John JacksonThird Place Match

For the first time the match for ThirdPlace was not just a dull formality withboth teams preferring to catch the firstplane home rather than go into actionagain . Brazil and Italy wanted to winsomething in Argentina. ManagersClaudio Coutinho and Enzo Bearzotwere determined to restore some prideby returning to Rio and Rome with aprize. Perhaps the fact that betweenthem the two nations had won five ofthe previous ten World Cups hadsomething to do with it. And, ofcourse, this meeting in the River PlateStadium, Buenos Aires was arepeat ofthe 1970 World Cup final farther northin Mexico City's Aztec Stadium whenBrazil, led by the incomparable Pele,won 4-1 . There wasjust one survivor ofthat match, Rivelino, andwith hisbushy moustache and lethal left foot hewas to play an important role in bring-ing football's bronze medal to Brazil .At the kick-off it was hard to pick a de-finite winner . Italy had begun theWorld Cup 22 days earlier in devastat-ing form and at the start of the secondround of matches were most peoples'tip for the final. But slowly they lost thewinning touch, culminating in a defeatat the hands of Holland. For this ThirdPlace match they would also be withouttheir strong midfield manRomeoBenetti and Marco Tardelli, both ofwhom were under suspension after re-ceiving two yellow cards . Brazil,meanwhile, appeared to be on the crest

ofawinning wave after a near disas-trous first round which almost costCoutinho his job. As referee AbrahamKlein ofIsrael placed the ball on thecentre spot for the kick-off it was abrave manwho was willing to pick acertain winner .On four minutes Antognoni hit thepost after his earlier shot had beenpushed out by Leao, but this was notthe signal for the action to really catchalight . In fact, just the oppositehappened and soon the 75 000 crowdlet vent with their traditional whistlesof discontent . Italy had resorted to manmarking which smothered the usuallystrong Brazilian midfield, and theclose passing ofthe South Ameri-cans was running into trouble long be-fore they were within easy shooting dis-tance ofZoff s goal . On the half hourthe many Italian fans in the packedstadium found something to cheerabout at last . Bettega almost openedthe scoring when he waswaiting aloneby the far post but a pass from Cabriniwas deflected to safety . Four minuteslater the head ofCausio put Italy in thelead and there was every indicationthat, with Holland in the final, Europecould be capturing two ofthe first threeplaces from their rivals south of theequator. It was agood goal with perhapssome blame having to be aimed at Leaofor remaining flat-footed on his line .Antognoni started the move with agood through ball to Rossi, giving thestar ofthe Italian success so far achance to swerve past the big defenderAmaral. Rossi's precise centre reachedthe lunging head of Causio near the farpost and the score was 1-0. Thisremained the situation at halftimewhen Brazil walked offnot only onegoal in arrears but also having had yel-low card bookings for Oscar and Batista.A second goal had been narrowly aver-ted seconds before when the head ofthe diving Leao deflected a shot fromRossiwho had been let clear throughby amomentarily negligent Nelinho.Italy were leading in the same way asthey had against Holland . Would theycollapse again in the second halfbydroping back into defensive positionscontent that one goal was enough?Brazil came out for the restart withReinaldo replacing an out-of-form Gil.He immediatelyhad some effect andbegan to liven the Brazilian attack . TheItalian defence had to soak up a lot ofpressure and two penalty appeals forharsh tackles on the fast runningRobertowere turned down by refereeKlein. After 61 minutes the tidechanged in favour of Brazil . Nelinhowell remembered for his marvellousfree kick against Poland hit a cross shotfrom the right hand edge ofthe penaltyarea which started on a crazy boomeranglike swerve the moment it left the out-side of his boot . Zoffwas helpless as it

cannoned around his outstretchedarms into the top left hand corner ofthe net. As the Brazilians smotheredNelinhowith their congratulations, thefamiliar figure ofRivelino could beseen waiting patiently by the touchlineto enter the fray . Cerezo was called offto allow the popular Brazilian a chanceto play what was certainly his last WorldCup match and possibly his internatio-nal swan song . Within minutes the oldmaster was up to his tricks, tantalisingthe Italian defence with spot-on passesand also having his say each time therewas a foul or angry clash. Rivelino foundspace around the opposing goal whereup till then there had not been anyspare room. Dirceu was allowed throughand Zoffwas forced to punch clear .Afew minutes later it was Dirceu whoscored Brazil's second, and winninggoal . Rivelino schemed a clever ball toRodrigues Neto which opened up theleft flank, his cross found the head ofMendonca who flicked it down to theincoming Dirceu, whose crisp shotfrom the edge ofthe penalty box leftZoffstanding . Tempers frayed andGentile got the yellow card for a badfoul on Rodrigues Neto . With one mi-nute to go there were angry scuffles inthe Brazilian goalmouth after Bettegahad headed a free kick against the bar.Brazil took third place and also anotherprize. They were the only team to com-plete the 1978 World Cup unbeaten .

Jacques EtienneFinale 3 : Italie - Brésil 1-2

Ce match n'a pas tenu toutes ses pro-messes dans la mesure où les deuxéquipes se sont présentées àbout desouffle, en particulier la formation ita-lienne . Quant aux Brésiliens, c'est plu-tôt une absence de rythme qui limitaleurs possibilités . Il y eut néanmoinsdans cette partie quelques temps forts.Et d'abord, tout au débutqui vit no-tamment Antognoni tirer un coup francsur lequel Malderaexpédia une ballesur l'arête du butgardé par Leao . Maistout comme devant la Hollande, leshommes de Bearzot ne purent mainte-nir l'allure initiale, ce qui permit auxBrésiliens de refaire surface et d'atta-quer à leur tour . Rodrigues Neto profi-tait de l'absence d'un véritable ailierdroit, pour monter et inquiéter la dé-fense italienne . Dirceu et ses camara-des réussissaient à garder le ballon,mais sans se montrer vraiment dange-reux pour Zoff. Et c'est tout au contrai-re . Causio qui ouvrait le score en repre-nant au deuxième poteau, un centrevenu de la droite et expédié par PaoloRossi. La pression des Italiens devaitêtre très forte jusqu'à la mi-temps . A lasuite d'une »possée«, Causio - encorelui - percuta un ballon sur la barre, etjuste avant le repos, Paolo Rossi échap-pé à la limite du hors-jeu, obligea Leaoà une belle sortie pour mettre le ballonen corner. Le jeu des Brésiliens avaitfait illusion . Sans doute avaient-ils tenula balle mieux que leurs adversaires,mais leurs échanges étaient trop éloi-gnés du but de Zoffet ils manquaientde vivacité . Et puis, la défense italiennemontait bonne garde et l'on sentait quece ne serait pas en cherchant à s'appro-cher, que les hommes de Coutinho par-viendraient à surprendre Scirea et Cuc-cureddu . Leur salut ne pouvait venirque de tirs de loin, et ils eurent l'intelli-gence d'y penser . Le tort de l'Italie futcertainement de vouloir à tout prix,préserver l'avantage acquis . Les Italiensse tinrent davantage en défense, et l'onremarquait les replis profonds des deuxhommes de pointe : Bettega et PaoloRossi. Les vieux démons reprenaient ledessus . . . Les Brésiliens, champ dégagédevant eux, se montrèrent maladroitsdans leurs tentatives au but, commenous l'avions déjà constaté face à l'Ar-gentine àRosario. Des ballons trop loindu cadre ou dans les bras de Zoff, nepouvaient constituer un grand danger .Ala 57ème minute, une faute caractéri-sée sur Mendonca en pleine surface au-rait dû être sanctionnée par un penalty.Mais les Sud-Américains allaient toutde même parvenir à leurs fins, grâce àun tir venu de l'aile droite et balancépar Nelinho qui prit le chemin de la lu-carne et sur lequel le gardien italienn'est pas exempt de tout reproche . Leton était donné : deux minutes plus

tard, à la suite d'un corner, Dirceu tiraiten force et la balle passait non loin dumontant. Rivelino venait de rentrer à laplace de Cerezo et le célèbre mousta-chu fit admirer sa merveilleuse techni-que . . . mais pas assez longtemps pourdonner davantage d'ampleur et de vo-lume au jeu brésilien . Les Italiens,en contres, n'avaient pas renoncé. Lematch, semblait-il, gagnait en intérêtsans atteindre, loin de là, les sommets.Rivelino devait se manifester encoreune fois et provoquer, pour les Brési-liens, le but de la victoire . Une passe àRoberto, une autre en retrait de ce der-nier à Dirceu et le tir de Dirceu, cettefois, ne rata pas la cible: une balle a mi-hauteur tout près du poteau, et le gar-dien italien se détendait en vain . Il res-tait 19 minutes àjouer . Bearzot fit ren-trer Claudio Sala à la place d'Antognoniqui n'eut pas le rayonnement que l'onpouvait attendre d'un footballeur de saclasse . Le frère de Patricio apporta unpeu de fraicheur physique et d'engage-ment dans le jeu offensif des Transal-pins . Car il ne s'agissait plus de tergi-verser pour Bettega et ses coéquipiers .L'Italie pour qui on avait cru possible,une place de finaliste, se devait de ter-miner troisième, plutôt qu'un Brésil fi-nalement décevant sur l'ensemble duMundial. Alors, les élèves de Bearzotrassemblèrent leurs dernières énergiespour forcer un destin contraire . Maisleur réveil fut trop tardif, en dépit deleur bonne volonté. En fait, il fallutattendre l'avant-dernière minute pourvoir Bettega percuter un ballon sur labarre transversale, suite àun coupfranc de près très dangereux . La vic-toire restait donc aux Brésiliens, maissans que ces derniers aient vraimentconvaincu . Les Italiens ont incontesta-blement payé les efforts qu'ils avaientproduits jusque-là et ils ne rappelèrentque rarement les excellents joueurs quiréussirent notamment àbattre laFrance . Il faut ajouter que Zoff a mon-tré qu'à ce niveau, il était atteint parla limite d'âge. En deux matches, il aencaissé quatre buts sur des tirs venusde loin : les Hollandais Brandts et Haanet bien sûr Nelinho et Dirceu ont étéses bourreaux. Cruelle fin pour un gar-dien de valeur internationale qui arra-cha souvent maints succès pour lessiens .Quant aux Brésiliens de 1978, ils nerappellent nullement leurs glorieuxprédécesseurs.Sans même évoquer Pelé, ils n'ont plusde grandes personnalités comme CarlosAlberto, Tostao, Gerson, Clodoaldo . . .Ils n'ont surtout plus d'esprit inventif.Faute de joueurs créateurs, leur bril-lante technique individuelle n'a plusaucun pouvoir magique . C'est la qualitémoyenne de ce Mundial qui leur vaut latroisième place.

