-old couldn't take it anymore. “I said 'goodbye' to Uli and ran the last two kilometers to the stadium. I wanted to race from the beginning.”

Weird outfits, unknown players: Bayern lost 2-1 to HSV in May 1984. Next to Lerby on the free-kick wall: Bertram Berlose, Wolfgang Grob, Bernd Durnberg and Bernd Martin (from left).Image source: imago sports photo service

“You only do it once in a lifetime”

But nothing came of it. Sören Lerby arrives in the dressing room just before eight o'clock; the team is already in the tunnel and ready to take the field. Coach Latke greeted Lebi and said he was late and would have to wait until halftime. “At that moment, all the nerves went away and I was just disappointed, as you can imagine.”

After the break, Sören Lerby came on as a substitute – and as if two games in one day weren't enough, Bochum would go into extra time. The round of 16 ended 1-1, so it was repeated.

Something happened! Lebi won the German Cup with teammate Dieter Hoeness.Image: Imagery

Now, Lebi is no longer disappointed because he was absent from the stadium at the beginning of the German Cup game. In the end, the plan came true: he won the German Cup with Bayern, played in the World Cup in Mexico with Denmark, and shocked Mexico with “Danish Dynamite”. “Two games in one day is something you only do once in your life.”