by Nick Holt
No one was holding their breath for the Scots after the debacle of 1978, but Souness and Dalglish were the axis of a great Liverpool team and the Aberdeen-based centre-half pairing of Alex McLeish and Willie Miller was a formidable barrier. They still didn’t have a goalkeeper of any real quality.
Wales struggled manfully against the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. The Soviets were a top side, so Wales and the Czechs were battling for one place, hoping not to drop points against Turkey and Iceland (sounds like a Christmas shopping planner . . .). Both did, to Iceland, but Wales 2–2 home draw after leading twice proved costlier. It was a surprise, as Wales had not conceded at all in their first five games and had beaten Iceland 4–0 in Reykjavik. Coming off the back of a defeat in Prague the previous month, it left Wales with the stiff task of needing some sort of result in Tbilisi against the Soviet Union. It wasn’t to be, the Soviets were in commanding form and won 3–0, and the Czechs got the point they needed at home to the Soviets in the last match to pip Wales on goal difference.
The Republic of Ireland were in a terribly difficult group containing France, rapidly improving, together with Holland and Belgium, who seemed magnetically attracted to each other in qualifying for the World Cup. Holland, finalists in the previous two World Cups, were clear favourites, with the other qualifier to come from France or Belgium; Ireland’s allotted role was that of spoiler, capable of beating one of the fancied sides at Lansdowne Road but not consistent enough to make the top two.
The spoiling started in the second match when Ireland beat the Dutch with a late headed goal from a clever free-kick. Instead of shooting, Liam Brady executed a flop-shot (golf, look it up) over the wall and Mark Lawrenson, unmarked, headed tidily home – check out Lawro’s beard on the video. Lawrenson made a significant contribution in the return too, a surging run and cross providing Frank Stapleton a chance to score with a typically brave header – Ireland came back twice to draw and leave themselves with a great chance of qualifying. Defeats in Belgium and France had made that unlikely; the Irish were especially unlucky in Brussels when the referee missed a blatant body-check on goalkeeper McDonagh for the late Belgium winner.
Ireland faced a crucial qualifier at Lansdowne Road against France and a packed stadium saw a fabulous match. An early lead was soon wiped out by Bellone’s smart turn and finish, but some shoddy French defending saw Ireland go in 3–1 up at the break. France struggled to cope with the pace and power of Stapleton and Michael Robinson, who produced his best form for Ireland, despite not being Irish by anything other than expedience. It wasn’t Jack Charlton who invented the notion of bolstering the Irish squad by playing the ancestry game – Lawrenson and Chris Hughton, both key players, were also English-born. A late goal by Platini was a consolation – now France had to win both their remaining games to head Ireland in the table. Intriguingly, Holland could also still qualify by beating France in Paris – the Irish were praying for a draw, not such an unlikely outcome. Holland had recalled Johan Neeskens for their win over Belgium (already qualified) but he held little sway as France turned up the heat in the second half and won 2–0. A routine win over the group whipping boys Cyprus (nul points, as they say in Eurovision) saw France, not Ireland, heading to Spain. Ireland, for all their qualities and the presence of the sublime Liam Brady, would not have matched France’s achievements in Spain. Holland looked a spent force and were crucified in their own press. They had replaced coach Jan Zwartkruis with Kees Rijvers halfway through qualifying but it availed them little. In the next three years Rijvers would blood a new generation of Dutch stars, but it took a while before their impact was felt.
Elsewhere in Europe the usual suspects emerged. Reigning European Champions from 1980 West Germany won every game and scored for fun, but their group was weak – the second qualifiers were a moderate Austrian side. Yugoslavia and Italy also qualified easily from a weak group, though Italy gave their supporters momentary palpitations by losing for the first time to Denmark. Italy had been dealing with other concerns since the last Finals tournament – more of this in a moment.
In South America Uruguay showed their decline was deep-rooted as they failed to qualify again, beaten at home by Peru. Brazil looked much more like their old selves, and Chile qualified without conceding a goal, but – and this went also for Peru – looked unlikely to threaten with the competition held in Europe. Argentina would return as holders with many of the same players plus their new wunderkind, Diego Maradona. But they couldn’t expect the same amount of assistance from the organisers and officials. In the CONCACAF section Honduras and El Salvador not only managed to avoid going to war during their matches, but they also both managed to qualify, at the expense of Mexico, for once; the USA didn’t even make the final pool for CONCACAF qualification – soccer in the States was at a seriously low point. With two qualifiers each from Africa and the Asia/Oceania sections, the teams “making up the numbers” in the eyes of the European press were Cameroon, Algeria, Kuwait and New Zealand – all were making their debut in the Finals.
Finals
Brazil were everyone’s favourites (aren’t they always?), while West Germany and the Soviet Union had qualified with the most panache from Europe. Argentina could not be discounted with Menotti still in charge and Italy were expected to do well.
This World Cup was the first that felt like it was being thoroughly and voraciously exploited for commercial gain. Sponsors were conspicuous, as were empty seats after half-time while the prawn-sandwich brigade (Mr Keane’s scoff has become common parlance for corporate hangers-on) finished wolfing down their freebies. David Goldblatt in The Ball Is Round cites the alarming statistic that this was the first tournament where the cost of flying in and housing FIFA officials exceeded the cost of flying in and housing the players. The trough was growing.
GROUP 1
A tight group, with only one match of the six not drawn. The four sides played out two goalless draws for openers and followed up with two more, leaving the group still wide open. Italy and Peru had at least scored a goal each, although Peru left theirs till five minutes from time and needed a fortuitous deflection off Collovati from a Díaz free-kick to get it.
Cameroon exited with much sympathy when they drew their third match with Italy 1–1 but ceded second place to the Italians, having scored one goal less. The Italians, clearly not firing, still had the best of all three of their games, and Cameroon offered little up front apart from some dazzling smiles from the skilful and effervescent Milla. But he ploughed a lone furrow too often, and Cameroon’s best player behind him was captain and goalkeeper Thomas Nkono.
The group was won by Poland, who scored five in a second half against Peru that contrasted with the other five hundred or so minutes of football. Poland had a new young side, with the vastly experienced Wladyslaw Zmuda, playing in his third World Cup Finals tournament, as captain. Kazi Deyna had retired, and the new superstar and playmaker was Zbigniew (Zibi) Boniek, a quick goalscoring attacking midfielder. Boniek was on his way to Juventus in Italy and anxious to prove he was worth his £1.1m transfer fee, a new record for an East European player.
Smolarek scored the first after Peru’s centre-half Velasquez needlessly gave the ball away and twelve minutes later it was 4–0. Boniek put Lato through and when Quiroga came charging miles out of his area all the veteran had to was pass the ball calmly past him. Boniek scored the next himself after a free-kick on the edge of the box caught Peru napping; instead of a shot the ball was played to Smolarek, unmarked on the right, and his cross was side-footed home. The best goal was the fourth; Lato started a quick break on the right and found Andrzej Buncol with a long crossfield ball. Buncol advanced and slipped a pass to Boniek in the area; facing away from goal Boniek delivered a perfect back-heel into Buncol’s path and the midfielder belted the return past Quiroga. Ciolek, on for Smolarek, added a fifth from Lato’s pullback before La Rosa’s consolation for Peru. It was a dull group, but the two best sides qualified for the next phase.