Pedro ValdésArgentina - Holanda.Brasil - Italia

Los cuatro finalistas . La copa de oro, lasbandejas de plata, las medallas, las ova-ciones, la fiesta . Ninguno olvidará eltiempo deportivo, la comarca de lomagno, la satisfacción de haber alcanza-do uno de los cuatro puestos de privile-gio. Italia fue de los que terminó ratifi-cando la solidez de su armado, con ju-gadores ajustados a cada una de las fun-ciones . Ninguno antes de la Copa delMundo podía vaticinar tan relevanteactuación . Y muy pocos pudieron supo-ner hasta dónde alcanzaría la porciónde talento de Claudio Gentile, GaetanoScirea, RomeoBenetti, MauroBellugi,Marco Tardelli y el implacable marcadorAntonio Cabrini. Con estos jugadoresItalia pudo armar cualquier idea defen-siva . Transformaren stopper a ClaudioGentile que necesitó anticipar, acosar,no dejar armar al hombre que le señala-ban para crecer asombrosamente hastaparecer que atraía a sus adversarios conun imán para despojarlos . El Mundialde la Argentina mostró la multiplicidadde recursos del volante medio RomeoBenetti. Probablemente el más sobrio,seguro, tranquilo y tranquilizador de to-dos los que se movieron en ese puesto .Los italianos pudieron hablar o referir-se a la mala suerte . En su partido conAlemania, donde solo consiguieronempatar un cotejo que habían mereci-do ganar o, posteriormente, cuando ca-yeron derrotados frente a Holanda trasunaprimera parte que dominaron hol-gadamente. ¿Puede ser de esa manera?Acaso únicamente cuando esa cadenade hechos deportivos se revela en pri-mera persona. Cuando uno mismo de-be autocalificarse . En segunda o tercerapersona constituye un hecho escéptico .Italia, para el juicio crítico, no tuvo bue-na o mala suerte . Tuvo calidad, funda-mentos, estado atlético, orientacióntécnica. La obsesión de ese primertiempo frente a Holanda - suceso infor-tunado - se desvanece cuando apareceel interrogante que obliga a responderacerca de las causas por las cuales no re-pitió en la segundamitad esa brillantedemostración . Los «naranjas» han prac-ticado una táctica sumamente riesgosa :utilizar 45 minutos de cada uno de suspartidos para examinar a su rival. En lasegundaparte - aleccionados por la as-tucia del técnico Happel - salen atacan-do los sectores más débiles del adversa-rio. La mala suerte pudo haber sido «nodescubrir esa simple especulación».

Bearzot: la preparación de Italia

«El árbitro español Angel Martínez per-mitió a los holandeses cualquier varie-dadde golpes y actitudes antideporti-vas», dijo RomeoBenetti refiriéndoseal partido final de la zona de clasifica-ción que perdieron con Holanda. «Es-pero que contra Brasil el juego sea máslimpio y leal» . Benetti había salido muylesionado después de ese cotejo . Para el«coach»Enzo Bearzot todo había que-dado atrás y resultaba indispensablereagrupar a la gente para hacer frente alnuevo compromiso . Tendría que darventajas muy apreciables. Benetti yTardelli no jugarían porque estabansuspendidos debido a las dos amonesta-ciones que tenían . Mauro Bellugi y Re-nato Zaccarelli estaban lesionados .Podría ocurrir que debutara en el Cam-peonato del Mundo eljoven ClaudioSala, un volante de marca, y pudiera ju-gar Giancarlo Antognoni. La «squadraazzurra» demostró sus conocimientospara salirjugando desde el fondo, res-petar la pausa del medio juego y explo-tar los piques de sus tres atacantes ne-tos : Causio, Rossi yBettega. Lo compli-cado era imaginar de qué manera seaplicaría el dispositivo italiano ante unadefensa con tanto oficio como la brasi-leña .

Brasil : la lucha contra el desánimo

Para el técnico Claudio Coutinho losadversarios, los enemigos no estabanen la cancha. Un tanto afecto a lo irre-flexivo debió modificar algunos proce-deres para encauzar el buen equipo queconducía . Los representantes de laCBD no contaban en esta oportunidadcon los «monstruos de la genialidad fut-bolística», pero en cambio tenían unplantel joven con elementos de exce-lente capacidad técnica. Observando alzaguero central - especie de líbero -Oscar se podía recomponer la imagen dealguno de los ausentes célebres, por suprestancia y calidad. Algo fuerte comoes la tradición del puesto, pero muyágil, flexible, con facilidad para ir arri-ba . Amaral asu lado, rápido para la re-solución . Dueño de unapasmosa tran-quilidad para salir con pelota dominaday experto oteador del panorama . Fueen todos los compromisos el constantealimentador del peligroso Dirceu y delregularísimo Batista. Sus problemas es-tuvieron en las puntas, tanto en defen-

sa como en ataque . Gil, designado paramoverse por el ala derecha, aportó dis-cretamente a esa tímida y poco ingenio-sa formación de ataque .En la zona clave de los brasileños - elcincuenta por ciento de la cancha -,donde siempre se fabricaron las gran-des victorias, aun durante el reinado dePelé, se turnaron Toninho Cerezo yChicao . Ambos igualmente técnicos,pese a que el volante de San Pablo sue-le perder el hilo y la paciencia con facili-dad. Disminuye su rendimiento porcreer más en su fuerza, en su fisico queen su calidad. En cambio Toninho, elmedio campista del Atlético Mineiro,respondió a la característica brasileña.Fue pródigo para la marca y breve en eltraslado . Seguramente no lo favoreciósu insistente manejo sobre el lateral de-recho. Allí no pudo tener feliz y efecti-va correspondencia con Gil, lento parael pique oportuno y desatento para elu-dir la trampa del «offside», en algunasocasiones . Tampoco lo favoreció la pocafe que se tuvo Nelinho, un marcador deescaso oficio que pareció estar en elequipo para efectivizar los tiros libres .Brasil registró un marcado déficit de in-quietud ofensiva . Ni Reinaldo ni Ro-berto fueron solución . Este último en-tendió que se imponía la fuerza en lugarde la calidad y, naturalmente, chocó.Esta repetida equivocación mermó lasposibilidades reales de los brasileños .Cuando se decidieron ajugar la suya, ladecididamente ofensiva, ganaron.

Brasil - Italia : definicióndel tercer puesto

Nada cambió . Allí estaba el fervor . Ungraderío sin claros y un lenguaje debanderas . Y tampoco el rendimientocasi tradicional de los encuentros por eltercer puesto . Un poco por la decepciónde no ser los protagonistas principalesdel cierre del campeonato y otro pocodebido al atestado criterio de la genera-lidad que prefiere no perder antes queganar. Son dos conceptos diferentes,pero que terminan conduciendo al em-pate . Italia quiso repetir la táctica em-pleada contra Holanda: adelantarse enel campo. Utilizar las puntas, supuesta-mente lo más débil de la orquestacióndefensiva brasileña . Enzo Bearzothabía guardado su traversura mínima:Franco Causio . El puntero y su incon-trolable habilidad rotando permanente-mente . Utilizando toda la cancha, unpoco a la manera de MarioKempes, elargentino, o del polaco Grzegorz Lato .Solo en el básquetbol se dan situacio-nes como las que protagonizaron repe-tidamente Italia y Brasil . Jugar asegu-rando el balón hasta probar el remate alarco . Después, cuando sacaba Brasil, eljueguito era de Batista, Cerezo, Dirceuy Mendonca . Hastaagotar los pases la-terales.

Losganadores de la marcapersonal

Claudio Gentile otra vez stopper, súbi-tamente presto para no dejarle tocar lapelota al centro delantero Roberto, entanto que Antonio Cabrini, anticipán-dolo, hizo desaparecer a Gil. Quedóinutilizado Brasil . Sus dos únicos ata-cantes perdían en la personal . Enton-ces los brasileños cambiaron por el sec-tor de Antognoniy del desorientadoMaldera. Se mostró más el habilidosoBatista que comenzó apescar balones ya tocar a la manera brasileña. Con pelo-tas contra el piso e increíbles y multipli-cadas paredes . Creció rápidamente to-do el rendimiento del bloque brasileño.Algo más despejado el sector de Causioy sus insistentes rotaciones se produjoa los 38 minutos lajugada que conmo-vió el estadio «Monumental» de RiverPlate. El único que podía desequilibrarescapó por la derecha, hamacó el deses-perado repliegue de Rodrigues Neto,que anticipó la posible catástrofe al en-contrarse todo el conjunto brasileño enla ofensiva. Cuando la faena se recortóperfecta en la perspectiva de Paolo Ros-si, el juvenil delantero levantó el cen-tro. La parábola precisa dejó solo a Cau-sio. Tiró y dejó sin chance a Leao . El ar-quero llamó seriamente la atención detodos los defensores .En la segundamitad, como ocurrió con-tra Holanda, el equipo de Bearzot se di-luye . Da la sensación de estar agotado.Entonces se opta por enfriar, retroce-der, lentificar . No es el estilo de los ita-lianos . Desplazarse raudamente, meterlargos pelotazos, exigir al espectacularBettegaque se desmarque por la dere-cha - su flanco preferido - y pruebe co-mo venga o cambiar el frente para Cau-sio o Paolo Rossi filtrándose para aguar-dar el cabezazo afortunado que es loque ya no se ve . La magra ventaja pue-de ser alcanzada en cualquier momentopor los brasileños aunque ahí les falte lamás elemental claridad . Bajan todos lositalianos, Bettega incluso. Brasil se en-cuentra de pronto con la más sencilla .Puede circular el balón esperando quealguno encuentre su perfil favorable yremate desde la media distancia . Loshombres de Claudio Coutinho tieneninstrucciones precisas . Hay que dejarque trepe la cancha el poderoso conver-tidor que es Nelinho. Pocos salen amarcarlo de manera frontal . Retroce-den para cubrirse y achicar el terrenohasta que descubren el claro y entranRoberto yNelinho. Este último se aco-moda y despacha el empate con sumaviolencia.Italia ha terminado por anularse . Care-ce de reservas fisicas. Resulta muy sen-cillo adivinar el evidente epílogo. Inclu-

so va silenciándose el estadio. Los quepedían «forza Italia» callan resignados .Tal como les ocurrió contra Holanda;tampoco en esta ocasión es cuestión desuerte . Han hecho un soberbio, sobe-rano esfuerzo . Han demostrado a los in-crédulos que son uno de los mejoresequipos del mundo. Pero en esos mo-mentos, en los instantes supremos, lesquema la pelota y todos quieren quitár-sela de encima. Los brasileños, nota-blemente recuperados aunque un pocotardíamente, copan el estadio y repasantodo el repertorio clásico del fútbol sud-americano. Se va un artesano del mediojuego y entra un artista . Toninho Cere-zo es reemplazado por Roberto Riveli-no.Ymandainmediatamente el hom-bre de refresco . Señala posiciones . En-trega un oportuno pase a Mendoncacon la misión expresade habilitar a Dir-ceu. Todo se cumple . Dirceu mide elarco y Zoff llega tarde para contener .Brasil es tercero en la Copa del Mundo.Al final demostró unacontenida, casiescondida calidad. Claudio Coutinho,su técnico, subrava ante la prensa inter-nacional la condición de invicto que hasabido mantener su selección aunque acosta de pálidas actuaciones.

