[Arcane Astral Aeons]

thought i would have a little fun and remember past world cups
i`ll start with 1974(some posters on here may not have been born then)

held in West Germany
first world cup i actually had an interest in
although,unlike today...there was a lack of live games back then
The following teams and groups were as follows

Group 1
East Germany
West Germany
Chile
Australia

Group 2
Yugoslavia
Brazil
Scotland
Zaire

Group 3
Netherlands
Bulgaria
Sweden
Uruguay

Group 4
Poland
Argentina
Italy
Haiti

the home nations hopes were pinned on Scotland,in part down to Poland who had eliminated England in the qualifying rounds
and after a comfortable 2-0 over Zaire everything in the scottish garden was looking rosey little did they know the inability to put more than the 2 goals past their opponents would eventually prove their downfall.
after a 0-0 draw with Brazil and a 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia the Scots packed their bags and headed home, having not lost a game.
other notable scores that eliminated them was Yugoslavia`s demolition of Zaire winning 9-0

The Rest

Netherlands v Sweden has to get a mention not because of the boring 0-0 scoreline
this was the game that a certain Johann Cruyff decided to take football to a new level with THAT turn

Then there was the meeting between East And West Germany
not a lot happened until the 77th minute when Juergen Sparwasser scored the decisive goal for the East

Second Round
This was played in 2 groups of 4 teams
winners of each group contested the final
runners up 3.4 play off

West Germany duly reached the final after beating Yugoslavia 2-0 Sweden 4-2 and controversially Poland 1-0 controversial because as i remember the pitch was waterlogged ball hardly rolled 5 yards but the referee gave the game the go ahead(may be wrong on this)
Netherlands despatched Argentina 4-0,East Germany 2-0,and Brazil 2-0

The Final 7/7/1974

Netherlands kick off keep possesion for well over 90 seconds
Cruyff gets fouled in the box and before a german had touched the ball they are 1-0 down thanks to Johann Neeskens Penalty
the rest of the game wasnt exactly a spectacle
The Germans equalised through a Paul Breitner penalty
and before half time were in front through Gerd Muller

Game Finished West Germany 2-1 Netherlands

sorry if i waffled on

may do the 78 one tomorrow
if you did bother reading thanks

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

1974 was also the tournament when Zaire right-back Ilunga Mwepu famously broke from his team's defensive wall to kick the ball away before a Brazil free-kick. There was a lot of patronising guff from commentators and pundits about Africans not understanding the rules of the game, when the reality was that Zaire's dictator had threatened to exile the players and/or execute their families if the team lost the match by more than three goals, and Brazil were already 2-0 up. Mwepu was timewasting to save lives.

That said, he clearly had a sense of humour about the whole thing, and his appearance on FFL twenty years ago was classic.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

I've copied this thread over to the World Cup board as well so others can contribute: http://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/forum-288.html

For anyone with an hour to spare, all the goals of World Cup '74 are in the video below.

[talkSAFT]

My 1st World Cup was '58, the Year when Mr.Pele arrived on the Scene. (England had Don Howe, Tank, and Bobby Robson in the Team and still didn't win the Cup! )

[WBA-Josh]

Thanks for the upload Garry. I’m a baby compared to most of you OAP posters on here so I’m really interested in the World Cups of the past.

If you can, please could you do 1970 as well?

[drewks]

Hope this qualifies to go on this thread; it's on the BBC site and is about probably the best ever keeper of all time (sorry Gordon) , Lev Yashin of the Soviet Union.
It's a fantastically well written piece, and is about more than football, or the World Cup - touches on a world that's now passed.
I remember Yashin right at the end of his career, when I was just a lil chappie. Yep Josh, it's THAT long ago - but very much worth a read
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/yashin

[Bierzo Baggie]

Good thread, here are some of my memories from Argentina 78, the first World Cup finals I really followed..


Ally MacLeod’s tartan army singing “We want our money back!”

Clive Thomas disallowing Zico’s goal because he had blown for half time while they were taking a corner.

Archie Gemmill’s wonder goal against Holland …Scotland had a much better team than England in the 70s..

Kempes and Luque and all that ticker tape that came down whenever Argentina scored…

Johnny Rep and Aire Haan scoring goals from ridiculous distances..

Cubillas the Peruvian goal machine. Broke Scottish hearts.

Willie Johnston being sent home for failing a dope test. Willie was only Albion player in the finals and I remember being very upset about it! Read Willie’s version in his book “Arrested at Gunpoint”.

Adidas Tango.

Hans Krankl.

Roberto Rivalinho, although Brazil were pretty crap for most of the 70s.

Only 16 teams.

The Van Der Kerkhof twins.

Players with strange names ….Argentinians Daniel Killer and Rene Houseman, a Brazilian called Roberto Dinamite.

[drewks]

Bierzo:
"Archie Gemmill’s wonder goal against Holland …Scotland had a much better team than England in the 70s.."

YEP - that was a stupendous goal!
HMMMMM ......Scotland MAY have shaded it for a coupla years in the late 70's but IMO England were much the better side for most of the decade, certainly the first half at least.
In fact IMHO England were better in 1970 than in 66; even taking in the brilliant Brazilian side that won it that year I'd say we were the best team in the world right then

[Bierzo Baggie]

Bierzo:
"Archie Gemmill’s wonder goal against Holland …Scotland had a much better team than England in the 70s.."

YEP - that was a stupendous goal!
HMMMMM ......Scotland MAY have shaded it for a coupla years in the late 70's but IMO England were much the better side for most of the decade, certainly the first half at least.
In fact IMHO England were better in 1970 than in 66; even taking in the brilliant Brazilian side that won it that year I'd say we were the best team in the world right then

Maybe I should have said from about 1972 onwards then...

Scotland qualified for the World Cup finals in 74, 78 (and 82) when there were fewer places on offer. They were eliminated all three times on goal difference. In 74 they drew against the defending champions Brazil, in 78 they beat finalists Holland (perhaps the best international team of the 70s) and in 82 they were unlucky to be pitted against a brilliant Brazilian side with Zico, Socrates etc...
England didn't qualify at all in 74 or 78.
I'd say there's a case for Scotland there!

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Lest we forget, Argentina '78 also saw the home nation bunging Peru to concede six goals so Argentina could go through. A shadow hung over that whole tournament because of the country's regime, and I only hope it's not going to be the same in Russia this year.