Mammoth Book of the World Cup

by Nick Holt

  GROUP B

  Cameroon were managed by a French coach, Henri Michel. Michel was in charge of France when they won the 1984 European Championships, although many claimed Michel Platini called the shots, and nothing subsequent had suggested he was a top-notch manager. His side here were too old but, paradoxically, too naïve. Alongside the old guard Michel insisted on picking the raw seventeen-year-old centre-back Rigobert Song, and he was a liability, tormented by the Swedish forwards and sent off after an hour of chasing Romário. Roger Milla created a piece of history by scoring against Russia, aged forty-two, but the Russians scored six at the other end, and Milla’s inclusion was an indication of Cameroon’s shortage of quality. Salenko’s five goals against Cameroon, plus a penalty against Sweden in a 3–1 defeat, was enough to give him a share of the Golden Boot. Salenko, who played for Logroñés, a small club enjoying a rare spell in the Spanish top flight, was never picked again after this tournament, and these were the only goals he scored for his country. Not the stuff of legend.

  Russia were hampered by a pre-tournament mutiny which led to the dropping of a number of key players, including the dangerous wingers Dobrovolski and Kanchelskis and the playmaker Kiriakov. They were no match for Brazil or Sweden, whose forward combination of Kennet Andersson, Thomas Brolin and Martin Dahlin looked a tasty treat. Brazil were very un-Brazilian, strong at the back, sharp up front but a tad pedestrian in midfield; they were also very competent. Both would represent awkward second-round opposition.

  GROUP C

  When Germany lined up for the tournament’s opener against Bolivia, competing in the Finals for the first time in forty-four years, there was only one player from the former East Germany in the starting line-up, the powerful and skilful sweeper Matthias Sammer. Germany were still using the 1990 mould; strapping athletes with good basic skills and endless stamina, augmented by the occasional silky touch from Hässler, Möller or Klinsmann. When the match kicked off, all twenty-two players were probably still giggling after the catastrophic opening ceremony. Germany won a dull game 1–0 and came from a goal down to draw 1–1 with Spain. Both German goals were scored by the excellent Klinsmann, but him aside they looked colourless against defensive opponents. South Korea, fit and relentless in the heat, came back from 2–0 down against Spain, albeit against ten men after Nadal, the Spanish enforcer, saw red – not an unfamiliar experience for the man nicknamed The Beast at Barcelona. They nearly went one better against Germany, who took their foot off the gas at half-time when three goals to the good (including two more from Klinsmann). South Korea kept running and scored two good goals, and with half an hour to go Germany’s main rivals must have enjoyed seeing how panicky they became under pressure. England fans are familiar with their team hoofing the ball aimlessly upfield as a means of relieving the defence – for German supporters it was an unfamiliar and dispiriting sight. More significantly still, Germany’s star midfielder, Stefan Effenberg, who played for Italian club Fiorentina, was sent home after the match. Never a popular player in his own country – he was notoriously arrogant and played for the hated Bayern Munich – Effenberg was booed by sections of the German support when substituted against South Korea. He responded by giving them the finger and it was all the excuse the German management team needed to get rid of a player they saw as unpredictable and unsupportive. Spain saw off Bolivia to join the Germans in the last sixteen.

  GROUP D

  This group was effectively a three-way affair because Greece were embarrassingly bad. I mean really bad, as bad as any of the emerging countries who were mocked by European scribes in previous years. They barely mustered a shot worthy of the name and conceded ten in three matches.

  Argentina looked rejuvenated as they destroyed Greece and beat Nigeria; Maradona looked fit and slim and Caniggia’s two goals against Nigeria were sharply taken for a man who had just served a lengthy ban for cocaine use. Maradona scored against Greece and had a hand in both the cleverly worked free-kicks that brought the goals against Nigeria, where he equalled the record of twenty-one appearances in the Finals. He never broke the record because before Argentina took the field against Bulgaria their captain and inspiration was banned after ephedrine and various other substances were found in his urine sample. Now we knew how he lost the weight. Oh, Diego, so great and yet so flawed. He was really quite Shakespearean in the heights and depths to which he was capable of climbing or stooping.