Brasil - Italia . Losmejores: Batista yCausio

Los dos sobresaliendo con nitidez deuna larga chatura. Causio, el punteroderecho, convalidando su pequeña es-tatura merced a su contextura robusta.Su posición resultó bastante curiosa :una especie de media agua . En el ata-que italiano fue el más retrasado ycuando Gentile tuvo que oficiar destopper descendió su línea para prestarauxilio sin descuidar a su marcador . Hi-zo las dos funciones : puntero y volantede marca. Luchó sin desmayos hasta elfinal y se distinguió como el mejor delos italianos en el último partido. Porotra parte, tampoco desentonó en losencuentros anteriores . En Brasil, JoaoBatista cumplió la invalorable funciónde «creador de situaciones» además deser el perseguidorde todo rival que seacercara asu área, algo así como unaes-pecie de stopper, sin serlo concreta-mente, pero de sacrificada labor. Facili-tó el desempeñode su zaguero centralOscar. Batista tiene 24 años y nació enRío Grande do Sul. Es el titular en supuesto de uno de los equipos más pode-rosos de su país : Internacional de PortoAlegre . Se consagró como una de las fi-guras más regulares de la selección bra-sileña . En Rosario, ante los argentinoscumplió unalucidísima labor.

Karl AdolfSchererSpiel dritter Platz

Es war ein Spiel um die Ehre, doch imGrunde eine ungeliebte Plazierungs-begegnung, die sich am 24 . Juni im Ri-ver Plate Stadion zwischen Brasilienund Italien um den dritten WM-Platzbei der Mundial'78 entwickelte.Es war die dritte Begegnung zwischenItalien und Brasilien bei einer Weltmei-sterschaft . 1938 in Marseille gewannItalien im Halbfinale gegen die Süd-amerikaner mit 2 :1 und stieß damit insEndspiel vor, das dann mit 4:2 gegenUngarn gewonnen wurde . Brasilienschlug Schweden im Kampfum dendritten Platz mit dem gleichen Resul-tat. Genau 32 Jahre später trafen sichBrasilien und Italien auf einer noch hö-heren WM-Ebene, im Endspiel vonMexiko 1970 nämlich . Die Italiener,ermüdet noch von der Verlängerungs-schlacht gegen Deutschland, die 4 :3 fürItalien endete, verloren das Finale ge-gen eine brasilianische Elf, die sichbeim 3 :1 im Halbfinale gegen Uruguayhatte schonen können, mit 1 :4 .An eine Revanche für diese bittereWM-Niederlage dachten die �Azzurri"wohl kaum, als sie am 24 . Juni ins Ri-ver Plate einliefen . Sie mußten aufihren Mittelfeldspieler Romeo Benettiebenso verzichten wie auf Marco Tar-delli, die im Verlaufdes Turniers zweigelbe Karten erhalten hatten und nundraußen bleiben mußten. Trotzdembegann die Mannschaft von Enzo Bear-zot im Stil der bisherigen Spiele - mitAusnahme vonjenem gegen Argenti-nien . Italien griffvehement, witzig undideenreich an, aber überhastet wurdenChancen vergeben, doch immerhin ge-lang Franco Causio in der 38 . Minuteder völlig verdiente Führungstreffer.Danach aber kam Brasilien ; die Süd-amerikaner spielten nicht besondersschnell, aber elegant, und sie hatten amEnde jene Unze Kraft mehr, die zum2 :1(0 :1)-Sieg ausschlaggebend sein soll-te .Brasiliens Trainer Claudio Coutinho,der darauf verweisen konnte, daß seineElfallein ungeschlagen Argentinienüberstanden habe, muß sich selbsteinige Fehler ankreiden . Sicherlich hat-te er recht, als er auf die WM-Dienstedes 32 Jahre alten Roberto Rivelinoverzichten wollte, aber das warnichtganz so einfach, denn der Altstar vonFluminense Rio de Janeiro hatte Für-sprecher, und er galt, nachdem erschon 1970 in Mexiko Weltmeister ge-worden war und 1974 in Deutschlandals Pelé-Nachfolger von sich redenmachte, ohne dessen Ausstrahlung zuerreichen, als die Persönlichkeit desbrasilianischen Fußballs, an der sichdie Elf orientieren sollte . Aber Rivelinohatte nicht mehr die nötige Kondition .Trainer Coutinho, der nicht denMut zu einer Radikalkur besaß, nahm

Rivelino in die Mannschaft gegenSchweden und erlebte eine Enttäu-schung . Als ihm dann durch den Ver-bandspräsidenten Helenio Nunes derStürmer Roberto aufgezwungen wurde- Torschütze zum 1 :0 gegen Osterreich- und Coutinho plötzlich die jungenLeute von der Leine ließ, bekam diebrasilianische Mannschaft jenen Elan,der sie ins kleine Finale führte .Dennoch: Der Ausgleich durch Nelin-ho in der 64 . Minute fiel durch einenSonntagsschuß. In Höhe der Strafraum-linie trat der 27jährige Außenverteidi-ger mitdem rechtenAußenspann ei-nen Ball . Was zuerst aussah wie eineFlanke vor das Tor von Dino Zoff,entwickelte sich durch den Effet zu ei-nemgefährlichen und, wie sich in denHundertstelsekunden des Fluges zei-gen sollte, unhaltbaren Torschuß .In der 65 . Minute des Spiels schickteCoutinho für den Mittelfeldspieler Ce-rezo Altstar Rivelino aufdas Feld . Eswar der Auftritt eines Superstars . NurfünfMinuten brauchte der Brasilianer,um sich entsprechend in Szene zu set-zen. Mit einem klugen Paß trickste erdie italienische Abwehr aus, Mendoncastoppte den Ball mit der Brust, undDirceu sicherte mit einem Direktschußdas 2 :1 für Brasilien. Gut, daß Dirceuder Torschütze war; er gilt als legitimerRivelino-Nachfolger .Der Superstar selbst ließ sich nach Dir-ceus Tor feiern, als sei er selbst derSchütze gewesen. Danach tat er nichtsmehr, was Coutinho hätte ärgern odererfreuen können. Wie Rivelino dachtenauch die Brasilianer. Sie wußten, daßItaliens Mannschaft am Ende ihrerKraft war. Ein Spiel um den drittenPlatz wecktkeine bis dato unentdeck-ten physischen Kräfte .Brasilien war Dritter, Italien Vierter.Der Jubel hielt sich bei den Siegern inGrenzen. Die Zuschauer dankten fürdie Bemühungen beider Teams. 1974in Deutschland sahen die Besucher einviel schwächeres Spiel um den drittenRang zwischen Polen undBrasilien(1 :0) .Die FIFA, die 1982 bei derWM in Spa-nien schon 24 Mannschaften an derEndrunde teilnehmen lassen will,könnte sehr viel tun, um den Kampfum den dritten Platz attraktiver zu ge-stalten, beispielsweise dadurch, daßnicht nur der Weltmeister ohne Qualifi-kation an der nächsten Weltmeister-schaft teilnehmen kann, sondern ne-ben dem Gastgeber auch der Zweiteund Dritte der vorangegangenen WM.Aber es hat, wie Argentinien zeigte,selten sachbezogene Entscheidungendieses Weltverbandes gegeben, son-dern nur Beschlüsse, die einem Präsi-denten gut anstehen .

Brian GlanvilleFinal

The Cup Final was in some sense aproper climax to the World Cup. Thatis to say, it was played in a sour spirit,thoroughly badly refereed, was indif-ferent in quality, andgave Argentina awin by the skin of their teeth. What dis-tinguished it was the astonishing oppor-tunism ofMario Kempes, surely theoutstanding footballer of the wholetournament . Playing nowin left mid-field as an out and out attacker, hescored one marvellous solo goal in thefirst half, another in the first halfofex-tra time, when he also broke through toenable Bertoni to score the third Ar-gentinian goal .Holland could scarcely have comecloser to victory. In the 90th . minute,Rob Rensenbrink's shot struck the lefthand post of the Argentinian goal ; andthe home team thus survived, to riseagain in extra time . If they owed amas-sive debt to Kempes, they also owed avast one to their goalkeeper, UbaldoFillol, who saved them on variousoccasions, above all twice in the firsthalf, when all seemed irretrievably lost .So Holland finished as runners-up forthe second World Cup in arow. Theyclearly deserve sympathy, yet this mustin turn be mitigated by the nature oftheir display. They began the game inBuenos Aires with a nasty foul in thevery first minute, went on to commitanother forty-nine, and altogetherevinced an attitude which mightpolitely be termed cynical. Not that thehost team needed much provocation toretaliate in kind . Indeed, a foul by theArgentine captain, Daniel Passarella, inhe second half, when he laid JohanNeeskens flat with an elbow, was pos-sibly the worst in the game . Attitudeapart, Holland were also guilty ofsomestrange ingenuousness in defence .They played as usual with Rudi Krol asasweeper (though he became veryadventurous late in the second half)with three man to man markers in frontof him. This took care of the immediateArgentinian front line of Luque in themiddle, Bertoniand Ortiz on the wings- with Houseman coming on as a latesubstitute for Ortiz. It did nothing at allto take care of Kempes, whowasvaguely under the eye ofWilli van de

