by Nick Holt
Jairzinho (Brazil) Müller (West Germany) Riva (Italy)
Leading scorers: Muller 10; Jairzinho 7; Cubillas 5.
The official team is listed as: Mazurkiewicz (Uruguay); Carlos Alberto (Brazil), Ancheta (Uruguay), Beckenbauer (West Germany – even though he played in midfield), Facchetti (Italy); Gérson (Brazil), Rivelino (Brazil), Charlton (England – now I love the Bobster, but he honestly truly did nothing special in this tournament); Pelé (Brazil), Müller (West Germany), Jairzinho (Brazil).
Heaven Eleven No.6
Brazil
Coach:
Vicente Feola (but really, who needs one with this lot?)
Goalkeepers:
Gylmar: star player in the 1958 team, even if few people know the name – also played in 1962 & 1966
Émerson Leão: goalie in the rather defensive ’70s side – if he had played in 1970 they would have been even better
Claudio Taffarel: played more than 100 games for Brazil; World Cup winner in 1994
Defenders: (Oh, do we have to . . .?)
Cafu: remarkably consistent performer, played in three World Cup Finals and had a sixteen-year international career
Djalma Santos: scary, scary man
Nílton Santos: rated by many as the game’s best-ever left-back
Branco: fulminating attacking back from the 1990s, much better than Leonardo or Roberto Carlos
Lúcio: towering central defender, could play a bit as well; good club career in Europe
Luís Pereira: hard man in the weak 1974 team; highly rated in Brazil
Bellini: captain and reassuring presence in the defence in 1962
Midfield & Wide:
Pelé: just Pelé
Gérson: wonderfully agile mind and persuasive left foot Rivelino: I hear he took a mean free-kick . . .
Socrates: appeared lazy, maybe even was a bit, but . . .
Falcão: exciting, hard-running attacker from the ’80s
Garrincha: a wizard
Didi: superb craftsman in the ’50s and early ’60s, a real general
Mauro Silva: I know, there are better players not here, but every team needs its workhorse and this man was a rock (better than Dunga) – ask Deportivo fans
Strikers:
Tostão: hard-working and committed attacker, chased lost causes and did the work of two
Ademir: ridiculously acrobatic and talented forward in the postwar team
Ronaldo: okay, so he occasionally put on a few pounds, but it never seemed to stop him scoring
Neymar: the Brazilians always find a space in their squad for “one for the future” – he’s in just in case he makes this list look a bit lacking in 2014 – and he is some talent
Omissions: Too many to mention really. Zico was sacrificed for a defensive player, also unlucky were Zagallo, Mauro Ramos, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Romário, Vavá, Luizinho, Jorginho – looking at the list I would have to concede I have harboured a slight bias towards the old school. Jairzinho I left out as I always felt he was bit flattered by playing in such a great team; Bebeto and Roberto Carlos I left out because they weren’t that great.
Likely first XI (not that the second XI would be much fun to play against . . .):
Gylmar
Cafu Lúcio Luís Pereira N Santos
Mauro Silva
Garrincha Didi Pelé Falcão
Ronaldo
Bloody Nora.
4.4 GOLDEN BOOTS
& BALLS OF GOLD
There are numerous trophies handed out every year in categories like the world’s best player, Europe’s top scorer, the World Cup’s most valuable performer, the best goalkeeper in South East Asia and the best tea-lady in southern Azerbaijan.
The World Cup has two main awards, the Golden Boot, for the tournament’s top scorer, and the Golden Ball for the tournament’s outstanding player.
Here are the winners.
Golden Boot winners
1930
Guillermo Stábile (Uruguay)
8
1934
Oldrich Nejedly (Czechoslovakia)
5
1938
Leônidas da Silva (Brazil)
7
1950
Ademir (Brazil)
8
1954
Sándor Kocsis (Hungary)
11
1958
Just Fontaine (France)
13
1962
Flórián Albert (Hungary)
4
Valentin Ivanov (USSR)
Garrincha (Brazil)
Vavá (Brazil)
Drazan Jerkovic (Yugoslavia)
Leonel Sánchez (Chile)
1966
Eusébio (Portugal)
9
1970
Gerd Müller (West Germany)
10
1974
Grzegorz Lato (Poland)
7
1978
Mario Kempes (Argentina)
6
1982
Paolo Rossi (Italy)
6
1986
Gary Lineker (England)
6
1990
Salvatore Schillaci (Italy)
6
1994
Oleg Salenko (USSR)
5
Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
5
1998
Davor Suker (Croatia)
6
2002
Ronaldo (Brazil)
8
2006
Miroslav Klose (Germany)
5
2010
Thomas Müller* (Germany)
5
Golden Ball winners
The Golden Ball winners for the first few tournaments have been awarded retrospectively. The first year the actual award was given after deliberation by a number of senior football writers, was 1978.
