Wallcharts and World Cup ’78
As the excitement for the Euro competition grows, I figured it would be fitting to reminisce on a past World Cup event.
Even though I was present during that time, I am not old enough to recall the tournaments held in 1970 and 1974. Therefore, I will commence my review from the year 1978.
The latest World Cup championship was held in Argentina, and it was the eleventh of its kind. Argentina, who was the host country, emerged as the winner after defeating the Netherlands 3-1 in the final match. The game was played in the Estadio Monumental stadium, which belongs to the River Plate club in Buenos Aires. Some additional time was required to determine the ultimate victor.
When I was nine years old, I got my first taste of watching international tournament football. Even though England didn't make it to the tournament, the fact that Scotland was there made it interesting for people from the UK.
Interestingly, in 1977, England participated in a highly anticipated game against Argentina during their South American tour. Many people saw this as a practice round for the upcoming competition that was scheduled a year later. However, by this point in time, England's chances of qualifying for the tournament appeared slim. Later that year, they managed to defeat Italy at Wembley, but because only the top team from each group could advance, Italy made it through due to their better goal scoring record against Finland and Luxembourg compared to England. Italy was placed in Group 1, where they would face France, Hungary and the host country.
I remember watching the Argentina vs England game from 1977 on BBC. It was broadcasted live on a Sunday night. The match took place at La Bombonera, which is the home stadium of Boca Juniors. Due to technological limitations in Argentina at that time, the broadcast was only in black and white. During the match, I saw England struggle to a 1-1 draw. Stuart Pearson gave England an early lead, but Daniel Bertoni responded with a beautiful curling free kick to even the score.
The game is mostly known for the red card given to Trevor Cherry from England, which was the first time ever a friendly match saw this. He committed a late challenge from behind on Bertoni, and the Argentine became very angry. Bertoni reacted by punching Cherry in the face. The referee from Uruguay had no other option but to send Bertoni off, but with the atmosphere being very tense and unstable, he decided to send off Cherry, who had already lost two of his teeth during the confrontation with Bertoni.
The fervent supporters and intense environment during that particular evening offered a glimpse into what would happen one year later. The hosts of the tournament were fueled by zealous backing and certain questionable judgments, which ultimately caused the competition to be plagued by conflict, internal politics, and supposed meddling and manipulation by the Argentine oppressive regime. This particular military junta utilized the tournament as a platform for nationalistic propaganda and to establish credibility on an international level.
Argentina did not succeed in winning their group, even though they were able to benefit from some unfair judgments. They had to journey from the city to the remote location of Rosario for their Group B games in the next round. Their group had Brazil, Poland, and Peru, and when Brazil and Argentina tied their match, it was a matter of who would perform better against the remaining two teams.
Brazil defeated Peru 3-0 and won against Poland with a score of 3-1. Argentina now had to win against Peru by a minimum of four goals to qualify for the finals. The advantage for the Argentines was that all the host's games were in the night time and they knew their position in the group. Later, FIFA made a wise decision to ensure that the last two group games would occur at the same time.
Argentina won against Peru with a convincing 6-0 score, which raised suspicions that Peru may have been paid to lose the match. Some rumors circulated that Peru was given a large amount of grain to intentionally lose. However, the controversy didn't end there as it was revealed that the Peruvian goalkeeper, Ramón Quiroga, was originally from Argentina and didn't perform very well in stopping Argentina's goals.
During the tournament, the country had experienced a military takeover two years prior. In the period leading up to the World Cup, the newly-installed government went after those they suspected of trying to destabilize their regime. This resulted in over 5,000 people being taken into custody and never seen again. Some of these individuals were detained in camps near the River Plate’s Monumental Stadium, which sat in the shadow of the stadium where fans cheered on the home team. This brought to mind previous instances of politics intermingling with sports such as during the 1934 World Cup and 1936 Olympics.
Some countries were unsure if they should take part in the event due to the political chaos. However, all the qualified nations eventually participated. The famous Dutch player Johan Cruyff and the West German player Paul Breitner, who had both played in the final in Munich four years earlier, chose not to go to Argentina.
When I was just nine years old, I have many different memories of the tournament. One of them was being selected as the person in charge of the World Cup '78 chart in my primary school classroom. It was my responsibility to keep track of all the results of each game as they happened. I took this task very seriously and made sure everything was recorded accurately.
Before the tournament, there was a lot of hype surrounding the Scotland team. They even had a popular single called "Ally's Tartan Army," which was about Scotland's fans, known as the Tartan Army, and their manager Ally MacLeod. The song sold over 360,000 copies and got to number 6 on the UK charts. The other side of the single was called "Ah want tae be a Punk Rocker," which was a playful mocking of the punk rock movement, which was very popular at the time. If you look at the UK charts from that era, you'll see popular bands like Sham 69 and The Clash with their hits "Angels with Dirty Faces" and "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais."
The Scots had high hopes of winning the tournament, but their dreams were shattered when they lost to England in their last practice match at Hampden Park before heading to South America. Upon reaching Argentina, one of their star players, Willie Johnston from West Bromwich Albion, got expelled for not passing a drug test. He had taken two hayfever tablets before the team's first game against Peru, which they lost 3-1. Unfortunately, the tablets had a prohibited substance called Fencamfamin.