&
nbsp; GROUP 2
The West Germany sides of the 1980s epitomised the decade; unlovely and unloved – even their own journalists struggled to heap praise on them beyond admiring their resolve in reaching two World Cup Finals in the absence of more than a couple of genuine world-class players. This was the side that earned the reputation Germany suffered for two decades of mechanical efficiency without flair – they rarely lost, but they excited equally rarely. In 1982 they started the Finals shambolically, behaved shamelessly in their group, shuffled through the second phase, Schumacherred the French and then completed their alliterative journey by providing a touch of schadenfreude when they got stuffed in the final. Here is the shambles that started it all off:
WORLD CUP SHOCK No.4
16 June, 1982, El Molinón, Gijón; 34,000
Referee: Enrique Labo Revoredo (Paraguay)
Coaches: Rachid Mekhloufi (Algeria) & Jupp Derwall (West Germany)
Algeria (4–4–2): Mehdi Cerbah (RS Kouba); Chaabane Merzekane (Hussein Dey), Mahmoud Guendouz (Hussein Dey), Norredine Kourichi (Bordeaux), Faouzi Mansouri (Montpellier); Lakhdar Belloumi (GCR Mascara), Ali Fergani (Cpt, Tizi-Ouzou), Mustapha Dahleb (Paris St Germain), Salah Assad (RS Kouba); Rabah Madjer (Huseein Dey), Djamel Zidane (KV Kortrijk in Belgium). Subs: Tedj Bensaoula (MP Oran) 65m for Zidane; Salah Larbes (Tizi-Ouzou) 88m for Madjer
West Germany (4–4–2): Harald Schumacher (Cologne); Manni Kaltz (Hamburg), Karlheinz Förster (Vfb Stuttgart), Uli Stielike (Real Madrid), Hans-Peter Briegel (Kaiserslautern); Pierre Littbarski (Cologne), Wolfgang Dremmler (Bayern Munich), Paul Breitner (Bayern), Felix Magath (Hamburg); Horst Hrubesch (Hamburg), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern). Sub: Klaus Fischer (Cologne) 83m for Magath
Cautioned: Hrubesch (WGer) 57m, Madjer (Alg) 83m
In their opening game the Germans were awful. Coach Jupp Derwall preferred the powerful Hrubesch to the sharper Fischer and the Germans were pedestrian in midfield where the recalled Breitner looked well past his sell-by date. Perhaps he believed his own pre-match prediction that West Germany would be too strong for Algeria.
Strength was the main thing with this German side. Kaltz and Briegel were enormous full-backs (Briegel a former decathlete) and their midfield players could run all day. The young Cologne winger Littbarski, a fantastic dribbler, was included, as was the elegant Magath, but the over-riding impression was one of athleticism and efficiency rather than movement and skill.
A goalless first half saw West Germany win a series of corners and set pieces and waste them all by lumping the ball at Hrubesch. They seemed so anxious to impose their physical presence on Algeria they forgot about playing football – a criticism aimed often at British rather than German sides. Algeria were giving the German defence some cause for concern with their crisp passing, but created few clear openings in the first forty-five minutes.
That changed in the second half when the Algerians started to run with the ball in midfield and bring their wide players into the game. They deservedly took the lead after fifty-three minutes. A wonderful direct run from Zidane (no relation) sucked in the right of the German defence and left Belloumi in the clear for Zidane’s pass. Belloumi’s shot ballooned up off Schumacher’s foot, evaded three German defenders and bounced kindly for Madjer to touch home at the far post.
West Germany responded with an unsophisticated assault, and equalised a quarter of an hour later when Rummenigge beat his man to a hard, low cross from Magath. It was “here we go again” in the press box as onlookers assumed the German machine would grind down the plucky underdogs and take control. Not so; these were talented underdogs and this machine was malfunctioning badly. Two minutes after Rummenigge’s clinical finish, Algeria broke quickly through Zidane again. The ball reached Salah Assad who skinned Manni Kaltz down the left and hit an undefendable cross through the six-yard box to Lakhi Belloumi at the back post. Algeria were back in front. They nearly added a supreme third when full-back Merzekane broke and ran two-thirds the length of the field but he just ran out of steam and couldn’t apply a finish. Back came West Germany but Hrubesch had a day to forget. He missed a golden opportunity when Stielike crept down the right and served up a gem of a cross, and missed again from a long, deep cross when the goalkeeper over-committed. West Germany thought they had scored direct from Breitner’s corner, but the referee blew for pushing – guess who by? And it was Hrubesch who was dispossessed by Merzekane, who went on another great counter-attacking run and this time found Madjer on the edge of the area; the striker’s rasping shot was only a whisker past the post. There was still time for Rummenigge to climb well at the back post and nod a cross against the bar before the whistle went and all of Algeria screamed its delight.
Just down the road in Oviedo a less exciting match was played out between Austria and Chile. Chile had the veteran Figueroa at centre-half, sixteen years after his World Cup debut as a nineteen-year-old in 1966, and he was still a redoubtable player, but the Chileans played too slowly and too predictably, and Austria looked stronger throughout. Austria scored with their first decent opportunity when Schachner converted a Bernd Krauss cross with a precise glancing header. Chile had a great chance to level within minutes, but Caszely missed the penalty his own run had won. There was little else to admire, some entertaining shooting from Hintermaier’s bludgeon of a left foot aside.