Year Actual winner
Should have won
1930 José Nasazzi (Uruguay)
Andrade (Uruguay)
1934 Giuseppe Meazza (Italy)
Meazza
1938 Leônidas da Silva (Brazil)
Leônidas
1950 Zizinho (Brazil)
Obdulio Varela (Uruguay)
1954 Ferenc Puskás (Hungary)
Fritz Walter (West Germany)
1958 Didi (Brazil)
Didi
1962 Garrincha (Brazil)
Garrincha
1966 Bobby Charlton (England)
Bobby Moore (England)
1970 Pelé (Brazil)
Pelé
1974 Johan Cruyff (Holland)
Cruyff
1978 Mario Kempes (Argentina)
Daniel Passarella (Argentina)
1982 Paolo Rossi (Italy)
Marco Tardelli (Italy)
1986 Diego Maradona (Argentina)
Maradona
1990 Salvatore Schillaci (Italy)
Jürgen Klinsmann (West Germany)
1994 Romário (Brazil)
Roberto Baggio (Italy)
1998 Ronaldo (Brazil)
Lilian Thuram (France)
2002 Oliver Kahn (Germany)
Ronaldo (Brazil)
2006 Zinedine Zidane (France)
Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
2010 Diego Forlán (Uruguay)
Forlán
One defender (Nasazzi in 1930) and one goalkeeper is utter nonsense; easy to favour headline-grabbing attackers, but they are not always the defining influence within their team. Rossi, for example, was rightly the “story” of 1982, but Tardelli hauled Italy through a couple of tough spells, played well in the group games when Rossi was anonymous, and ran the final. In 2006 there was sympathy initially for Zidane and he was given this award despite his moment of madness in the final; actually it was unwarranted and cost his team dearly, so he should have got nowhere near an award – Cannavaro was colossal in every game.
Golden Glove award (the Yashin Award from
1994–2006) – for the tourname
nt’s best goalkeeper
1994
Michel Preud’homme (Belgium)
1998
Fabien Barthez (France)
2002
Oliver Kahn (Germany)
2006
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
2010
Iker Casillas (Spain)
Best Young Player – only inaugurated in 2006
2006
Lukas Podolski (Germany, 21)
2010
Thomas Müller (Germany, 20)
There are other awards, like the FIFA Fair Play award and the Most Entertaining Team award that are just too meaningless to bother with.
The football award that gets the FIFA suits most exercised is the annual nonsense that is the Ballon d’Or, the award for the best player in the world. Initiated in 1991, the award used to be the FIFA World Player of the Year until it merged with France Football’s Ballon d’Or (European Footballer of the Year).
Ballon d’Or (as much for club football as international)
1956 Stanley Matthews (England)
1957 Alfredo Di Stéfano (Argentina)
1958 Raymond Kopa (France)
1959 Di Stéfano (2)
1960 Luis Suárez (Spain)
1961 Omar Sivori (Italy)
1962 Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia)
1963 Lev Yashin (USSR)
1964 Denis Law (Scotland)
1965 Eusébio (Portugal)
1966 Bobby Charlton (England)
1967 Flórián Albert (Hungary)
1968 George Best (Northern Ireland)
1969 Gianni Rivera (Italy)
1970 Gerd Müller (West Germany)
1971 Johan Cruyff (Holland)
1972 Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany)
1973 Cruyff (2)
1974 Cruyff (3)
1975 Oleg Blokhin (USSR)
1976 Beckenbauer (2)
1977 Allan Simonsen (Denmark)
1978 Kevin Keegan (England)
1979 Keegan (2)
1980 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (W.Ger)
1981 Rummenigge (2)
1982 Paolo Rossi (Italy)
1983 Michel Platini (France)
1984 Platini (2)
1985 Platini (3)
1986 Igor Belanov (USSR)
1987 Ruud Gullit (Holland)
1988 Marco van Basten (Holland)
1989 Van Basten (2)
1990 Lothar Matthäus (West Germany)
1991 Jean-Pierre Papin (France)
1992 Van Basten (3)
1993 Roberto Baggio (Italy)
1994 Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
1995 George Weah (Liberia)
1996 Matthias Sammer (Germany)
1997 Ronaldo (Brazil)
1998 Zinedine Zidane (France)
1999 Rivaldo (Brazil)
2000 Luís Figo (Portugal)
2001 Michael Owen (England)
2002 Ronaldo (2)
2003 Pavel Nedved (Czech Rep)
2004 Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)
2005 Ronaldinho (Brazil)
2006 Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
2007 Kaká (Brazil)
2008 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
2009 Lionel Messi (Argentina)
FIFA World Player of the Year
1991 Lothar Matthäus (Germany)
1992 Marco van Basten (Holland)
1993 Roberto Baggio (Italy)
1994 Romario (Brazil)
1995 George Weah (Liberia)
1996 Ronaldo (Brazil)
1997 Ronaldo (2)
1998 Zinedine Zidane (France)
1999 Rivaldo (Brazil)
2000 Zidane (2)
2001 Luís Figo (Portugal)
2002 Ronaldo (3)
2003 Zidane (3)
2004 Ronaldinho (Brazil)
2005 Ronaldinho (2)
2006 Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
2007 Kaka (Brazil)
2008 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
2009 Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Ballon d’Or
2010 Messi (2)
2011 Messi (3)
2012 Messi (4)
2013 Ronaldo (2)
* Cagliari were a Sardinian team and had just won the title for the first time. They had six players in the squad, the same as Internazionale. In more recent years Cagliari have been a bit of a yo-yo team between Serie A and Serie B.
