World Cup by Matt Christopher

Author:Matt Christopher [CHRISTOPHER, MATT]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JNF009000
ISBN: 9780316088572
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2010-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

1974

Total Football

The 1974 World Cup competition, held in West Germany, bid goodbye to longtime favorites England and Hungary while welcoming four newcomers: Australia, Haiti, Zaire, and East Germany. It also welcomed a new format for the final stages of play. Rather than single knockout quarterfinals, the eight top teams were separated into two groups, A and B. The four teams within each group played one another, a total of three games apiece, with the best team then advancing on to the final.

The 1974 tournament saw other changes as well. A new solid gold trophy, called simply the World Cup Trophy, replaced the Jules Rimet Trophy, which had been retired by Brazil after its victory in the previous Cup. Taking the helm of FIFA was João Havelange, the first non-European to become president. Also noteworthy was the first red card, given to Chilean player Carlos Caszely for excessive roughness.

But by far the most exciting new development was a style of play known as Total Football.

For years, soccer teams were made up of players who were assigned set positions on the forward line, the midfield, the defensive zone, or the goal. While they could stray from their slots on occasion, mostly they were expected to stay put and cover their territory.

Total Football turned that concept on its head. Now, instead of being pigeonholed in their roles, teammates moved freely among the positions, adapting their play to whatever action unfolded on the field. No position was left uncovered; if a midfielder raced toward the opponent’s goal with the ball, for example, his teammates quickly shifted about until his empty position was filled.

Total Football required every player to know how to play every position and how to “read” the field. It demanded that they be flexible, ready to move fluidly into a different spot on the field at a second’s notice. In 1974, no player was better at that than Johan Cruyff of the Netherlands.

Cruyff was slim, nimble-footed, and the only soccer player to have a move named after him. The “Cruyff turn,” as it is known, is a trick aimed at luring a defender one step out of position. To do the move, the handler controls the ball with his right foot and pretends to move right. When the defender moves with him, the handler then flicks the ball behind his own feet—and away from the defender. After that, it’s a simple matter of controlling the ball and heading straight for the goal.

Considered one of the sport’s top playmakers, Cruyff captured the attention of the world during the 1974 World Cup with his uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time. Behind his wily expertise and pinpoint accuracy, the Netherlands reached the finals for the first time ever.

There they faced the home team, West Germany, in its first appearance in the finals since its 1966 loss to England. The Germans had won all but one of their opening matches. They lost a politically charged match with East Germany in which the only and winning goal was scored by Jürgen Sparwasser.

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