Kerkhof. That you just cannot afford toleave a man ofKempes' quality with somuch space and time was demon-strated on the occasions, those vital, de-cisive three occassions, when he sud-denly erupted, scattered the Dutch de-fence with his skill, pace and power,andproduced the three goals . Perhapsit would have been awaste ofJohanNeeskens, one of the best and most dy-namic players in the Dutch side - AarieHaan being the other - had he been setto mark Kempes, but someone shouldhave been. The other major strictureon the Dutch defence is that it was soforgetful of Passarella. On no fewerthan four occasions in the first half, hissplendid enterprise gothim intopositions to strike for goal . Three timesthe veteran Dutchgoalkeeper JanJongbloed had to save from him, once asuperb shot whistledjust over the bar.That Holland with Johan Cruyffin theteam would have wonthe game in acanter seems highly probable, thoughgiven the inept and partial refereeing ofItaly's Sergio Gonella, one shivers tothink what treatment he might havebeen given . Holland could also mournthe absence of Wim van Hanegem,whose superb left footed passing wouldhave given them the element of sur-prise whichwas lacking in their ener-getic but largely straightforward game .Notthat the Argentinians themselveshad anygreat creative figure in mid-field.Osvaldo Ardiles recovered from injuryto play, andgave the pass which sentKempes on the way to his first goal, buthe eventually had to give way toLarrosa, and besides, for all his fineenergy, speed, intelligence andenter-prise, he is a stimulant, rather than acreator. Kempes' presence in midfieldin fact meant that Argentina played vir-tually with a 4-2-4 formation . The othermidfield man, Gallego, is essentially adestroyer . At the back, the flank defen-ders played better than one might haveexpected, and Olguin in the first halfespecially profited from the lack of animmediate opponent to attack usefullyand frequently . The Dutch certainlyimproved when they took off thedisappointing Johnny Rep in the se-cond half and brought on Dirk Nan-ninga, who beautifully headed theirequalising goal from a high cross byRené van de Kerkhof, out on the right ;something which the Argentine de-fence should really have avoided. Themagnificent long, strong cross passfrom the left with which Haan pavedthe way to the goal should also be re-corded . Holland by then hadbesidespushed the tall young stopper ErnyBrandts into attack, but at the begin-ning ofextra time they withdrew himagain into defence . Argentina foundnew life, and prevailed.

Jean Philippe RethackerFinale 1: Argentine - Hollande 3-1

Dans cette bataille suprême entre l'Eu-rope et l'Amérique, ce sont finalementles Sud-Américains qui se sont imposésen jouant à l'européenne . Et si leur vic-toire fut longtemps contestée, et parfoiscontestable pour ce qui concerne l'arbi-trage de l'Italien M. Gonella, elle n'en apas moins récompensé l'équipe qui s'a-véra la plus opportuniste, la plus effica-ce, grâce aujoueur le plus brillant et leplus efficace de ce Mundial. Il est cer-tain que l'ambiance brûlante régnanten ce dimanche 25 juin dans le monu-mental stade de River Plate empli à rasbord d'une foule joyeuse parée de bleuet de blanc, aida considérablement lesjoueurs argentins à se surpasser et àtrouver au fond d'eux-mêmes pendantla prolongation, les dernières ressour-ces nécessaires pour arracher la victoi-re . Il est vrai aussi que les jugements del'arbitre se montrant toujours plus sé-vère avec les Hollandais qu'avec lesArgentins, sans pour cela prendre desdécisions capitales, donnèrent réguliè-rement un bon petit coup de pouce auxfuturs vainqueurs . Ainsi M. Gonellaoublia-t-il souvent de réprimander lesinterventions argentines provocantes,ne manquant pas en revanche de stop-per en pleine action pour des hors-jeutrès discutables, les quelques assautshollandais dangereux. Déjà, avant lecoup d'envoi, un incident s'était pro-duit qui retarda d'ailleurs le début de larencontre . Les Argentins ayant réclamécontre la présence autour du poignet deRené van de Kerkhof, d'un bandagedur qu'ils considéraient comme dange-reux . Cela contribua tout de suite àénerver les Hollandais et à les exciter.A l'image de Neeskens rendu furieuxpar ces palabres, les joueurs néerlan-dais eurent alors tort de vouloir engagerle match sur le plan de la violence et del'agressivité . Cela donna aussitôt aujeu, une allure de combat qui, sans dé-passer les limites du permis (saufpen-dant la prolongation) lui, ôta une partiede son attrait spectaculaire .Les Hollandais qui avaient choisi d'at-taquer et qui, pour cela, n'avaient ali-gné que trois arrières de métier .

(Brandts, Krol et Poortvliet) placèrentd'entrée tous leurs hommes au milieudu terrain, comme ils ont coutume dele faire . Ainsi les Argentins éprouvé-rentils d'abord des difficultés à s'organi-ser, à contrôler le ballon et le jeu, à semontrer menaçants malgré la présencede trois avants de pointe à la tête deleur attaque .Pendant près d'une demi-heure, lesHollandais inquiétèrent donc la défen-se argentine et se créèrent plusieursoccasions de but qui, si elles avaient étébien exploitées, auraient sûrementchangé l'histoire de cette finale . Mal-heureusement pour les »Orange«d'Ernst Happel, ils échouèrent chaquefois de justesse . La première possibilitéd'ouvrir le score survint dès la cinquiè-me minute et s'offrit à Johnny Rep leBastiais qui, sur un coup franc de Haan,rabattit violemment le ballon de la têtevers le coin du but argentin ; mais leballon sortit de très peu à côté .Et puis, à la 27ème minute, c'est encoreRep qui allait laisser filer la chanced'ouvrir la marque, sur un centre deRené van de Kerkhofqu'il contrôlaavant de frapper très fort en directionde la cage gardée par Fillol . Cette fois,c'est le gardien argentin qui, dans un ré-flexe extraordinaire, détourna à boutportant et du pied le ballon menaçant .Les Argentins qui avaient eu très peur,se dégagèrent alors et devinrent à leurtour dangereux . Et à la 38ème minute,c'était le premier exploit de Kempès,qui n'allait pas en rester là comme on leverra.Surune action mehée rondement sur lagauche par Ardilès et Luque, le ballontrainant un peu dans la surface hollan-daise, fut récupéré par Kempès et expé-dié promptement dans le but par lenuméro 10 argentin .Les Hollandais jetèrent alors toutesleurs forces dans le bataille, Neeskensen particulier qui se battit comme unlion . A la 44ème minute, Rensenbrinkvoyait l'une de ses reprises àbout por-tant échouer encore sur Fillol .Mais l'égalisation néerlandaise allaitsurvenir au moment même où on nel'attendait plus (81ème) sur un coup detête irrésistible de l'avant centre Nan-ninga entré en jeu à la place de Rep à la58ème minute . On crut même à la vic-toire hollandaise lorsqu'à la 90ème mi-nute Rensenbrink tira . . . sur le poteau .Mais l'heure de Kempès et des Argen-tins avait sonné . . .La prolongation fut fatale auxjoueursvêtus d'orange . Ala 104ème minute,Kempès arrachait deux fois le ballon

aux défenseurs hollandais accrochés àses basques et il parvenait àtromperJongbloed . Et onze minute plus tard, iloffrait à Bertoni l'occasion de réussir letroisième but qui abattait définitive-ment les géants hollandais, tout en fai-sant des Argentins les nouveaux cham-pions du monde. Ainsi un seul hommeavait fait la décision d'un côté commede l'autre? Il eut suffi que Rep ou Ren-senbrink réussissent comme Kempès àfaire la différence, et le tour était joué .Mais ce n'était peut-être pas un hasard,si le meilleur buteur du match étaitaussi celui du Mundial et en mêmetemps le joueur numéro un de l'épreu-ve . Dans une finale comme celle-là,équilibrée et indécise, seules les indivi-dualités pouvaient faire la différence .Il arrive encore, Dieu merci, qu'unseul joueur tienne un rôle capital dansce jeu de football de plus en plus collec-tivisé . Pour les Argentins, ce fut doncl'instant de bonheur attendu depuiscinquante ans. Mais pour les Hollan-dais, la seconde déception en quatreans. Bien dure à avaler! . . .

Pedro ValdésEl Mundial lo jugaron 25 millonesde argentinos

A caso viéndolo, sintiéndolo, sufriéndlo y gozándolo, porque su verdaderosignificado no constituyó una frase, unintencionado supuesto que involucrabaa la población . Era en resumen la sin-tética expresión metafórica del realis-mo irreversible que vivía el país . Esa le-yenda expresó por parte de los organi-zadores de la máxima fiesta del populardeporte un tácito reconocimiento al fer-voroso deseo, a la necesidad coinciden-te - acaso unánime - de superar algunavezdefinitivamente la incidencia frus-trante la mentalidad derrotista de lasparticipaciones argentinas en las convo-catorias colectivas del deporte. Y esagran suma, esa especie de censo de lacredulidad seguía los preparativos pre-vios a la trascendental finalísima. ParaMenotti, el equipo holandés era un ad-versario dificil pero de ningunamanerainvencible . Había exhibido - especial-mente en la Segunda Vuelta - sus ca-racterísticas peculiares denominadaspor quienes eran sus conductores comode «fútbol total» . Se diferenciaba de losargentinos en que Holanda practicaba«fútbol total» sin pelota . En tanto quelos blanquicelestes lo hacían con ella .Probablemente no se concebía al futbo-lista argentino de otra manera. Veinti-cuatro horas antes del importante cote-jo el técnico argentino se mostró algopreocupado por el juego fuerte quepracticaban los holandeses . Sus infrac-ciones habían sido extremadamentepeligrosas y su equipo duramente gol-peado. Sin embargo no cambiaría su es-tilo . «Nosotros tenemos - expresó en laconcentración de José C. Paz - convic-ciones profundas y no las vamos amo-dificar. Estamos preparados tanto parala victoria como para la derrota, tal co-mo lo estuvimos en la Primera Vuelta .Si nos toca caer lo haremos peleandocon las armas más nobles hasta el últi-mo minuto . Jugaremos pensando en elarco de Holanda, quizas como unaob-sesión, lo que no significa que olvide-mos las piezas claves de nuestro adver-sario y no tomemos recaudos . Los juga-dores argentinos tuvieron personalidad,lucharon en la adversidad limpiamente.Para calificarlos numéricamente diréque estuvieron en un promedio de6 puntos con picos de 8 como contraPerú. También tuvimos unabaja hastade 4 contra Brasil». Una sola duda per-sistía para completar la formación con-tra Holanda. Ardiles, con fractura de la-langeta de un dedo del pie izquierdo .Para el técnico César Luis Menotti estevolante constituía una pieza fundamen-tal .

Un yeso en la muñeca de Renévan de Kerkhof

Sin embargo, los cuerpos médicos enlas concentraciones futbolísticas soncapaces de producir milagros . El día 25de junio, a la hora del inolvidable parti-do, Ardiles, el habilidoso, el inasiblevolante salía como titular. Hervía elcontenido del magnífico estadio de Ri-ver Plate . En la tarde del mayor suspen-so para la historia del fútbol argentinoRené van de Kerkhof, el recio volantecentral de los holandeses, puso la pri-mera cuota de ansiedad . Salió con unyeso en su muñeca derecha. Passarellaadvirtió la anomalía y solicitó al árbitroSergio Gonellaque hiciera retirar el ye-so al futbolista holandés . Las reglamen-taciones impiden que se use algún ele-mento que no sea habitual atuendo de-portivo. Debió jugar con unavenda. Esfácil imaginar qué podía haber ocurridoen caso de un golpe con una muñecaenyesada . La superficie ocupadapor losespectadores estaba teñida de celeste yblanco . Sobre las bandas se había asen-tado la lluvia multicolor de papelitoscon la que el público saludó la apari-ción del equipo argentino . Esta costum-bre es única y tradicional en los parti-dos de los campeonatos nacionales e in-ternacionales .Los argentinos, con un ritmo agilísimo,cambiante, veloz, de posiciones abier-tas atacaron de entrada. Holanda in-crustó de inmediato a Brandts conadherencias de stopper sobre las posibi-lidades de Luque . En el centro de la za-ga, Krol . La elevada tensión nerviosa le-vantó el ulular de las tribunas a la pri-mera infracción del marcador Poortvlietcontra Bertoni. Allí comenzabapara laimagen del partido la caza del hombre .Los blanquicelestes no perdieron la se-renidad. Fríamente, aplicando las pau-sas por intermedio de Luis Galván, que

jugó un gran partido, con las interven-ciones finas, astutas de Ardiles y eltemperamento de Gallego, fueron to-mando la manija del partido . Kempes yLuque imponían su vigor y plasticidad.El centro delantero colaboró en el ar-mado total del equipo encimando aKrol, dificultándole la salida . MarioKempes controlando aWilhelmus vande Kerkhof, que iba perdiendo tranqui-lidad y eficacia . Jugando, buscando in-geniosamente la profundidad a travésde Ardiles, con una sincronización im-pecable, obligando al retroceso de todoel armado holandés . Jorge Olguín, aten-to a las posibles escapadas de Rensen-brink, cerró todo su lateral . Comenzabael defensor sanlorencista su labor so-bresaliente.

Argentina se pone en ventaja: Kempesgoleador

Reflejo del temple y la capacidad delempeñoso delantero argentino fue laobtención del primer gol de la tarde. Seprodujo como conclusión o factor de-terminante del mejorjuego, del estilomás armónico y hasta del obstinadoproceso de búsqueda que caracterizó ala formación blanquiceleste . Ardiles,casi cayéndose, recupéro un balón deimprevisible valor - por la circunstan-cia estratégica - y lo derivó para la posi-ción de Luque . Este amagó con aplicarla individual descolocando a los defen-sores y cedió aKempes . El goleador pi-có bien armado, pero resbaló cuandosalía a cortar el guardavallas Jongbloed .En un supremo esfuerzo alcanzó a tocarla pelota y la ovación premió la impor-tante conquista. Kempes resultó impa-rable para los holandeses . La desventa-ja pareció sacudir entonces al equipo«naranja» . Así se presentó una inmejo-rable ocasión para Rensenbrink al serhabilitado porRep . La entraday el re-mate del puntero no dieron tiempo aFillol más que a sacar con el pie a la ma-nera de un zaguero. La etapa inicial secompletó en el plano de la fluidez fut-bolística impuesta por los argentinos .En esos momentos Kempes habíaalcanzado aRensenbrink en la tabla delos goleadores . El sistemático «fútboltotal» de Happel no funcionó desde elprimer momento debido a que sus juga-dores debieron dedicarse a defendersede los ataques argentinos . Esa interpre-tación técnica se ve facilitada cuandolos contrarios no pelean en la zona degestación y desdeñan marcar a los re-ceptores . La preferencia de este estiloes el juegoporelevación, si es posible aun solo toque, para los equipistas quese desmarcan, que se muestran, que pi-can a los vacíos . La justeza caracterizóel anticipo de la línea de fondo argenti-na, en la que ninguno esperó demasia-do, sino que intuyó lo conveniente yfue a la obstrucción con firmeza, des-preciando - incluso - los planchazos de

Rep, muy contagiado con la funcióndestructora de sus volantes . Pero niRep ni Neeskens poseen condicionespara recuperar balones perdidos . Sonesencialmente creadores de fútbolofensivo, de manera que estuvieronmuy desaprovechados en friccionesinútiles . Holanda se fue quedando . Pre-firió no arriesgar en esa primera parte.Vale decir, quiso conservar energíasacaso para desarrollar en el segundotiempo su vertiginoso e impresionista«fútbol total» . Happel no advirtió cuá-les eran en tales momentos los puntosvulnerables del equipo local y atacó porel sector de Olguín y Galván, quejuga-ron su mejor partido. Decidido a des-contar, porque además ésa fue su filo-sofía a lo largo del torneo, el equipo ho-landés adelantó sus lineas . En los pri-meros 10 minutos su «fútbol total» pu-do apreciarse por la flotante distribu-ción de todos sus integrantes. JanPoortvliet - desde su fondo izquierdo -apareció moviéndose eslabonado conNeeskens y el mellizo René van deKerkhoftratando de aprovechar la des-ordenada ubicación de Tarantini. Esasfórmulas - así como los recambios deHaan, especialista en arrastrar líberos ystoppers para el ingreso de Neeskens -no funcionaron debido a la incansablerecuperación del propio Tarantini yporque los defensores blanquicelesteshicieron zona y se relevaron cruzando ycerrando para apoyar a los marcadoresde punta, pero sin seguir a los atacan-tes. Luis Galván, pese a su pequeña es-tatura, actuó como un gigante y le ganóen todas al puntero Rensenbrink. So-bre los 14 minutos entra de refrescoNanninga, la carta que siempre tieneescondida en la manga el técnico ErnstHappel . Es buen cabeceador, habitual-mente espera los centros pasados. Larotación holandesa se va acentuando .Argentina protege zonas . Cubre, antici-pa, obstruye . Los «naranjas» no tienenclaros . No pueden definir .

Karl AdolfSchererFinale

�Zum erstenmal in seiner Geschichtehat Argentiniens Fußball den Welt-pokal gewonnen . Genau die richtigeBelohnung für eine sehr offensiveMannschaft, die immer den Sieg ge-wollt hat, und für eine der großen Fuß-ball-Nationen der Welt."Dies schrieb das französische Fußball-Magazin �Onze" (�Elf") in seinemEndspielbericht, sicherlich eine sehrneutrale Stimme .Da waren die Zitterspiele gegen Un-garn und Frankreich in der ersten Fi-nalrunde mitdem folgenden Absturzgegen Italien (0:1). Da mußte Brasilien,dieser südamerikanische �Erzfeind",mit einem 0 :0 überwunden werden,und da waren schließlich 4:0 Tore ge-gen Peru zu schießen, um das Finale zuerreichen .Was man am ehesten den Holländernund den Deutschen zugetraut hatte,sich im Verlaufeines solchen Turnierszu steigern, das vollbrachten allein dieArgentinier. Sicherlich spielte dabeider Heimvorteil eine Rolle, denn im-mer standen die �Hirschas", die argenti-nischen Fans, hinter ihrer Mannschaft,und ihr �Vamos, Argentina" und ihreChöre �Ar-gen-ti-na, Ar-gen-ti-na"weckten bei den Spielern um MarioKempes, Daniel Passarella oder denTorhüter Ubaldo Fillol immerwiederneue Kräfte, zu stürmen, zu stürmen,undnoch einmal zu stürmen- mit einerAusnahme vielleicht, derjenigen imSpiel gegen Brasilien .Das Finale begann mit einemgutdurchdachten Nervenkrieg. Argenti-niens Trainer Cesar Luis Menotti ließseine Mannschaft erst aus der Kabine,als die Holländer schonfünf Minutendaraufwarteten, daß nun die Eröff-nungszeremonien stattfinden würden.Dann reklamierte Daniel Passarella,der argentinische Mannschaftskapitän,die Manschette, die der holländischeStürmer René van de Kerkhofan seinerverletzten Hand trug . Beratung mitdemitalienischen Schiedsrichter SergioGonella, der einen neuenVerband ver-langte, den die Holländer bei Kerkhofauch anlegen ließen - aber erst, nach-dem die Mannschaft das Spielfeld wie-der verlassen hatte. So fing dasEndspiel mit neun Minuten Verspä-

tung an, und die hier schon gezeigteHektik sollte sich im Grunde nie mehrganz legen. Es gab Fouls am laufendenBand, wobei die Holländer brutalerwirkten, weil die kleineren undwendi-geren Argentinier, ebenfalls nichtkleinlich, raffinierter und geschicktergegen die Regeln verstießen .Die Holländer hätten das Finale durch-aus gewinnen können . Aber sie spiel-ten einen Stil, der den Argentiniernentgegenkam : hohe Bälle von außen inden gegnerischen Strafraum zu schla-gen, wo Daniel Passarella mit demKopfimmeram nächsten am Ball war. So wur-den gute Torchancen vergeben . Außer-dem hatte der Vizeweltmeister keinenMann wie MarioKempes in seiner Elf.Es war dieser Kempes, der in der 37 .Minute Argentinien mit 1 :0 in Führungbrachte, als er, zuerst an Torhüter JanJongbloed gescheitert, wieder schnel-ler aufden Beinen war als die holländi-sche Abwehr. Ein böser Fehler vonAlberto Tarantini, der den Ball statt indie gegnerische Hälfte vor die Füße vonRene van de Kerkhoftrat, führte in der81 . Minute zum Ausgleich durch einKopfballtor des eingewechselten DickNanninga .Argentinien nahm diesen Schlag miterstaunlicher Ruhe hin . Neun Minutenwärennoch zu spielen gewesen, nunwarennoch 39 Minuten zu überstehenoder sogar ein zweites Finale am 27 . Ju-ni 1978, denn es blieb beim 1 :1 bis zumSchlußpfiff für die normale Spielzeitvon 90 Minuten.Die Verlängerung machte dann aus ei-nem spannenden Spiel ein dramati-sches und auch hochklassiges .Argentinien stürmte, frenetisch ange-feuert, praktisch ohne Mittelfeldaktio-nen und getrieben von einem umwer-fenden Siegeswillen Minute um Minu-te . MarioKempes wares in der 104.Minute, der letzten der ersten Halbzeitder Verlängerung, der das erlösende 2 :1erzielte, und es warnur noch eine�Draufgabe", als Daniel Bertoni in der114. Minute das 3 :1 erzielte . Argenti-nien warWeltmeister- ein würdigerund ein geachteter .Dennoch hätte Holland auch als SiegervomPlatz gehen können . In der 90 . Mi-nute wares Rob Rensenbrink, von demdie Niederländer erwartet hatten, daßer die Nachfolge von Johan Cruyffantreten würde, der nur den Pfostendes argentinischen Tores traf. FünfZentimeter weiter nach rechts, der Ballwäre im Netz gewesen - und HollandWeltmeister.Wenn man will, wurde Argentiniendeshalb Weltmeister, weil es, bei allenUmwegen, die geradlinigsten Spielerhatte. Die gerade Linie wardiejenigeaufdas Tor des Gegners . So einfachund so erfolgreich kann Fußball sein ineiner Welt der kalten und kühlen Rech-ner. Danke, Argentinien!

