Munich : Following the marvellous spontaneity of Mexico 1970, a new concept of football emerged in Germany in 1974 in which the idea of a team as a machine won out over that of the individual and his creativity.

Holland, which resembled a finely-tuned technological wonder, was the perfect exponent of what became known as "total football," but in the final the Dutch stumbled over the West German hosts.

The World Cup was now a truly global festival, with 99 countries attempting to qualify for the finals.

Once again there were numerous surprises in the qualifying stages. In Europe, England, France and Hungary failed to advance. In Central and North America, the Caribbean island of Haiti took the place traditionally reserved for Mexico. And Australia put Oceania on the football map by defeating South Korea in a play-off.

Politics showed its ugly face when the Soviet Union had to play Chile to qualify. Having drawn 0-0 in Moscow, the Soviets refused to travel to Santiago to play the return leg in the National Stadium, scene of serious mistreatment of dissidents under the military regime. FIFA disqualified the USSR, and Chile went to the World Cup.

Cold War scenario

The global political situation did not make things any easier for the host. The tournament was held shortly after the oil crisis of 1973 and in a country swarming with secret service agents in the middle of the Cold War.

Above all, the organisers were worried about possible terrorist attacks. Memories of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, at which the attack by a group of Palestinians on the Israeli delegation eventually left 11 Israelis dead, were still very fresh. Fortunately, with security measures at the highest level, there was no repeat of this at the 1974 World Cup.

As has always been the case, once the ball got rolling all the problems were forgotten. The games, held from June 13 to July 7 in nine cities, were marked by the emergence of the wonderful Dutch team led by Johan Cruyff.

This concept of "total football" was created by Ajax Amsterdam, the club which won the European Cup from 1971 to 1973, and it represented a 180-degree turn in the approach to the game. Players no longer had a fixed position on the field or definite tasks. In Holland everybody attacked and everybody defended, with players constantly interchanging positions.

This dynamic football helped the Dutch team, starring such players as Cruyff, Johan Neeskens, Jonny Rep and Rob Rensenbrink, sweep past Argentina and Brazil as the football world looked on in amazement.

Collective play

Meanwhile, West Germany was advancing on the other side of the draw based on a similar concept of collective play, but in a more rudimentary and direct fashion.

West German efficiency only faltered when emotions entered into play. And this is precisely what happened when it met its East German "cousins" in their final group match. The only encounter in football history between the two states divided by a wall resulted in a 1-0 victory for East Germany thanks to a goal by Juergen Sparwasser.

After overcoming this shock, the West Germans moved steadily on to the final, where they were awaited, as expected, by the Dutch. Each team had an undisputed leader — Cruyff for the Dutch and Franz Beckenbauer for the Germans.

Most fans around the world appeared to favour the more graceful play of the Dutch, but destiny sided with West Germany in the final in front of 78,000 spectators in Munich's Olympic Stadium.

Neeskens blasted in a penalty shot in the second minute to put his team ahead. But the Germans came back, with Paul Breitner tying it up — also on a penalty, and Gerd Mueller put the Germans ahead for good by 2-1 just before half-time. It was the second world title for Germany since 1954.

`Kaiser' Franz Beckenbauer, the German captain, raised the new World Cup to the cheers of the crowd.

The Jules Rimet trophy had been awarded permanently to the Brazilians after their third triumph in 1970, and FIFA had to have a new trophy made. The design proposed by an Italian, Silvio Gazzaniga, was chosen. The new cup was 36 centimetres high and consisted of almost five kilograms of solid gold symbolically representing a hand holding the globe. — DPA

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail