History of the World Cup: 1978 Argentina: Controversy and gamesmanship... yes it's World Cup Argentinian style.
ARGENTINA hosted and dominated the 1978 competition and once again it was the Dutch who were forced to play second fiddle in the final.There are those who say that a home win for the Argentinians was inevitable amid such a partisan atmosphere and in a country ruled by a military junta.
Cesar Menotti's side contained some exceptional individuals such as Mario Kempes, Daniel Passarella and two players who were to end up in England... Alberto Tarantini, who signed for Birmingham, and Ossie Ardiles famously signed by Spurs boss Keith Burkinshaw with Riccard Villa.
Ironically, the two finalists started the tournament with problems and Cruyff decided not to travel with the Dutch squad. And Germany did not have Franz Beckenbauer after he signed for New York Cosmos in the USA.
The Scots were back, but controversy was to hinder their progress under Ally McLeod's 'Tartan Army' regime.
Scotland lost their opening match to Peru 3-1 then they could only draw with Iran 1-1.
But to rub salt into the wounds of the Peru defeat, Scotland had West Bromwich Albion midfielder Willie Johnston sent home in disgrace after he failed a routine drug test.
That left the Scottish bid totally demoralised although they did make a brave attempt at last-ditch qualification against Holland. Needing to win by three goals, they won 3-2, including a sensational individual goal by Archie Gemmill, but only after a desperate fightback by the Dutch.
Argentina won their first two matches but then lost to the Italians to qualify second and Holland also finished second in their group to Peru.
But the second phase of the competition was to cause uproar in South America. Holland won their group, consisting of European sides, with an undefeated run which included wins over Austria and Italy while drawing with West Germany in a re-run of the 1974 final.
However, Argentina drew with Brazil after beating Poland. But in their other matches, Brazil recorded a formidable goal difference by beating Peru 3-0 and Poland 3-1.
Significantly, Argentina's final match with Peru kicked off after Brazil's and Menotti's side needed to win by four goals. They won 6-0 as the Peruvians capitulated amid accusations from the Brazilians that all had not been above board.
The Brazilians accused Peru of having no pride while the Argentinians said that Brazil had also tried to influenced the match.
It meant that Argentina got to the final under a cloud, not that that mattered to their ticker-tape throwing supporters.
Holland walked into the lion's den for the final and straight into a blatant act of gamesmanship from the Argentinians who arrived on the field five minutes late. Then they moaned about a bandage being worn by Rene van der Kerkhof which caused more delays.
It was a poorly refereed match but Holland, despite their anger with the Argentinians' pre-match tactics, forced the game into extra-time.
Kempes gave Argentina the lead but Nanninga equalised and Rensenbrink hit the post in the last minute.
Somehow, Argentina rallied in extra-time with Kempes restoring the lead and Bertoni scoring a third to send the home fans wild.
1978 factfile
PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP A
Argentina 2 Hungary 1
Italy 2 France 1
Argentina 2 France 1
Italy 3 Hungary 1
Italy 1 Argentina 0
France 3 Hungary 1
GROUP B
Germany FR 0 Poland 0
Tunisia 3 Mexico 1
Poland 1 Tunisia 0
Germany FR 6 Mexico 0
Germany FR 0 Tunisia 0
Poland 3 Mexico 1
GROUP C
Austria 2 Spain 1
Sweden 1 Brazil 1
Austria 1 Sweden 0
Brazil 0 Spain 0
Spain 1 Sweden 0
Brazil 1 Austria 0
GROUP D
Netherlands 3 Iran 0
Peru 3 Scotland 1
Scotland 1 Iran 1
Netherlands 0 Peru 0
Peru 4 Iran 1
Scotland 3 Netherlands 2
FINAL ROUND
GROUP A
Germany FR 0 Italy 0
Netherlands 5 Austria 1
Italy 1 Austria 0
Germany FR 2 Netherlands 2
Netherlands 2 Italy 1
Austria 3 Germany FR 2
GROUP B
Argentina 2 Poland 0
Brazil 3 Peru 0
Argentina 0 Brazil 0
Poland 1 Peru 0
Brazil 3 Poland 1
Argentina 6 Peru 0
THIRD PLACE
PLAY-OFF
Brazil 2 Italy 1
FINAL
Argentina 3 Netherlands 1 (aet)
Mario Alberto Kempes (2), Ricardo Daniel Bertoni (Arg); Dirk Naminga (Ned)
CAPTION(S):
WE'VE WON IT ... Mario Kempes celebrates after scoring his second goal against Holland in the Final. (Left) Argentina are crowned champions in front of their home supporters and (far left) the players celebrate an early victory against Hungary
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| Title Annotation: | Football |
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| Publication: | Sunday Mercury (Birmingham, England) |
| Date: | May 26, 2002 |
| Words: | 749 |
| Previous Article: | History of the World Cup: 1974 Germany: Germany manages to tackle Cruyff and his Total Football. |
| Next Article: | History of the World Cup: 1982 Spain: Italy do the treble. |