  Nigeria had been brutally efficient in brushing aside Bulgaria in their first match, and recovered to beat Greece and ensure they reached the next round. Both Bulgaria and Argentina joined them after Bulgaria beat Greece (quite abysmal) and Argentina (understandably subdued). Even after Bulgaria had a man sent off, Argentina struggled to find a way past the giant Ivanov and his colleagues.

  The best moment of the group came in the final minute of the last match of the group when Daniel Amokachi surged past a crowd of defenders and blasted a shot into the top corner. The Nigerian forwards were massive – they just went through defenders rather than round them.

  WORLD CUP SHOCK No.9

  18 June 1994, Giants Stadium, New Jersey; 74,826

  Referee: Mario van der Ende (Holland)

  Coaches: Jack Charlton (Ireland) & Arrigo Sacchi (Italy)

  Ireland (4–4–1–1): Pat Bonner (Glasgow Celtic), Denis Irwin (Manchester United), Phil Babb (Coventry City), Paul McGrath (Aston Villa), Steve Staunton (Villa); Ray Houghton (Villa), Roy Keane (Man Utd), Andy Townsend (Villa), John Sheridan (Sheffield Wednesday), Terry Phelan (Manchester City); Tommy Coyne (Motherwell). Subs: Jason McAteer (Bolton Wanderers) 67m for Houghton; John Aldridge (Tranmere Rovers) 89m for Coyne

  Italy (4–4–2): Gianluca Pagliuca (Sampdoria); Mauro Tassotti (AC Milan), Alessandro Costacurta (AC Milan), Franco Baresi (Cpt, AC Milan), Paolo Maldini (AC Milan); Roberto Donadoni (AC Milan), Dino Baggio (Juventus), Demetrio Albertini (AC Milan), Alberigo Evani (Sampdoria); Roberto Baggio (Juventus), Beppe Signori (Lazio). Subs: Daniele Massaro (AC Milan) 45m for Evani; Nico Berti (Internazionale) 83m for Signori

  Cautioned: Phelan (Ire) 30m, Coyne (Ire) 52m, Irwin (Ire) 80m

  We football writers do carp a little about Ireland’s World Cup Finals campaigns. It’s probably the “brave little Ireland” nonsense that was bandied about in the tabloids; this was a well-organised outfit that knew exactly what it was doing, from the cynical exploitation of Irish heritage to secure a stronger squad than in previous years to the defensive formation and aerial tactics designed to discomfort more technically adept opposition.

  Let’s give credit where it is due – it worked. Up to a point. And how good could they have been? Look at this team. A really good goalkeeper, the best full-back in the first ten years of the Premiership, one of the best centre-halves any British Isles team has seen, and a world-class box-to-box midfield leader. Four top-level international players. Add Staunton, a player of great temperament and consistency, the grafters Townsend and Houghton, and the passing ability of the rather one-paced but creative John Sheridan. Had they played football, would they have done even better? Or would the lack of a true international striker have cost them? Who knows?

  This was Ireland’s finest night, even surpassing, for achievement if not emotion, beating England at the 1988 European Championships. It wasn’t a David against Goliath occasion. Arrigo Sacchi, the Italian coach, got his tactics wrong and picked a light, nimble side who struggled against the physical Irish. The Italians didn’t use the heat to their advantage as Mexico later did, and the Irish were able to defend deep and comfortably; Roberto Baggio playing at centre-forward just made him easy to mark, when he preferred to play in the elusive “hole”.

  The crowd was preponderantly Irish, mostly Irish American, who had managed to acquire most of the tickets earmarked for the equally numerous New York Italian contingent. The atmosphere was loud, but – as is usually the case with Irish soccer fans – good natured. By the end it was a big green party.

