One win away from finally being crowned world champions, West Germany, European champions and the most consistent World Cup performers over two decades, arrive at 7 July 1974. Standing in their way, they find the Netherlands and the man everyone expects to succeed Pelé as the world’s number one player, …
Read More »12 W/C recalls—1974 (Pt 3): Beckenbauer’s Germans power past the Poles
West Germany also made a confident start in the second round. They began their Group B campaign by seeing off Yugoslavia, with goals in either half from Paul Breitner and Gerd Muller. On the same day, a Grzegorz Lato header gave Poland victory over Sweden in a very tight contest. …
Read More »12 W/C recalls—1974 (Pt 2): Not even sentimental favourites Brazil could stop the Dutch
As the business end of 1974 World Cup loomed, for the sentimentalists, the field of title contenders still included Brazil. But for most, it had thinned to three: The Netherlands, hosts West Germany and upstarts Poland. And like in a good shoot-’em-up western, the main characters were all nervously eyeing …
Read More »12 W/C recalls: 1974 when Total Football almost ruled the roost; sum of the parts
“Penalty! Holland have a penalty! And we are still in the opening minute of this long-awaited World Cup final!” In many ways, the amazing 10th Fifa World Cup in 1974 bore an uncanny resemblance to its 1954 counterpart. In Germany like in Switzerland, Fifa played the second round as a …
Read More »Haitian robbery; David, ‘Gally’ and ‘Archie’ erupt in controversial ‘74 campaign
The following is the third instalment of a series on Trinidad and Tobago’s World Cup football adventures, adapted from articles published first in the Trinidad Express in 2006, and looks back at the controversial 1974 World Cup campaign: Port-au-Prince was as silent as a grave on 4 December 1973. On …
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