Collision!Collision!

El choque . Los dos equipos al borde del área se hanjugado en un envío por elevación . Los protagonistas,que por otra parte han perdido el control de la pelota,

se toman la cabeza .Zusammengeprallt!

The wild chase after the ball!Feroce chasse au ballon, pendant Brésil - Italie .

La lucha en el medio campo . Cuccureddu alcanza adespojar a Dirceu y adelante para su compañero

Gaetano Scirea . El zaguero italiano toca para eljuvenilPaolo Rossi y surge el contraataque .

Die wilde Jagd nach dem Ball!

I do unto you as you do unto me!(Eil pour veil, dent pour dent!

La inevitable obstrucción . Esta es la situación quesiempre se produce cuando dos adversarios van a la

conquista de una pelota dividida.Wie du mir, so ich dir!

Fillol has fisted away the ball .Fillol a dégagé le ballon du poing.

El despeje . Fillol con golpe de puños.Fillol hat den Ball weggefaustet .

The match is over!Le sort en est jeté!

La euforia y el desencanto .Jongbloed mira el rincón donde ha quedado la pelota .

Die Entscheidung ist gefallen!

Missed, by only afew inches!A quelques centimetres du poteau!

La medallitade Poortvliet .No está permitido jugar con esos elementos . La pelota .Nítida, saltarina, impaciente . Sin ella no hay espectá-

culo y con ella están únicamente los ingeniosos, los dis-ciplinados, los que se han dedicado a comprender y

dominar su característica veleidad .Um Zentimeter am Pfosten vorbei!

"Let me hold you in my arms" .»Viens dans mes brase .

«Ven a mis brazos» parece solicitar el portero Fillol albalón .

�Komm in meine Arme" .

Those glorious seconds which crown years ofhardwork : capturing the World Cup!

La seconde pour laquelle on a travaillé pendant tantd'années : la victoire en Coupe du Monde!

El capitán llevado en andas por el público enarbola laCopa de Oro . Daniel Passarella, con la serena dignidad

que ennoblece la tarea cumplida, inicia la «VueltaOlímpica» acompañado de cerca por Fillol, notable

arquero titular de los argentinos .Die Sekunde, auf die das Streben jahrelanger Arbeit

ausgerichtet war : Gewinn der Weltmeisterschaft!

Daniel Ricardo Bertoni, just after scoring the goal thatput his team ahead by 3 :1 .

Daniel Ricardo Bertoni, le dernier buteur du Mundial78, après son tir victorieux .

Consolidación de un resultado histórico . Ya se conoceal nuevo Campeón Mundial de Futbol 1978 .

Daniel Ricardo Bertoni, der Schütze des 3 :1, nach sei-nem erfolgreichen Torschuß .

lk

World Cup FIFA Technical StudyArgentina 1978 Final Competition

Technical Study GroupHarry H. Cavan (Northern Ireland)ChairmanSir Walter Winterbottom (England)DirectorJose Bonetti (Brazil)MemberKarl Heinz Heddergott(Federal Republic ofGermany)MemberDr. Vaclav Jira (Czechoslovakia)MemberHans Lang(Federal Republic of Germany)MemberRinus Michels (Holland)MemberMilan Miljanic (Yugoslavia)MemberRoger Quinche (Switzerland)MemberJ. Sepp Blatter (Switzerland)Secretary

Reproduction of extracts from or trans-lation of this report is authorised pro-vided the source is indicated . Theoriginal language is English.

Contents

1. Introduction

82

2. Overall Impressions and objectiveProposals

83Installation andOrganisation of Competition

83Drug Abuse

85Match Control

85

3 . Preparatory Training

88General ConsiderationsTeams in

Group 1

90Teams in

Group 2

92Teams in

Group 3

93Teams in

Group 4

94

4. Match Appraisal

96General PointsFirst Round

Group 1

99Group 2

103Group 3

106Group 4

109Second Round Group A

112Group B

115Matchfor 3rd Place

118Final

119

5. Team Officials andLists of22 Players

273

82

Technical Study

1 . IntroductionDoctor Jodo Havelange, President ofFIFA, in his briefaddress atthe openingofthe 1978 FIFAWorld Cup Final Com-petition in the River Plate Stadium on 1June, paid a special tribute to Argentinafor completing agigantic task ofprepara-tion . The stage had been magnificentlyset. Doctor Alfredo Cantilo, Presidentof the Argentinian Football Associa-tion, exclaimed : "The eyes ofthe wholeworld are centred on Argentina . Let usnot disappoint them" . In the event, theorganisation worked effectively andfears for security gave way to openadmiration for the warmth of welcomeand the joyful, enthusiastic behaviourofthe Argentinian people in support oftheir team . In this sense this World CupCompetition was a major triumph for acountry which clearly loves its football .It was therefore fitting that the Argen-tinian team, after several anxious anduncertain moments, should magicallygain a place in the final match and thengo on, aftera closelyfoughtgame againstHolland, to winthe trophyin extratime .As with the Olympic Games and otherWorld Sporting events, the staging of aWorld Cup Final Competition requiresthe wholehearted cooperation ofGovernment and public authorities toprovide modern sports stadia, facilitiesfor press and television, accom-modation forcompetingteams andvisit-ing supporters, transport and securityservices . Only with the formation oftheEnte Antarquico Mundial was theWorld Cup in Argentina guaranteedthe financial and organisationalresources. General Jorge Rafael Videla,the President of Argentina, and hisGovernment, must take credit and feelgratified about the immense success ofthis Competition and the goodwilltowards Argentina and its people whichwas engendered throughout the world.

Since 1966, FIFA has appointed agroupoftechnical officials to study each WorldCup Final Competition to assess andcomment on the organisation, matchcontrol andteam performances . For thisCompetition, Dr. Havelange and theTechnical Committee of FIFA underthe Chairmanship of Harry Cavan,invited the following to form a technicalstudy group :

Sir Walter Winterbottom (England)Director, Jose Bonetti (Brazil), KarlHeinz Heddergott (Federal Republic ofGermany), Dr. Vaclav Jira (Czecho-slovakia), Hans Lang (Federal RepublicofGermany), Rinus Michels (Holland),

Miljan Miljanic (Yugoslavia), RogerQuinche (Switzerland) .Four members ofthe study group wereassigned to the Groups of First Roundmatches : Group I, Miljan Miljanic ;Group II, Rinus Michels; Group III,Karl Heinz Heddergott ; Group IV, JoseBonetti. They met the leading official,coach anddoctor ofeach team to discusswith them the preparation oftheirteamsand later their views on organisation,standards of play and match control.They also observed and reported onmatches in their groups as far as pos-sible . Dr. Vaclav Jira andRogerQuincheassisted Sir Walter Winterbottom incovering other games and specialaspects ofplay . RogerQuinche also con-ducted the physical training sessionsand tests of the referees during theirperiod of assembly before the Com-petition started . Hans Lang hadthe taskofappraising the installation offacilitiesand ground organisation .Thegeneral consensus ofopinion aboutthe standard offootball, arisingfrom dis-cussion in the study group and withnational coaches, was that it fell belowthat experienced in Germany F.R. (74)and Mexico (70) . Some of the teamcoaches expressed concern about thisand hoped that the technical studygroup would be forthright in its report-ing and would try to probe to the heartofthe problem. It is comparatively easyto criticise after an event and to talkabout criteria for improvement. What ismore difficult is to decide upon positivelines of action to bring about genuineimprovement in structure of the Com-petition, in organisation and in stan-dards of refereeing and football play .There is strongfeeling that outside pres-sures and influences - national politicsand prestige, publicity and criticismfrom press and television, andcommer-cialisation - are preventing teams andindividual players from giving optimalperformances and are also affecting re-ferees' attitudes. In the first round ofmatches, teams tended to play cautious-ly to be sure ofqualifying. There is grow-ing suspicion that scientific approachesandmethods are beginning to dominatefootball andimpose values which donotfind their origin in the playing of thegame. Tactics are stereotyping players todefensive patterns and limiting theirfreedom to improvise and innovate .Some coaches suggest that too muchresponsibility is vested in the coach ofthe national team and that ways shouldbe found to lighten his burden.

This report analyses what happened inthe Competition and tries to point theway for future action . FIFA will distri-bute sufficient copies of the report tomember associations so that it can bewidely read and discussed by those whoare interested in the further develop-ment ofthe game at international level.

2. Overall Impressions and Objective ProposalsThe following observations and sug-gestions have been separated from themain body ofthe report, because oftheirbearing on future organisation andpre-paration . They stem from discussionswithin the study group and take intoaccount the views expressed by coachesandother officials in charge ofthe teamswhich played in the Final Tournamentof the World Cup Competition inArgentina .

Installations and Organisation ofCompetition

1 . In general, the installations at allgrounds were of a high standard . Unfor-tunately, the late laying ofthe turf, com-bined with wet weather duringthe Com-petition, resulted in playing surfaceswhich, with the exception of Cordoba,were not up to the quality one expectsfor the Final Competition. The surfaceat Mar del Plata suffered most and theyielding turf gave poor foothold andkicked up badly, thereby affecting thetrue run and bounce ofthe ball .

2. The newly built andrenovated stadiaconformed to all FIFA specifications .They were well-designed buildings andapart from minor exceptions, adequa-tely fulfilled their purpose.

3. Approaches to grounds were clearlysignposted but some ofthe parking lotswere too far from the stadiaandwere notalways sufficiently illuminated for nightgames. Security precautions were ex-cellent andstadium precincts inside theenclosure were keptfree oftraffic so thatspectators could gain easy entry into thestadium.

4. Electronic scoreboards were wellplaced at all stadia. Team line-upsshould be shown more often whereasthe scores in other games should not beshown except in the interval or at theend ofthe game.

5. Deep moats close to the playing pitchand strips of concrete surfaces near thetouchlines can present hazards toplayers when forced to run out of thefield ofplay . Then, time can be wasted ifthe ball has to be fished out ofthe moat,as at Mendoza and Rosario, before playcan restart. This problem lends furtheremphasis to a previous suggestion thatarrangements should be made for quicksubstitution ofthe match ball wheneverit goes out ofplay and its retrieval couldcause delay in restarting the game .

6. It is scarcely practicable to arrangevenues and organise matches so that allteams are identically treated in relationto travelling . YetPoland seemed to havejust cause for complaint for they werecompelled to do much more travellingthan other teams against whom theycompeted. This is a factor to considerin future arrangements ofFinal Compe-titions . It seems no one had foreseenthe possibility offog interferingwith the

Overall Impressions and Objective Proposals 83

progress of the Competition. Fortuna-tely matches were not affected, but atwenty-four hour journey overnight bytrain from Buenos Aires to Cordoba bythe referee and linesmen for them toofficiate immediately on arrival hardlycontributes to efficiency of matchcontrol. This is amattertobe consideredin deciding whether to concentratereferees in a central establishment orto disperse them into groups at the sub-seats. The German team was also heldup in their air travel on one occasion .There was a feeling of relief when thefog cleared completely .

7 . Through television and filming ofmatches and press coverage, millions ofpeople throughout the world were ableto see the games as played and readabout them. At all sub-seats a specialtelevision, radio and press centre wasavailable, and in Buenos Aires a splen-did centre provided ample facilities fortelevision andradio personnel. Then, ineach stadium special sections ofseatingforjournalists and booths for televisionandradio commentatingwere provided .There were also press and televisionrooms where interviews could takeplace after games .Thegrowth in demand for accreditationfrom journalists, photographers andradio commentators is creating its ownproblems . There were so many photo-graphers that their numbers at somegames had to be restricted and theirmovement about the field controlledwhen the game was in progress . Theircooperation in this matter ofpositioningwas admirable . The problem ofcateringfor the ever increasing number ofjour-nalists is not solely confined to facilitiesat the grounds where matches areplayed . It extends to headquarters ofteams and the arrangements forinterviews of team managers andplayers. In future, consideration mustbe given by the organizers as well as thedelegations to the improvement offacilities for interviewing using inter-preters and translation equipment atteam headquarters and for photo-graphing players at practice grounds.

8. In previous reports the technical stu-dy group has made suggestions aboutchanges in the structure of the FinalCompetition. It remains the view ofthetechnical study group that ideally FIFAshould move towards a system ofpreliminary competition which in effectproduces the World's best sixteenteams for the Final Competition . It can

84

Technical Study

be argued that whereas in Mexico (70)and Germany F.R . (74) the smallercountries in a footballing sense, such asEl Salvador, Haiti, Zaire and Australia,found difficulty in competing at thelevel ofthe European andSouth Ameri-can teams, Israel and Morocco (70) andTunisia and Iran (78) surprised somemajor teams by their standard of play .And, of course, the Confederations ofConcacaf, Asia, Africa and Oceania willinsist that to achieve further develop-ment of the game in a socio/political/-sport context, more teams from theirparts ofthe worldneed to be exposed tothe limelight of the Final Competition.This attitude is understandable and isthe main reason forthe proposal thattheFinal Competition should be enlargedfrom 16 teams to 20 or even 24 . Quiteapart from the greater burden on thehost country and the extra cost createdby a bigger number of teams, there isalso the problem of the extendedduration ofthe Final Competition whenmany coachesandplayers consider thatit is already too long. Indeed, there issome feeling that the present Com-petition should be reduced in time byhaving only two days' rest betweenmatches which would help to ease theproblem of boredom. Previously thestudy group urged three days betweenmatches to allow sufficient rest andtimeto recover from minor injuries . Doctorswere advocating four days betweenmatches for the same reasons .

9. There are several ways offraming thematch programme for a Final Com-petition and each has its defects. Thesystem offour groups offour teams in afirst round followed by two groups offour teams in the second round leadingto the final andthe match for 3rd and4thplaces was suggested in the technicalstudy report of the 1970 Final Com-petition, and was first tried out in Ger-many F.R. in 1974 . Here it was seen thatafter two matches had been played inthe second round, the final four teamshad clearly emerged and some of theremaining matcheswere oflittle conse-quence . The situation in Argentina wasaffected by the arrangement to have thekick-off at different times in matches inthe same group. Argentina, when theytook the field against Peru, knew whatthey hadto accomplish to qualify for thefinal. The amazing performance of theteam in winning 6-0 against Peru, withthe intense emotion and ecstatic joy oftheir fellow countrymen does not re-move the question mark against such

favoured provision . This is not the firsttime that privilege has been granted thehost country. It is easy to justify anymatch arrangement on grounds that itachieves bigger crowds, wider televisioninterest and greater financial gain . YetFIFA must strive for fairness in all itscompetitive structures otherwiseglamourcould give wayto suspicion andaccusation of bias, followed by disillu-sionment and disinterest.

10 . It is remarkable that, in the last fourWorld Cup Championships, the open-ing ceremonial matches have produceda low standard of competitive footballand finished in no-score draws. In 1966and 1970, the factthatthe host countrieswere playing in the opening matchescould have induced acautionary note inthe nature of these games. In 1970 and1974, the WorldCup Champions, BrazilandFederal Republic ofGermany, werefaced with competent opponents andconsequently must have calculated thatthough they must not lose, they couldbe satisfied with a draw, especially ano-score draw . We would now proposethat in order to ease the pressure onteams, the first matches inall first roundgroups should be played on the openingday with each sub seat arranging itsown opening ceremony . The majoropening ceremony in the main cityshould precede the first match of theteam of the host country. In Argentina,each sub seat arranged an attractiveceremony for its first match.

11 . Other reports of technical studygroups have urged coaches everywhereto move away from negative, largely de-fensive football, towards a balancedgame with an attacking flair . However, ifthe structure ofa competition enables anegative, defensive approach to succeedwithout risk, then coaches will adoptsuch amethod ofplay .To qualify for the second round stillcarries an element of strategic calcu-lation . A team winning its first twomatches can afford to take things easy inits last game in its group, thereby scat-tering confusion and bewildermentamongst other teams fighting to qualify.In Mexico (70), Italy won its group hav-ing scored only one goal in threematches . In Germany F.R. (74), thequestion of which teams in Groups 1and4 should qualify for the second finalround depended upon the number ofgoals scored against the weakest team ineach Group.

12 . Competition was tighter in thegroups of the first round in Argentina,though it was suggested by one nationalcoach that to encourage teams to play towin in all matches of this round, theresults should be taken into account inthe second round. This might bereasonable if first round groups wereequally balanced with every team hav-ing agood chance ofqualifying but if, asin GermanyF.R.1974, some groups hadweak teams, then the teams qualifyingfrom these groups would have an unfairadvantage in the second round of theCompetition.

13 . There seem to be three main con-siderations in deciding upon theframework of a Final Competition inWorld Cup Football :

The claim from Confederationsfor greater representation .The need for each participatingteam to have at least three mat-ches .

(III) The length of the Competitionand the number of matcheswhichthe four teams reaching thefinal matches are called upon toplay .

The technical study group still favoursthe proposal made in the 1970 and 1974Reports of structuring the preliminarycompetition to provide ahome andawayplay off for thirty teams to find the fif-teen teams which, together with thehost team, wouldmake up apool of six-teen teams for the Final Competiton.

14 . We also suggest that considerationshould be given to reverting to the sys-tem in Mexico of starting with fourgroups of four teams with the winnersand runners-up being drawn to play inquarter-final matches followed by semi-finals and finals . The total number ofmatches would thereby be reducedfrom the present 38 to 32 and thematches to be played by teamsreachingthe finals from 7 to 6. Thesystem wouldinduce greater interest in "suddendeath" competition from quarter-finalsonwards and would eliminate "calcu-lation play" in the second round andavoid matches whichhave no impact onqualification for first and second places .

15 . The consensus view of the studygroupandnational coaches is against ex-tending the size of the Final Com-petition for reasons that the duration ofthe Competition ifanything needs to becurtailed not extended and that it is

already difficult enough to cater for six-teen teams andmaintain ahigh standardof attractive football throughout theCompetition. In this respect, a bettersystem for twenty-four competingteams would be to have a first round ofsix groups of four teams, with the firstand second teams in each league to-gether with four other teams on bestperformance, making sixteen teams inall to take part in a knockout com-petition from then on . Each team wouldhave at least three matches and the fourteams in the finals would have seven,that is no more than with the presentsystem .6 groups of4 = 3 matches per team and36 matches in all (1st and2ndgo forwardtogether with four ofthe remainder whohave the best performances on points,goal difference andgoals for)16 teams in knockout = 1 match perteam and 8 matches in all8 teams in quarter-finals = 1 match perteam and 4 matches in all4 teams in semi-finals = 1 match perteam and2 matches in allFinal, 3rd and 4th place matches = 1match per team and 2 matches in allThis would mean playing 52 games asagainst 38 in the present system but,providing twelve grounds (two for eachofthe six groups) were available for thefirst round, the duration of the Com-petition would be the same as atpresent.The additional advantage ofthis systemis that every game becomes importantand teams which are third in theirleagues, probably on small goal dif-ferences, have the chance of beingamongthe four best "runners-up" to gointo the knockout . This procedurewould stimulate greater interest andhelp to eliminate formality matcheswith nothing at stake.

16 . Size of squad - Number of Substi-tutesThere are mixed views about the idealsize of the squad to participate in theFinal Competiton. Some coaches feelthat the permitted number of playersshould be increased to twenty-three toenable a third goalkeeper to be inclu-ded. Goalkeeping is a specialised func-tion andthere is always the need to havea substitute goalkeeper in readiness . Ifonly two goalkeepers are in the squadandonebecomes injured, then the teamcould be seriously handicapped. Othercoaches feel that twenty-two players aretoomany . Unused reserves can produce

an air offrustration which has a negativeeffect on team morale . Most coachesfeel satisfied with the present size ofthesquadand argue that it is possible to in-clude three goalkeepers if this isthought to be essential .A few coaches advocate an increasefrom two to three substitutes, that is,two field players andagoalkeeper at anytime during the game . Others whilstunderstanding the purpose of thischange, are not prepared to press for itstrongly .

