Scotland played entertaining and cavalier soccer, but it was the odd man out, as Yugoslavia and Brazil advanced (all three teams were tied with four points) on goal difference. Playing in Group B, Brazil began defence of its title in under-whelming fashion, held to a goalless draw by Yugoslavia in the tournament opener in Berlin on June 14. He didn't score, but the "Cruyff Turn" became an instant part of soccer lore as children tried for decades to duplicate his ballet-like move in school playgrounds across the globe. Instead, with the same right foot that appeared to knock the ball backwards, Cruyff shifted the ball in the opposite direction while simultaneously swivelling his entire body in the same direction and took off past Olsson on the right towards the Swedish goal-line. With his back towards the net, he looked as if he was about to pass Sweden's Gunnar Olsson on his left and move back towards the centre of the field. It was in that 0-0 draw that the incomparable Johan Cruyff conjured up a bit of magic after receiving the ball just outside the Swedish penalty area. The idea was that you could switch around one player and insert him into another position and you would not be adversely affected because everybody on the team could play any position with aplomb - "Total Football."ĪND ANOTHER THING: Without question, the most memorable moment of the tournament came in the first round in a game between the Dutch and Sweden. In this fluid arrangement, no player was tied down to their assigned position any player could be an attacker, a midfielder and a defender. "Total Football" was a system whereby a player who moved out of his position was instantly replaced by a fellow teammate, thus retaining the team's intended organizational structure. SPOTLIGHT: The 1974 World Cup introduced "Total Football" to the world, a free-flowing brand of soccer that was the antithesis of Italian catenaccio. Lato finished as the competition's top scorer with seven goals and was the main reason why the Poles finished in third-place. The ace winger was the revelation of the competition, scoring at will as he led Poland to victory over teams the calibre Italy, Argentina and Brazil. It was billed as a battle between the two stylists Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer, but it was the goal-poacher Gerd Muller who made the difference with his winning strike for the Germans. No match at the 1974 tournament came close to equalling the tension of the dramatic final between these two powerhouses. MATCH OF THE TOURNAMENT: West Germany's 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in the final. Security, reasonably so, was tighter than ever with tanks poised at the airports and armed police vigilant outside the stadiums. Just two years removed from the horrors of the Munich Olympics massacre in 1972 where 11 Israeli athletes were murdered, the World Cup was played against a backdrop of tension and unease. The 16-team field was still divided into four groups, but this time a second group stage replaced the knockout quarter-final round: the top two teams in each group would then be placed into two groups of four with the winners meeting in the final. "Total Football" came to full fruition at the 1974 competition in West Germany, marking a new era in World Cup history. THE EMERGENCE OF TOTAL FOOTBALLįeaturing the likes of the incomparable Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens, the Dutch mesmerized fans and opponents alike with an attacking brand of soccer known as "Total Football." The West Germans, guided by Franz Beckenbauer, subscribed to a more conservative yet equally effective interpretation of the revolutionary scheme. Highest scoring game: Yugoslavia's 9-0 win over Zaire on June 18īrazil's samba soccer and Italian catenaccio were spent forces, while "Total Football," noted for its inter-changeability and versatility, ruled the global game, as did its greatest advocates, West Germany and the Netherlands.Top scorer: Poland's Grzegorz Lato (7 goals).
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