Despite the peppering-in-print Derwall’s team deservedly received from the press at home, the manager stuck with the same eleven against Chile and was rewarded with a much improved performance. Chile, a poor side, wilted in the face of some typically robust German tackling and offered little resistance as Rummenigge scored a hat-trick and West Germany won 4–1. Rummenigge already had two hat-tricks to his name from the qualifying tournament, against Finland and Albania, and this confirmed his reputation as a punishing finisher against weak or tired defences. The Chilean goalkeeper Osbén, who looked vulnerable against Austria, had another poor match and was at fault for two of the German goals, the first when he failed miserably to get down for Rummenigge’s shot and allowed it to creep under his body.
Back in Oviedo, Austria marched on, defending better than West Germany against Algeria’s quick counter-attacks and marking Fergani, the captain and playmaker, as well as keeping much tighter on Madjer and the much-vaunted Belloumi, who had a woeful game. Schachner scored again, when he was well placed to slot home a rebound from Welzl’s shot, and Welzl then set up Krankl for a fierce swerving drive into the far corner; great finish but the tormentor of Germany from 1978 looked horribly out of sorts.
On 24 June, in the same venue, Oviedo, Algeria proved their performance against West Germany was no fluke and ran amok in the first half against Chile, who were having a nightmare tournament. Assad gave Algeria the lead after only eight minutes; Madjer’s hard run down the left and excellent cross found Bensaoula, who unselfishly stopped the ball for Assad rather than take on a tricky volley; Assad coolly finished high past Osbén. Assad added a second after a neat interchange and Bensaoula exploited Osbén’s weakness against low shots. It could have been worse, Madjer hit the woodwork with a terrific shot and Osbén tipped another one just past the same upright. The second half was very different, as Chile hit back against tired opponents; Yáñez was brought down for a penalty which Neira converted (Caszely was off the field but one assumes his colleagues would not have let him risk another miss) and then Letelier scored with an excellent dribble and finish. Algeria were hanging on at the end, but they deserved the win – little did they know how costly the two Chilean goals would prove.
The group was still in the balance; Austria had four points, as did Algeria, while West Germany needed to beat Austria to match that total. They did, but in the most disappointing manner. If the opprobrium that greeted their performance in the opening game was intense, it was nothing to the vilification the team received after the sham of their match against Austria. Needing a victory to proceed, West Germany scored early and that was pretty much that. Austria, all but through after wins a
gainst Chile and Algeria, seemed happy to play along and avoid a disastrous three-goal defeat as the match was played out at walking pace. It was a far cry from Krankl’s heroics of 1978. The complete lack of energy from both sides suggested – still does – an element of collusion in engineering a result that suited both teams, but suggestion is not proof and no one has ever come forward and admitted the game was manufactured. A more charitable explanation is that both sides were afraid to press forward and risk a result that left them more exposed.
The world’s press ranted and railed, none more so than the embarrassed Germans. Algeria and their supporters (and many neutrals) cried foul but there was nothing they – or FIFA – could do. No rules were broken, but the game left a sour taste. Derwall was stony-faced, claiming professionalism had won the day, but no one was impressed.
It was tough on Algeria, who had some talented players and, unlike many African sides, weren’t afraid to have a go and attack the European sides – contrast with an equally talented Morocco in 1986. Fergani, Madjer, Belloumi and Assad were all exciting players – Belloumi went on to win 147 caps, many of them in admittedly low-quality, meaningless fixtures (at least in the context of the world game). Most of the squad chose to stay in Algeria to play domestic football; an exception was Salah Assad, who signed for Mulhouse in France when they enjoyed (?) a rare single season in Ligue 1 in France. Assad had an excellent season and was picked up by Paris St Germain but spent most of his time there on the bench. Assad had a mighty fine line in acrobatic goal celebrations, back-flips, somersaults, you name it.
GROUP 3
The tournament’s opening game, between Argentina and Belgium, finished 0–0 . . . oh, hang on, no it didn’t. I’ve become so used to saying the opening game was 0–0 I almost forgot – this one had a goal. It was scored by Erwin Vandenbergh for Belgium – he was in so much space he could afford to wait an age for the ball to drop after a clumsy first touch, but he slotted it past Fillol smartly enough. The result was a surprise, but hardly seismic; Belgium had a good crop of players and finished runners-up at the 1980 European Championships, losing only to a very late Horst Hrubesch winner.