17 . Drug AbuseThe news that a Scottish player had res-ponded positively to a drug test was amajor sensation . The stunned officialsof the Scottish Football Associationacted promptly by sending the playerhome at once and suspending himfromparticipation in future national games .But the admission by the player,attached as he was to an English FirstDivision Club, that he had used drugs"regularly", points to the need for Asso-ciations to introduce drug testing pro-cedures in their domestic competitions .International Federations in othersports are followingthe leadofthe Inter-national Olympic Committee in settingup tests in national events to detect thepresence of stimulants and anabolicsteroids . The benefits of drugs to a foot-baller, by nature of the physical re-quirement offootball, may be less signi-ficant than for athletes andother sports-men taking part in explosive or strengthevents, yet football authorities musttake positive action to rid the game ofsuch practices before they spread andbegin to affect the young players. Manyexperienced coaches now say that thepressures on teams to win are so strongthat authority must exert very strict con-trol . Ifplayers are known to be breakinglaws and regulations and getting awaywith doing so, then the use of unfairmethods will spread . There should beno halfmeasures in dealingwith abusesofthis kind .

18 . Match Control by Referees andLinesmenBefore the Competition started, it waspredicted that the contrasting styles andtemperament of European and SouthAmerican football, particularly nowthat "winning or losing" is of suchnational concern, would result in an ex-cess ofrough play between teams. As itturned out, the behaviour of players inmost of the matches of the first roundwas appreciably better than expected .

Overall Impressions and Objective Proposals 85

In these early games, refereeing was ofareasonably high quality but unaccoun-tably the standard fell away in some ofthe later gameswhen more experiencedreferees officiated . Throughout theCompetition, old problems of matchcontrol were evident anddoubtwas caston the impartiality ofsome referees .Points which call for attention include :

(I) The use ofyellow and red cardsSome referees did not caution playersand show the yellow card even forserious fouls . Others showed yellowcards to different players but avoidedthe red card even though laterinfringements by players already cau-tioned were more serious offences .There were several instances whenplayers committing offences such as thedeliberate handling of the ball and thecatching hold ofor tripping an opponentto stop good penetrative attacks outsidethe penalty area were not cautioned . Onone occasion, after repeated efforts tounlock the offside trap, a player success-fully broke away only to be frustrated inhis goal scoring opportunity by thegoalkeeper advancing well outside thepenalty area to handle the ball. Thegoalkeeper was not cautioned for thisunfair act. Against the present system ofdefensive tactics, attackers have amostdifficult task in contriving goodopenings to shoot at goal . To have thesenullified by grossly unfair play isdemoralising . If players and coachesrealise that these so-called "profes-sional" fouls are accepted by referees asminorinfringements, then they willper-petrate them more often. Nationalcoaches are worried about refereesallowing far too much brutal play andunsporting behaviour to go unpu-nished . Many "last ditch" fouls werecommitted outside the penalty areawithout any caution to the offendingplayer . There is growing concern aboutvicious fouls on star attacking playersandparticularly the increasinguse ofthetackle from behind which, though aim-ing for the ball, brings down the attack-ing player with the possibility of injury .It is argued that referees hesitate to usethe yellow card because a laterinfringement by the same player willmean asending offand suspension fromthe next game which, in somesituations, would seem to be too drastica punishment . Being lenient is noanswer and produces its own problems .The lawis clear andifreferees are firm intheir application of it, players will res-pond . The proposal to have an inter-

86

Technical Study

mediate grade of punishment, that of atemporary sending off for fifteenminutes, has been examined and rejec-ted.The International Board is the body res-ponsible for defining the Laws of theGame. FIFA selects the officials for thisprestigious Competition from refereesnominated by Associations to serve onthe FIFA list . These referees should beof proven integrity and courage. Theyshould know clearly what is expected ofthem. The Conference of Refereeswhich is heldb efore the start ofthe FinalCompetition, needs strong leadershipto reach agreement on problem areas ofinterpretation so thatcontrol ofmatcheswill be firm and more consistent in theassessment ofthe nature ofoffences andthe punishment ofthem.We have witnessed improvementsbrought about by the concerted andconsistent action ofreferees in prevent-ing the treatment ofinjury on the field,in keeping coaches and trainers off thefield and in dealing with dissent againstdecisions. It is within the power of re-ferees, supported by the Associationsand FIFA, to rid the game ofwanton vi-cious play and cheating practices .

(II) Pushing andHoldingPushing and holding offences wereoften not seen or were ignored by re-ferees . Some attackingplayers, especial-ly on the flank ofthe field where turningon the ball is frequently attempted, usedan extended arm to push an opponentaway . Several offences were noticedwhere in the crowded penalty area de-fending players ran into or pushedattackers as the ball wasabout to be cen-tred . When confronted with the dangerof elusive attackers, defenderssometimes reached out to hold andimpede them and though free kickswere awarded, no caution was given.Some offences were unseen by the re-feree but clear to the linesman .Cooperation between linesman and re-ferees is known to be better where ateam of officials is selected from onecountry.

(III) OffsideThe use ofthe offside trap as a defensivetactic is contrary to the original purposeof the offside law which was to preventattackers encroaching and poachingbehind defenders . The trap, when wellexecuted, is difficult to escape unlessthe opposing team is well rehearsed incounter tactics and skill techniques .Timing of these "breaks" is crucial and

therefore the linesman must be expertin his judgement of offside situations .Some good escapes from the offsidetrap, whichwere finely timed so thattheplayer running forward was still onsideat themoment the ball wasplayed, wereflagged because the player was in an off-side positionwhen the ball reachedhim.Then again, when attackers do succeedin breaking the offside, professionalfouls such as handling the ball, trippingand holding the player shouldbe strong-ly cautioned . Coaches andplayers usingthe perfidious offside trap realise thatwhen it is unlocked, their opponentswin a gilt-edged chance to score . Smallwonder that they will then use the pro-fessional foul of handling the ball orstopping the player unfairly if all thatensues is a free kickto be taken against areorganised defence .

(IV) Free KicksIt is time that referees universally gavemore encouragement to attackingplayers when they have been fouled, byallowing them the opportunity oftakinga quick free kick if they so wish . Toomany referees insist on the kicker ofthefree kick waiting for the signal and there-by give the offending defenders astronger defensive position than theyhad when the infringement was com-mitted .When the infringement was nearenough to allow a direct shot at goal,there was the old difficulty of ensuringthat defenders were ten yards awayfromthe ball and kept at that distance untilthe kick was taken. Some refereesachieved a reasonable distance of eightor nine yards but others were satisfiedwith distances of six or seven yards andallowed further encroachment as thekicker ran forward.The difficulty of getting the distance issuch a persistent worry to referees thatauthorities must try out experiments toease the situation . Ifreferees were tousea small plastic disc which could easily beseen when pinned to the ground, thiswould at least establish amark for all tosee and make it easier to spot encroach-ment.Though occasionally we may still seespectacular goals scored from suchdirect free kicks, there are many moreattempts which fail . No wonder thatteams use the professional foul to spoildangerous attacking play on the fringe ofthe penalty area and settle for betterodds of preventing a score from the freekick situation . The balance ofadvantage

might be altered if attackers wereallowed to take these free kicks as quick-ly as possible .Other experiments were suggested in-cluding that of limiting the number offield players in front ofthe ball when thekick is taken to six from each team . Ifthis were to give better chances to scorethen it would have a curbing effect onunfair play on the fringe of the penaltyarea.Referees vary in their attitude towardsthe quick taking of the free kick in mid-field . Some are insistent that the ballmust be precisely placed - whereasothers allow the advantage to the sideoffended against, as long as the ball iskicked from a position sufficiently nearthe place of infringement . Players whocompound their offences of fouling bydeliberately delaying the restart byholding the ball or kicking it awayshould be cautioned.

(V) Goalkeeper infringementsReferees are inclined to be more lenienttowards goalkeepers . Offences such astime wasting in clearing the ball, takingmore than four steps when carrying theball, andmovingbefore the taking ofthepenalty kick, were undetected orignored.The FIFAfilm on kicks from the penaltymark to decide the winner in Com-petitions shows how necessary it is toinsist that goalkeepers comply with thelaw in the penalty kick situation.

(VI) Referee Conference SessionsAs on previous occasions, selected re-ferees were assembled some ten daysbefore the start of the Competition.Insistence on fitness training and test-ing during this period is now having itseffect . Nearly all the referees were ingood shape on arrival and manyachieved excellentresults in the CooperFitness Test. Associations whose re-ferees are chosen for this Competitionwould do well to insist that they train toachieve a high standard offitness beforethey report for the Conference .A few referees in their matches overdidtheir running and the use of demon-strative gestures to show that they wereup with the game when infringementsoccurred . A referee can be too close tothe ball in play andget in the way ifhe isnot careful . On the other hand, therewere some referees who did little morethan jog to get into position and wereoften badly placedto see incidents whenthey occurred .There is divergence of opinionon some

technical and tactical aspects ofreferee-ing whichneed to be discussed to attainan uniform line of action . Such is thecase where a British referee, after a suc-cession ofthree corners, blew his whist-le to endthe game immediately the ballwas kicked for the third corner fromwhich the ball . was headed direct intogoal . The claim for a goal was ignored .It is customary in Britain for a refereewho is on the point of whistling to endthe game to await the taking ofthe kickor throw for a restart, before doing so .There are the views that the gameshould be conveniently and tacticallyended as the ball goes out ofplay, eventhough this is slightly before the end ofthe game or that the game should beextended to see the outcome ofimmediate play after the restart. Whilstthe British official's action in this in-stance resulted in controversy, it wasapparent that some defenders hadstopped playing on hearing the whistlebefore the ball entered the goal .The two periods ofdelay before the kickoffin the final match were unfortunateand efforts should be made to avoidsimilar situations in future . There canbe no excuse for delay in a team takingthe field and FIFA should decide whataction needs to be taken to prevent thisfrom happening. Then, the protestabout the Dutch player wearingaplasticstrapping on his wrist should have beenmade well before the game was due tostart and in any case ifthe strapping wasconsidered to be dangerous to otherplayers, it should have been spotted bythe referee in the inspection of kit andboots before the game. FIFA shouldinsist that any strapping on the arm orhand of a player should be reported tothe referee so that a decision can bemade beforehand as to whether it islikely to be dangerous in play .Itwould be wrong to give the impressionthat all refereeing showed weaknessesfor there were several matches whichwere controlled in exemplary fashion byboth the referee and linesmen . Othergames were made difficult to control bythe attitude and actions of players, butreferees at this level should be ex-perienced and strong enough in charac-ter to handle awkward situations andrough play .Continued efforts are needed to resolvethe differences between South Ameri-can and European practices . Refereesshould obey the instructions not com-menting to press and television aboutmatters ofselection and performance ofother referees . The Conference ofRefe-

rees needs strong leadership to weld thereferees into a loyal and cooperativeteam and to encourage each individualto be firm when officiating.

Overall Impressions and Objective Proposals