I remember watching Scotland play against Peru with my mom's dad. He was taking care of me that Saturday night when Teofilo Cubillas made a lasting impression on me. Cubillas managed to score two goals towards the end of the game, causing the Scots to suffer a painful loss. This game still haunts Scottish fans today.
The shame of losing against the lesser-known South Americans was bad enough, but what made it even more embarrassing was the fact that they only managed to draw 1-1 with Iran. Iran and Tunisia were both making their debut at the World Cup.
The outcomes of those two games meant that Scotland were in a very difficult position, requiring a huge accomplishment in the shape of a three-goal victory against the Netherlands. It was within the realm of possibility thanks to Archie Gemmill's exertions in Mendoza, which lies at the base of the Andes. However, with just twenty minutes remaining, Johnny Rep put an end to any hope. Even though Scotland managed to win their final group match 3-2 against a team that would go on to become runners up once more, it only made the previous embarrassing defeats to Peru and Iran all the more disheartening, especially for supporters of the Scottish team.
If you were a spectator of this competition, you would surely remember the ticker tape that followed the games of the team hosting it. I was particularly captivated by the vast amount of debris that was scattered across the field every time Argentina played. Furthermore, when I saw the final match, I noticed that the field was covered in ticker tape even during the extra time when the winning goals were made by Mario Kempes and Daniel Bertoni, which left the Netherlands no chance to make a comeback.
If you take a look at the footage from almost 50 years ago, you will see the clean and bouncy white nets, but if you examine it more closely, you'll observe black bands on the posts' bases that catch your attention every time the goals appear on camera. The staff in charge of the stadium were outraged by the junta's attempt to use the World Cup finals for political gain and were horrified by the disappearance of a large number of their fellow citizens. To pay tribute to those who had gone missing, they painted black armbands on the goalposts' bases.
For those who have memories of the World Cup, they may recall the exceptional Adidas Tango ball that was used. This ball was specifically crafted for the 1978 tournament and was given its name after a dance from the 1880s that began along the Río de la Plata, which is the natural border between Uruguay and Argentina. The ball was a true masterpiece and unlike any I had previously seen. It was noticeably different from the orange Slazenger ball that became familiar after it struck the roof of the Wembley net during the 1966 game, which was accompanied by Kenneth Wolstenholme's famous quote, "they think it's all over."
The Tango was made up of twenty hexagonal panels that looked alike. Triads created the feel of twelve circles surrounding the pentagons. The ball was first released as the Tango Durlast. They later produced other versions like the Tango River Plate and the Tango Rosario.
The last thing that brings back fond memories for me is recalling how the French team wore a jersey with green and white stripes during their last group game versus Hungary. This happened because FIFA and the two countries involved had a communication breakdown and it was all linked to the fact that just before the tournament, Argentina was still showing matches in black and white. As a result, teams had to wear either light or dark colors when facing off against one another.
FIFA sent a letter to the French and Hungarian football associations before the tournament started. The letter said that Hungary would wear red and France would wear white. But three months later, FIFA changed their mind. Unfortunately, France didn't know about the change, and they didn't bring their blue shirts to the stadium in Mar del Plata. Thankfully, a local club called Atlético Kimberley had some green and white striped jerseys that they let France borrow. France won the game 3-1, but it was too late for them to make it to the top of the group. Italy came in first, and the hosts came in second.
Over time, there have been claims that the 1978 Argentina team engaged in bribery and corruption. However, it is reasonable to assume that they must have possessed considerable skill, as they managed to win the World Cup for Albiceleste. Their opponent in the final, who had only narrowly lost the final to West Germany four years prior, still had impressive players like Ruud Krol, Johnny Rep, Johan Neeskens, Arie Haan, Robbie Rensenbrink and the Van der Kerkhof brothers, Willy and Rene, in their team.
Against a political climate of conflict and the uncertainty surrounding the missing persons, the Argentine team faced a moral predicament. Their coach, César Luis Menotti, helped to alleviate this dilemma by frequently smoking and giving them advice that would go down in history. He advised them to strive for victory not for the regime, but for the common men and women who made up the crowd – the factory workers, the meat-sellers, the bakers, and the cab drivers.
The Golden Boot award wasn't introduced until the 1982 World Cup in Spain, but Mario Kempes, an Argentine striker with long hair, managed to get the top scorer title at the 1978 tournament, scoring six goals, two of which were in the final game. Alongside him were talented players like the winger Daniel Bertoni, the team captain Daniel Passarella, and another striker named Leopoldo Luque. Two of the players from the final game, Osvaldo Ardiles and Alberto Tarrantini, became well-known in England. Ardiles later managed Newcastle United, while Tarrantini joined Birmingham City.
Blog post for April 1991, labelled as Issue 26.
During the period leading up to the Falklands War in 1982, various Argentine players were active in England, including Ricky Villa. As a member of the victorious 1978 squad, Villa played for Spurs and even scored the winning goal in the FA Cup Final replay against Manchester City in 1981.
Let's talk about my experience with the wallchart that hung in Mrs. Smith's classroom during a long summer about 50 years ago. Out of all the jobs I've had throughout my life, even the ones that paid me well, I consider that summer job to be the best one I've ever had.