  The decisive goal came early, when
Coyne challenged Costacurta for a high ball and the ball lobbed up to Baresi. The Italian captain’s header was a weak one, straight to Ray Houghton, and the Glaswegian’s shot rose and then dipped sharply to beat a surprised Pagliuca. Ireland were calm, accomplished and hardworking (Coyne covered miles in the heat and needed treatment on the team bus); Italy were pretty awful.

  GROUP E

  This was the only occasion all four teams in a group finished on the same number of points. There wasn’t a hair between them. Norway were indebted to another fierce strike from Rekdal for their opening win, but Mexico recovered to beat Ireland in staggering heat in Orlando. The match was played at midday, which was just suicidal in those temperatures. The need for water was intense, and there were heated scenes on the touchline in every sense when Jack Charlton thought the officials were stopping his players taking on fluid (they weren’t). Less clever was an unnecessary and officious delay in allowing John Aldridge to take the field as a substitute. The touchline microphones picked up some choice vernacular from both the Scouse striker and his manager. Aldridge scored Ireland’s goal, made by fellow Scouser Jason McAteer, who impressed coming off the bench. By then Ireland were two-down, as Luís Garcia scored two crisp goals, both set up García Aspe, who gave Irwin a tough time.

  Over in New Jersey Italy conducted a famous rearguard action against Norway. Goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca was sent off after only twenty-one minutes and Sacchi, to the astonishment of the watching media, took off his best player, Roberto Baggio, to accommodate Luca Marchegiani, the reserve goalkeeper. There was method in the madness, as Sacchi explained; Signori was fitter and physically stronger and better able to take on the lone forager role the situation demanded. There was no mention of why Casiraghi, not Baggio, was withdrawn into midfield . . .

  That the Lazio ’keeper had little to do owed much to Italian resilience and much to the shortcomings of Olsen’s Norway. Italy lost Baresi to injury three minutes into the second half and moved Maldini into the middle. Italy were reeling but Norway had no Plan B. They kept on knocking long balls up to a defence that had retreated to the edge of the penalty area – meat and drink to classical interceptors like Maldini, Berti and Dino Baggio. A rare Italian break led to a free-kick on the left and Signori’s excellent cross was met by Dino Baggio with a towering header. Now the Azzurri were in their element. Even when Maldini was rendered a passenger after a knock to his ankle, the winger Daniele Massaro filled in at left-back with commendable assurance – but Norway never got the quick-footed Leonhardsen to run at him or get behind him.

  The permutations in the last two matches were many, as every team stood a similar chance of qualifying. Norway and Ireland played out a stultifying 0–0 draw; Ireland’s defence looked as untroubled by Norway’s directness as it had by Italy’s passing and movement. Mexico’s late equaliser against Italy changed the complexion of the group and eliminated Norway. Olsen’s team were a little unlucky to go out with four points, but they were a one-trick pony and their manager wasn’t the genius his outspoken observations suggested he believed himself to be.

  GROUP F

  Saudi Arabia were mightily impressive. Quick and neat, they gave Holland a scare, leading 1–0 at half-time before the Dutch woke up and applied some pressure in the second half. The Saudis’ goalkeeper, Al-Deayea was horribly culpable on Holland’s winning goal, completely missing a deep cross that Taument nodded into the empty net. The first Dutch goal was a ripper from Wim Jonk, who did that sort of thing regularly for Ajax and Internazionale. In their second game the Saudis beat Morocco with the help of some equally appalling goalkeeping by Al-Deayea’s opposite number. Morocco had already lost to Belgium and were now out.

  In the Saudis’ game against Belgium, they scored early, and it was one of the great World Cup goals, a sensational solo effort by Said Al-Owairan. The midfielder was fed the ball in space in his own half and set off on the attack; bursting between two opponents with a little change of pace, he found himself attacking back-pedalling defenders afraid to lunge in and risk a red card so early in the match. De Wolf pulled out of a challenge and allowed Al-Owairan to run, Smidts was turned inside out and Albert made only a belated and token attempt to cover as the Saudi midfielder shot high past Preud’homme. (How familiar that must sound to Newcastle fans – a great footballer, Philippe Albert, but who on earth told him he should play at the back?) The Saudis had a number of good players; the goalkeeper Al-Deayea (his faux-pas in the first game notwithstanding), right-back Al-Khilaiwi, the captain Majed Abdullah, enjoying a well-deserved swansong and the new striker Sami Al-Jaber all won over 100 caps for their country.