* Müller was the first winner of the award who finished level on goals with other players but won the award on the tie-breaker by counting back the number of assists he provided for other players. Diego Forlán, Wesley Sneijder and David Villa missed out.
TOTAL FOOTBALL
5.1 WORLD CUP 1974
FIFA made one of those special decisions in preparation for the 1974 Finals that seem to be their unique preserve. They did away with quarter-finals and initiated a second phase of groups. More money for the coffers, less tension and excitement for the spectators. Thus has it always been, thus will it always be. I believe, somewhere in a parallel dimension, football is played competitively and hard, but for the entertainment of the spectators, and it is run by an august body of good men and true whose sole aim is to preserve a balance between endeavour and skill and provide a safe and comfortable environment for the spectators, who pay only what they can afford to watch. But then I watch Dr Who and read Tolkien so I can be considered a fantasist.
West Germany was a sure bet as host, and their election was guaranteed after a deal with Spain that saw Spain awarded the 1982 tournament, much as Argentina and Mexico carved up 1970 and 1978. They had plenty of big stadia already in place and an excellent transport and logistical infrastructure in place after all the hard work rebuilding the country after the war.
The cities chosen to host matches were Berlin (the Olympic Stadium, home to Hertha Berlin), Munich (the 1972 Olympic Stadium, chosen for the Final and home to both Bayern and TSV Munich), Hamburg, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Gelsenkirchen (home to Schalke 04), Frankfurt, Hannover and Stuttgart.
The social and economic climate had changed over the last few years in Europe, from the vibrancy and expectation of the 1960s to a more grim reality The three-day week and extensive power cuts in Britain weren’t an isolated phenomenon; across Europe there was a wave of protest – and, much more chillingly, terrorism and a refusal to accept the status quo. Harold Wilson had spent a fair proportion of the last decade in power – he blamed his defeat in the 1970 election on England’s World Cup failure – and the left-centre alliance the SPD held sway in Federal Germany under Helmut Schmidt, who took over from Willy Brandt a month before the tournament.
1974
WEST GERMANY
Like England in 1966 West Germany could call on a number of massive club stadia for their World Cup project; and, like England, these were pre-war terraced grounds with meagre facilities. The Germans used nine stadia in nine cities spread across the country.
Munich: Olympiastadion
Like Mexico four years earlier, West Germany had hosted the Olympic Games two years earlier and had a ready-made relatively modern stadium to offer for the final. In the final 75,200 people watched their team beat Holland. The new stadium became the home of two local sides, Bayern Munich and Munich 1860, until it was supplanted by the new Allianz Arena in 2006.
West Berlin: Olympiastadion
This was an older stadium constructed by the Nazis to showcase the 1936 Olympics. Over 80,000 watched West Germany’s opening game in the 1974 finals in a slightly re-jigged ground, and it was renovated and re-used for the 2006 finals.
Hamburg: Völksparkstadion
The main Hamburg stadium has been given various name changes to appease sponsors, but it will always be the Völkspark to fans. Built in 1953, Hamburg SV moved in for the 1963-64 season when the new Bundesliga started, and the club remains the ground’s owners. The Völkspark hosted the famous game between West and East Germany at the 1974 finals.
Frankfurt: Waldstadion
Now officially the Commerzbank A
rena, the Waldstadion was built as the home of Eintracht Frankfurt in 1925 and has remained on the same site ever since. In 1974 it hosted West Germany’s semi-final with Poland, a match that was played in such atrocious conditions, it is sometimes referred to as the wasserschlacht (water battle) in Germany.
Düsseldorf: Rheinstadion
This ground, which housed 66,000 spectators for West Germany’s first second-phase match in 1974, was the home of Fortuna Düsseldorf until 2002 when it was demolished and replaced with the Esprit Arena.
Dortmund: Westfalenstadion
Dortmund benefited from Cologne’s withdrawal as a host city and the Borussia Dortmund stadium was hastily renovated for the purpose. For the 1974 tournament it had a capacity of 54,000, but has grown as the club’s fortunes have soared.