  Preud’homme took some beating, he was a top goalkeeper and unlucky that his early career coincided with the second half of the great Jean-Marie Pfaff’s. Preud’homme put in a great shift in the previous match when Belgium beat their old rivals Holland. It was a good game – the winners knew they were through to the next round – with lots of chances at either end and some defending that had prospective opponents salivating. Ed De Goey in the Holland goal also had a fine match but had no chance with a strong finish from Albert, showing the attacking quality that was in stark contrast to some of his work at the back. Holland came back strongly after Albert’s goal, substitute Marc Overmars giving Smidts a torrid time down the left, but Preud’homme stopped everything they threw at him, two saves from a Bergkamp skimmer and a typical Ronald Koeman rocket standing out from a number of good ones.

  Holland missed the injured van Basten and Gullit (who wouldn’t?), who was having a prickly time with the coach, Dick Advocaat. They still had some talent, with Bergkamp, shipped in – literally, to counter his fear of flying – after a nightmare season with Inter and speedy youngster Overmars, both of whom would find their way to Arsenal.

  SECOND ROUND

  Saudi Arabia’s reward for beating Belgium in the group match was to avoid Germany in the second round. It was not such good news for Belgium. It was another decent match, especially a pulsating opening. Rudi Völler, restored to the starting line-up, finished economically giving Germany the lead, and he combined brilliantly with his old strike partner Klinsmann for the second – cue manic fist-pumping from Jürgen. In between Germany made a hash of clearing a free-kick and Belgian captain Georges Grün poked home. Germany had what looked a comfortable two-goal cushion before half-time when Rudi Völler was unmarked from a corner; Preud’homme might have done better with Völler’s downward header but he was entitled to ask what his central defenders were doing. Belgium gave it their all in the second half and were denied the clearest of penalties when Helmer brought down Weber when he was clear on goal. A penalty and red card might have changed things, but Albert’s subsequent goal – a calm finish after some excellent passing – came too late to save his team. Exit with honour for Belgium, progress with reservations for Germany.

  It was the end of the road for two of the unfancied sides. Switzerland were well beaten by Spain. Over half the Spanish team were from a terrific Barcelona side under Johan Cruyff. Barca had just won four consecutive La Liga titles with a good blend of home stars and imports, as well as the 1992 European Cup. Spain’s first two scorers were from Barca’s great rivals Real Madrid. Fernando Hierro, playing in midfield, not in the libero position he adopted at Real Madrid, scored the first when Switzerland’s offside trap back-fired. The second finished the Swiss off with fifteen minutes to go. Sergi was allowed to run a long way off the left wing and with everyone expecting the shot he poked the ball to Luis Enrique who turned and fired home.

  Saudi Arabia played their usual neat, quick game but they were unable to hold the Swedish front line, with Andersson in particular in destructive form. After only six minutes the big striker swivelled and pumped in an undefendable swinging cross; Martin Dahlin just jumped and used the pace of the ball to divert it into the goal. Andersson’s first goal was a textbook display of power and purpose. He hooked the ball over a defender, controlled it, muscled the defender away a second time, beat
another and drove a left-foot shot into the very corner of the goal. Sweden created other chances but missed them and Saudi Arabia came more into the game as the Texas heat took its toll in the Cotton Bowl. Ravelli made two cracking saves but could do nothing about Al-Ghesheyan’s goal when the winger cut in from the right and cracked a left-footer high past the goalkeeper’s shoulder. Hope lasted two minutes plus a few seconds; Brolin to Dahlin to Andersson to the corner of the goal, in off the post. Game over.

  WORLD CUP CLASSIC No.19

  3 July 1994, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA; 90,469

  Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy)