Football Journey

Among the countless debutantes this season was a pocket-size West German winger. He was born 1960 in West Berlin, which perhaps explains his not-so German sounding name, but he appeared with 1. FC Koln jersey. His talent was noted, but talented youngsters are many and dilemmas are eternal: is a teenage going to be just a quick flash, just as quickly disappearing, or going to develop into real star? Is it better to put a youngster quickly into the trials of professional football, or is it preferable to introduce him slowly and carefully, step by step? He may burn out right away… his development could be arrested too, if kept on the bench. The first Bundesliga season of the 1.68 m tall winger is not bad as numbers go: 16 matches and 4 goals. Not bad… not great either, for the record says he played only in half of the seasonal matches. Very likely not full games either – coming as a substitute more often than starting a match. Yet, it was a debut in the Bundesliga – a tough and challenging place to be. No matter what point of view one adopts, the youngster’s debut was not big sensation and he was unknown. Yet.

Some boy called Pierre Littbarski. One of the greatest players of the 1980s appeared on the scene without fuss.

As a rule of thumb, retirements are more interesting than debuts – famous veterans step down. At the end of 1978-79 season it was Gianni Rivera. Once upon a time – in 1959-60 – barely 16-years old debuted for Alessandria. It was sensational start: the teenager almost immediately became a starter and played 26 matches in his first season, scoring 6 goals as well.

Alessandria was better known club then than now, but it was a small club. It was easier to get starting position in a struggling team without stars – Rivera may have been lucky, but his debut was more than noticeable nevertheless. The ‘Golden boy’ of Italian football was born. As for Gianni – he was born in 1943.

Rivera in his first season – and his only season for other club but Milan. He was bought for a record fee of $200 000 – a testimony of his talent. Milan had the cash and also plans for a teenage genius: to replace aging star Juan Schiaffino. Not right away, but in the future. However, the talent of the new boy was so great, he became a starter immediately – an attacking midfielder or offensive playmaker, a rather mixed definition, but eventually putting him against another youngster back than: Sandro Mazzola. A quick jump forward: both Mazzola and Rivera became superstars, definitive players of the 1960s, extremely successful, key players for both clubs and country. It was difficult to play them together in the national team, for they had the same position, yet both accumulated impressive number of caps for Italy. Rivera, however, became and remained the Golden boy of Italian football, part of the international success of Italian football in the 1960s, scoring goals, which was not easy at the pinnacle of cattenachio and playing for perhaps more defensively oriented team than the originator of the dreadful defensive tactic.

This photo from the early 1970s speaks volumes of football history: Nereo Rocco, Gianni Rivera, and Trapattoni. Born to win and knowing how. Rivera shined in ultimately defensive, tough, and hardly attractive team devised and run with iron hand by Nereo Rocco. As for young ‘Trap’ – he had the luxury to learn coaching craft from a grand master and having at hand a genius player. As for Rivera – he was and is so well known, the best would be to just give numbers.

He played for Milan from 1960 to 1979 – so long, that often his first club is even not coming to mind. A one-club man, something fans adore and remember – a Milan legend in the true sense. He played 501 games for his club and scored 122 – that is official Italian championship games. When all other matches are added… the number perhaps cannot be even established correctly. With Milan he won 3 Italian titles – 1962, 1968, and 1979; 4 Cups – 1967, 1972, 1973, and 1977; 2 European Champions Cups – 1963 and 1969; 2 Cup Winners Cups – 1968 and 1973; and 1 Intercontinental Cup – 1969. He was also once the top scorer of Serie A – in 1973, although he shared the honor with two other players (Guiseppe Savoldi and Paulino Pulicci). He captained Milan from 1966 to 1975 and again from 1976 to his retirement in 1979.

For Italy he played 60 matches, in which he scored 14 goals between 1962 and 1974. After the awful Italian performance at the 1974 World Cup finals Rivera was no longer called to the national team – which in a way makes his stats even more impressive: Rivera not only accumulated so many largely during the 1960s, when national teams did not play many games, but also against the odds, for he had great rival – Sandro Mazzola. With Italy, Rivera played a 4 World Cup finals – 1962, 1966, 1970, and 1974. And he won the European Championship in 1968 – unfortunately, he missed the final because of injury. And he was voted European player of the year in 1969.

There was another side of him as well: the love of the game and his gentleman approach to it lead him to… banishment. In the 1970s he spoke against Italian referees and was punished for that. He also refused to move across the Atlantic and join the lucrative NASL – Rivera was entirely against going to the weird league and made fun of it. So, he played for Milan to the end, finishing his illustrious career at 36, but at high note: as a champion of Italy.

After retirement, he became vice-president of Milan and stayed at this post until 1986 when Silvio Berlusconi bought the club. After 1986 Rivers turned to politics and was elected in the Italian Parliament. Much later – to the Eurpean Union Parliament too. But it is not his political life remembered and cherished by people: Rivera became a football legend long time ago and remain exactly that not only in Italy. One of the all-time greatest players.

Stepping down – graceful exit, waiving at the fans. Nothing is forever, except memory – the Golden boy remains after 20 years delighting fans on the pitch.

The Golden Shoe, arbitrary as it was, had new winner – a Dutch of the next crop. Two men scored 31 goals this season – Laszlo Fekete (Ujpesti Dosza) and Thomas Mavros (AEK). The Greek was a prolific scorer and one of the best players of his country in the 1970s. Fekete was already a bit fading, he never fulfilled earlier expectations, but scored he did. Hungarians appeared often among the best scorers – Golden shoe really favoured weaker leagues, where a striker of strong team had plenty opportunities against much weaker opponents. Nothing surprising that Greeks and Hungarians scored so much. But they were outdone.

Two silver and one golden boot – from left: Fekete, Kist, Mavros.

Kees Kist scored 34 goals and got the award. He played for the strangely made, but rapidly rising AZ’67 Alkmaar. Kist was rising along with his club – he was of the next Dutch generation, pushing its way to replace the famous Flying Dutch of the first half of the 1970s. Players like Kist seemingly ensured continuity.

A typical dangerous Kist, not afraid from and not really stopped with such tackles. Like many Dutch players, he made strong impression playing for a smaller club – and then moving to Ajax or Feyenoord. It was a bit different this time: Kist was to stay with AZ”67 and have sensational European season before moving to other teams and countries as already established big star. To a point, the Golden Shoe was the big impression he made to Europe. He continued to score everywhere he played, but perhaps he got bigger reputation he really deserved. For he was not to be the next great world superstar… like the rest of his generation, he represents the time of relative decline of Dutch football. But this is general assessment – Kist outdid all other European strikers this year. He was good player and excellent scorer. Those, making the 1980s were pushing ahead – they were coming, Kist was a clear sign of that.

At the end of the decade Europe was in similar to South America situation: no truly outstanding players. Some were already too old, others still young and not trusted. The Europeans were not as adventures as the South Americans and voted for the well known. Upcoming stars did not get many votes – Hansi Muller got only 1, for instance. Michel Platini was good for only 5th place – the European journalists did not give credit even when presented with evidence. Club success was strong guiding principle – Maradona would never have been voted first in Europe because his club did not win a trophy. But lacking players like Beckenbauer and Cruyff, the European journalists went full ahead for the best known name at the moment… Kevin Keegan was overwhelming winner with 118 points. The second placed had less than half of that: 52. Further down was the 3rd – 41, and then there was one more chasm between him and the 5th, who had 27. Manfred Kaltz was 5th… perhaps at his best at exactly that time. He was ahead of Platini, who also was peaking. Ruud Krol was 3rd – if consistency was valued, he should have been 1st – at the moment, he was arguably the best European defender and was top world class player for many years. But Ajax was a pale shadow of what it was in the beginning of the 1970s… and Krol was not getting many votes. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was 2nd – again a player at his prime, but… Bayern was in deep crisis, so forget him. A few players should have been higher – but they were not, because conservatives voted and they deemed them too young to be a certain quality, or playing for smaller clubs to be real stars, or playing for teams not winning. Uli Stielike, Bruno Pezzey, Kenny Dalglish, Paolo Rossi, Liam Brady, Marius Tresor, Franco Causio – they were all at their best form and got little recognition. Then again, who can really tell who is best? Every name can be objected. Success was solid criteria, Hamburger SV was rapidly rising, Keegan was essential for that, he was already a superstar, he had strong season, and… he was perhaps ranked lower than he should have been a few years back. Journalists voted for him massively. He had no real rival too… And there is no need to say anything more about him – Keegan needs no introduction.

Kevin Keegan – the European player of the year for a second time. Adorable player even when he is not looking pleased.

 

South America voted differently. Today the best player of 1979 seems natural choice – but it was not so back in time. There is peculiar trouble: the big names of the 1970s were shaky and not exactly successful. Journalists were torn between natural inclination to elect well known for years players, but since they were not satisfying a radical change perhaps was in order. The top ten reveals a clear split: Passarella was 8th, Kempes – suffering from injuries – 9th. Fillol – 4th. These won the world championship in 1978 – but were nothing a year later… Zico was 5th – the ‘White Pele’ still had no real victory with neither club, nor national team. The Uruguayan Fernando Morena was 6th – clearly a sympathy vote, for he played for small Spanish club – Rayo Vallecano – and was hardly noticed in Europe. Similar was the case of Carlos Caszely – the Chilean was never a big international news and perhaps was not as good as he was 5 years back. But he was well known name. The old guard was carried on reputation really – and compared to stars from the 1960s, may be found not so great. Argentina and Uruguay had miserable Copa America. Brazil also did not shine. Yet, the Paraguayans,who won both Copa America and Copa Libertadores were hardly great stars – interestingly, not a single player of Olimpia (Asuncion) made the top 10 and only one Paraguayan was included in it. The journalists went for the future – they voted for the young players, who were to really bloom in the next decade. May be a bit premature shift, but it was better than electing some old horse only because he played fantastic football 5 or 10 years ago. The next generation was represented by 4 players – the Argentine striker Ramon Diaz was 10th, his strength was largely based on the second Under-20 World Championship, which Argentina won and he was the top scorer of the finals. And this was the objective problem… great players normally play for highly successful teams. Unfortunately, this was not the case this year and it was very difficult to justify votes. At the end, even the final standing may have been affected by calculations of success – the top three places went to future stars.

Falcao was 3rd, perhaps the only more or less established player among the top three, but just beginning to be a key player for Brazil. Unfortunately for him, no international success – Internacional Porto Alegre won the Brazilian title, but that was all – Brazil did not excel this year.

Second was Julio Cesar Moreno. For many – not just a rival of Maradona, but better than the Argentine. But… Moreno played for a small club – Sportivo Luqueno was the best provincial club of Paraguay, yet, not capable of overcoming the clubs from the capital. The Paraguayan league was small and compared to Brazil, Argentina, even Chile and Peru – a weaker one. Moreno really shined at Copa America and was instrumental to the victory of his country, but perhaps even this counted a bit against him: Argentina and Brazil played with strange teams, as if they did not care for the continental tournament.

First was Diego Maradona – but what can be said about his success? Like Moreno, he played for a smaller club – Argentinos Juniors were not bad, they had more than just Maradona, but they achieved nothing in the Argentinian championships. The national team was even worse. Maradona himself hardly played at Copa America. Yes, he was sensational, scored goals, the fans adored him, but without trophies it was difficult to judge him the best. Perhaps the Under-20 World championship tipped the scale in his favour – he captained Argentina to the title. Junior title… His teammate Osvaldo Rinaldi said “Before every match, Diego played with the ball, putting it on his neck or his shoulders while the Japanese people couldn’t stop applauding him. When I would see this, I would say to myself: “Wow, and the show hasn’t even started yet”. True, but this was in Japan – before still young and unsophisticated audience, easily impressed. It may have been different, if Argentina lost the final – they played against USSR, which had a team of players soon to become more than known around the world. To a point, Argentina even had lesser team than the Soviets.

Standing from left: Sergio Garcia, Sperandio, Carabelli, Rossi, Simon, H.Alves.

First row: Barbas, Escudero, Ramon Diaz, Maradona, Calderon.

At the final Sperandio was replaced by already mentioned Rinaldi. Junior teams are never big indication for future stardom – some players expire early, others develop later. Simon, Barbas, and Calderon eventually became stars. Ramon Diaz – bigger one than the previous three. The rest faded into oblivion… a junior team. Maradona won with it – the only victory he had this year, not the same as winning Copa America, but combined with his impressive play for his club, it sufficed.

Diego Maradona, still teenager, but already captaining Argentinos Juniors, was voted the best South American player.

Perhaps boringly familiar picture now – Maradona scored yet another goal – but it was new back than. It was matches like this one – he destroyed Boca Juniors with fantastic goals, despite the vicious tackles – which perhaps counted more than the junior world title. Maradona had arrived. May be it was even good that most established names of that time underperformed – Maradona became more visible.

African player of the year was voted Thomas N’Kono. As almost every year, no European-based players were included, casting doubt about the real strength of the top African players. More or less, votes went to players of the continental winners. Kerfalla Bangoura (Horoya, Conacry, Guinea) was 3rd with 15 points. Adolf Armah (Hearts of Oak, Ghana) – second with 23 points. Players not heard of before or after… No player of the winners of the African Champions Cup appeared among the top 3. The winner was another story.

N’Kono played for Canon Yaounde, which kind of explains why he was voted high. But there was consistency: It may be debatable was Canon the strongest African club of the decade, but it is certain that it was among the few outstanding clubs and very successful internationally. N’Kono himself was not a meteor like many other African players – coming from nowhere and disappearing just as quickly. In 1978 N’Kono was voted 3rd best player – a year later he was number 1. There were no whims and petty favouritism in voting for him. And his star was going to soar even higher. His first international recognition went unnoticed outside Africa, but it was overwhelming – he got 55 points: 17 more than the combined record of the next two players.

 

The African Champions Cup was equally exotic to outsiders, but more troublesome than the Cup Winners Cup. Perhaps one has to look to the political history of Africa in order to get some meaning of seemingly anarchic football tournaments – internal and international conflicts, poverty, fantastic ambitious, propaganda reasons played big roles in the game. Because of apartheid, South Africa was expelled from the continental federation. Many countries did not participate in the club tournaments for various reasons – 28 teams participated in the 1979 Champions Cup, at least before the tournament started. Two withdraw without playing a match, curiously, they were paired together: Breweries (Kenya) and Al-Merreikh (Sudan). Bata Bullets (Malawi) followed suit without playing a match. Simba FC (Uganda) traveled to play the first leg against Zamalek (Egypt), lost 1-2, and withdraw. One may wonder why they they spent money on difficult travel to Egypt at all. Well, it was familiar picture – withdrawals happened every year. And not only in the first round.

At the 1/8 finals Matlama FC (Lesotto) had no opponent at all – thanks to the withdrawal of Breweries and Al-Merreikh in the first round. Ogaden Anbassa (Ethiopia) withdraw at this stage – another curiousity, typical of Africa: Odaden Anbassa did not play any match: they qualified to the 1/8 finals because Bata Bullets withdrew before the first round started. Now it was the turn of the Ethiopian champions to do the same. Zamalek qualified to the ¼ with only one home game so far: Simba FC decided not to play the second leg against the Egyptians in the first round and Odagen Anbassa – not at all in the second.

No club withdraw from the third round, but this does not mean all games were played: Zamalek won 3-1 the first leg against CS Imana (Zaire) at home. In the second leg CS Imana was leading 1-0 when the match was abandoned. The reason is murky, for African football is notoriously corrupt, but CS Imana was awarded a win and they reached the semi-finals. Zamalek was expelled – after playing a total of 2 and half matches, of which they won 2. There was another drama at the ¼ finals – Hafia (Guinea) played against Hearts Of Oak (Ghana): arguably, the strongest African club at the time vs the represent of arguably strongest football nation of the continent. Hafia won 2-0 in Conacry. The Ghanaian champions prevailed at home 3-0 and eliminated the closest to a super-club the continent had (Hafia was more than supported by the Guinean government: they were designed to be a show case of the country – all best players were moved to Hafia by political order).

The semi-finals were clean affair – in terms of results. CS Imana was obviously not that strong a team and they lost both legs to Union Douala (Cameroon): 1-2 and 0-1. The other semi-final was even less dramatic – Hearts of Oak were clearly superior to US Goree (Senegal). The Hearts won 2-1 in Senegal and 4-1 at home. At a glance, the finalists represented the top of the African football: the traditional ‘powerhouse’ Ghana vs rapidly developing and already leading on club level Cameroon.

Exciting or not, the final at least was played between equal opponents. Hearts of Oak won the first leg in Accra 1-0. The second leg was played in Yaounde – most likely because there was no big enough stadium in Douala – Union won also 1-0. The winner was decided by penalty shootout. Usually home turf benefits a team at such occasion, but Union was not playing at home… Still, there was home turf advantage – at least because supporters of visiting African teams were few, if any, back in the 1970s: it was expensive and difficult to travel abroad just to see a match. Union won the shootout 5-3 and triumphed in front of their cheerful fans. And that is almost all one could say about the final… no other records except the results can be traced.

Hearts of Oak, very old by African standards club, popular and successful at home, were not so successful internationally. Yes, the represented arguably the strongest African football nation – but this to a point is also a myth, for Ghana did not really dominate the continent neither on the level of national teams, nor at club level. There is no recognizable player traceable to the team reaching and losing the Champions Cup final – and this is a hint of the difference between winner and losers.

Union – Union Sportive Douala, as the full name is – triumphed with their first international trophy. It was more than club’s success: winning the cup testified for the strength of the whole Cameroonian football: the country won both African club trophies this year. It was a second consecutive year Cameroonians won the Champions Cup. The Cup went to Cameroon for a 4th time – after 1964, 1971, and 1978. It was not only teams from the capital winning internationally – suggesting high quality of Cameroonian football as a whole, not simply one or two clubs, where the best players of the country were brought together by governmental whim. And Union was not very old club – they were founded in 1957, yet, they were already 3 times champions of Cameroon, despite the fact that they had strong rivals in Douala, not to mention the competition of the clubs based in the capital Yaounde. So much can be extracted from the victory… for Union left almost no trace of themselves.

This may be a photo of Union from the great season… at least, it is a picture from that period. No names… not even the line-up from the final matches. Well, there was no particular interest in 1979 – the players were entirely unknown outside Cameroon. Nobody famous back then. The only player known to be part of the winning team is the goalkeeper – Joseph-Antoine Bell (b. 1954). Rings a bell? Of course – his career was spectacular, he was essential part of the successful Cameroonian national team. But fame came in the 1980s – in 1979 nobody knew of Bell, let alone recognizing him as a star. 25-years old, he was still nobody… as his teammates. Internationally, a nobody, but a winner nevertheless. Hard to imagine in 1979 that among the African club winners were two of the all-time best African goalkeepers – Bell and N’Kono.

 

The African Cup Winners Cup started with 28 teams. Three withdrew – USCA Bangui (Central African Republic), Al-Nil (Sudan), and Al-Ittihad (Egypt). Since most participants and their relative strength were entirely unknown, it is impossible to judge were their any upsets in the 1/16 finals – only Kadiogo (Upper Volta) vs Asante Kotoko (Ghana) was a drama: each opponent lost the home match 0-1, so penalty shootout decided the winner. Ghana had strong reputation in Africa, but even this is doubtful to a point. Kadiogo won the shootout 4-2 and eliminated Asante at their home turf.

After the first round, the tournament proceeded without any irregularities – or so it appears on paper. Two winners were decided by away goal rule in the 1/8 finals: Gor Mahia (Kenya) eliminated Nsambya FC (Uganda) after both legs ended in a draw – 0-0 and 1-1. Luckily, Gor Mahia scored in Uganda. Pan African (Tanzania) overcome 2-1 AS Vita Club (Zaire) at home, but lost 0-1 away and Vita qualified. They were also vaguely familiar name outside Africa – something like a favourite.

The ¼ finals opposed AS Vita Club to Canon Yaounde (Cameroon) – the closest to an early meeting of big clubs. Vita were successful in the 1960s-early 1970s, Canon won the African Champions Cup in 1978. Was it a derby is questionable, though. Vita won 3-1 at home, but was entirely destroyed in Yaounde – 1-6. The real drama happened between anonymous clubs: AC Sotema (Madagascar) lost their home leg 0-2 to Bendel Insurance (Nigeria). At the time Nigerian football meant absolutely nothing, yet, Madagascar was less than nothing, so the second match should have been just a matter of protocol. But Sotema upset their hosts and won also 2-0. Penalty shootout decided the winner – Bendel Insurance prevailed 5-3.

Thus, the ½ finalists had two favourites and two outsiders – entirely arbitrary judgment, based on scarce information. The favourites had lucky draw: Canon Yaounde vs Bendel Insurance and Gor Mahia vs Horoya SC (Conacry, Guinea). From today point of view, the strong teams should have been the Nigerians and the Cameroonians – but it was not so in real time. Kenyan football had stronger reputation in the 1960s, carried to the 1970s just as a reputation – more likely Kenyan football was in a decline, compared to other countries, but it was hard to judge. Horoya SC was entirely unknown, but their city rivals Hafia were one of the best clubs in Africa at the time – on that strength, Horoya was taken seriously. A serious ‘may be’ – Gor Mahia was better known club. Evaluations of the other pair were similar – Cameroonian football was on ascent, particularly on club level. Nigeria was not anything special yet. However, rivalry between neighbours existed, so Canon perhaps was expected to win, but nobody would have been sure. And it was the tougher semi-final: only one goal was scored in the two legs. Canon won 1-0 the opening match in Yaounde and then managed a 0-0 tie away. Horoya SC evidently was not Hafia: they lost both legs to Gor Mahia – 0-1- and 0-2.

The final was played between old and new in a sense: fading Kenyan vs progerssing Cameroonian football. The formula was the same as the whole tournament – two matches, played on November 25 and December 9, 1979. It was overwhelming victory of the ‘new’. Canon practically finished Gor Mahia in the first leg, played in Kenya. They won 2-0. Back at home, to the delight of their supporters, Canon scored 6 goals. Gor Mahia was not able to score at all. Canon won the African Cup Winners Cup.

What can be said about the losers? Yes, they were – and are – big in Kenya. They were obviously too weak an opponent at the final. How good, how bad… information is next to nothing and the only way of showing the difference is showing the line-ups of the first leg ( finding them requires serious searching of obscure internet cites. I failed to unearth info about the second leg): Gor Mahia – Dan Odhiambo, Paulo Codra Oduwo, Festus Nyakota, Bobby Ogolla, Mike ‘Machine’ Ogolla, Jerry Imbo, Andrew Obunya (John Chore), Sammy ‘Kempes’ Owino, George ‘Best’ Yoga, Allan ‘Ogango wuon pap’ Thigo, Nahashon Oluoch’Lule (Paul Owora). Judging by the nicknames, stars of Kenyan football – the mysterious nickname of Thigo is particularly formidable: ‘ruler of the field’. Perhaps Jerry Imbo and George Yoga have some standing in the history of African football, but even their names mean nothing.

Canon were clearly very strong, in African terms. They won the African Champions Cup in 1978 and continued their international success by easily collecting the Cup Winners Cup in 1979. They were also evidence of rapidly developing football – compared to Hafia (Connacry, Guinea), perhaps the strongest African club in the second half of the 1970s, there was big difference: Hafia had no rival at home and no matter how good they were, the national team of Guinea was not really strong. Canon had strong rivals in Cameroon and did not dominate the country’s football – best in Africa, they did not win the Cameroonian championship and had to play in the lesser continental tournament in 1979. They also had a star player recognized outside Africa – Jean Manga Onguene was not huge international star, but if outsiders recognized an African player at all, it was his name. The national team of Cameroon was also pushing ahead and establishing among the strong African national teams. And the evidence was presented in the line-up beating Gor Mahia in Kenya: Thomas N’Kono, Doumbe Lea, Ibrahim Aoudou, Isaac Sinkot, Emmanuel Kunde, Gregoire M’Bida, Theophile Abega, Jean Manga Onguene, Oule Oule (Ernest Ebongue), Jean-Paul Akono. Of course, everybody would recognize one name – Thomas N’Kono – but in 1979 the recognizable name was Jean Manga Onguene, one of the best African players in the 1970s. N’Kono, however, is emblematic: he was 23 years old, entirely unheard of, and had to wait until 1982 to become world-famous. He represented the generation which put African football on the map thanks to the wonderful performance of Cameroon at the 1982 World Cup. He was not alone: 6 players of this squad played at the 1982 World Cup: N’Kono, Aoudou, Kunde, M’Bida, Abega, and Ebongue. Five of them were born between 1954 and 1956 – one generation. Ebongue was younger – born 1962 – suggesting, that the older players were not just one-time affair, but Cameroonian football was building and developing continuously. Nobody knew those players in 1979, but they were already very successful. As for Canon, the club already was 3 times Cameroonian champion, won 7 cups, 1 African Champions Cup, and added one Cup Winners Cup. Not bad? Well, they were hungry for more.

But football was played and results depended largely on momentary strength of a team, for the only club which had something like long-term plan was Cosmos. Rochester Lancers, Atlanta Chiefs, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, New England Tea Men, Memphis Rogues, Edmonton Drillers, and San Jose Earthquakes were the teams eliminated after the first phase of the championship finished. Cosmos had the best record of all clubs, finishing with 216 points.

In the next stage things changed a bit – direct elimination took no account of any previous performance. Houston Huricane, the team with second best record in the first phase, lost both legs to Philadelphia Fury, which was 3rd in their original Eastern Division of the American Conference and the team with the worst record in the first phase – they got 111 points, which was less than all 4th-placed clubs in the National Conference. In fact all pairs at this stage had stronger team, winning both legs. The worst team at this stage was California Surf – they were champions of their division, but now lost 2-4 and 2-7 to San Diego Sockers. Three matches were decided in overtime, the most dramatic was the victory of Tulsa Roughnecks over Minnesota Kicks: both legs went into overtime, eventually the Roughnecks prevailing both times 2-1.

The Conference ½ finals followed and here two teams were eliminated, which in another country could have been a surprise.

Los Angeles Aztecs, lead by Michels and Cruyff, looked like a team aiming at the title. However, they were eliminated by Vancouver Whitecaps – a club with may be too much British flavour to be considered stronger than fashionable Dutch. It was strong and dramatic battle, though: each opponent won a leg, but the match in Los Angeles went to a shoot-out to brake the tie. The rule of third mini-match was applied after the two legs and Vancouver won it 1-0. Cruyff was asked about his impression of NASL and his future – he said he will play one more year in North America and retire for good. Definitely. Remember this statement.

One more match was decided by shootout – the first match between Philadelphia Fury and Tampa Bay Rowdies. Tampa Bay won both legs at the end. New York Cosmos had troubles against Tulsa Roughnecks – the opponents won their home legs 3-0 each and once again a mini-game was scheduled: this time Cosmos won 3-1.

The last pair gave the second surprise:

Judging by the squad, Chicago Sting was favourite. But they were unable to score even a single goal and lost both legs to San Diego Sockers.

Thus, the Conference finals opposed San Diego Sockers to Tampa Bay Rowdies for the title of American Conference, and New York Cosmos to Vancouver Whitecaps for National Conference championship final. Third match decided both winners: Vancouver and San Diego won their home leg, but lost after shootout the second. Tampa Bay eliminated San Diego in the third mini-match 1-0, but the other Conference final had no winner and went to yet another shootout. Vancouver won it 3-2.

San Diego Sockers, perhaps the least impressive squad of the Conference finalists, still had players familiar with success: Harsanyi was part of the strong Ujpesti Dosza team of mid-1970s, Gross reached the UEFA Cup final with Twente and even played a match for the national team of West Germany in 1970. The real stars were Cuellar and Sanchez, who came on loan from UNAM. But that was nothing compared to the other loser.

Cosmos’ squad was formidable and compared to any other – unbeatable. It was perhaps the only NASL team, not just a few old stars and bunch of so-so players. But Beckenbauer and Co. lost.

So, on September 8 Vancouver Whitecaps and Tampa Bay Rowdies met at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, to decide the championship. Soccer Bowl’79. Over 50 000 attended – the record attendance of the season was much higher, but still it was huge crowd for a country not concerned with this kind of football. Trevor Whymark gave the lead to Vancouver in the 13th minute. Van der Veen equalized in the 23rd minute. In the second half Whymark scored his second goal in the 60th minute and since no more goals were scored Vancouver won 2-1. The new NASL champions hailed from Canada.

Tampa Bay came close to winning the championship, ending a strong season – they won their division, and did not lose a match in the play-offs – not in regular time, that is. But they were not as solid team as Vancouver. The stars of the team were of smaller status: Rodney Marsh (England) – a lesser version of George Best on and off the field, Mirandinha (Brazil), who played at the 1974 World Cup, but was never called to play for Brazil after that, Arsen Auguste (Haiti), who also played at the 1974 World Cup, Peter Baralic (Yugoslavia), a former regular of Crvena zvezda (Belgrade), but never a national team player, Jan van der Veen (Holland), who played for various Dutch and Belgian clubs, but not the big ones. The best player this year was Oscar Fabbiani, born in Argentina, but when playing in Chile became Chilean citizen and national team player, including at 1979 Copa America – Fabbiani was not wold famous, but finished as the top striker of NASL this season.

Vancouver Whitecaps enjoyed wonderful season, crowned with the title. Perhaps they were the team with the best chemistry in the league: largely English squad plus few good Canadian players familiar with British football, coached by English coach. No language problems, familiar tactical approach, familiar training, good fighting spirit. A few Canadian legends practically established themselves this year – Bob and Dan Lenarduzzi, Carl Valentine and Tony Waiters, the coach. Bruce Grobelaar, a reserve keeper still, got his introduction to big football and soon became famous with Liverpool. That was the legacy of this team – its real strength in 1979 was the British stars known for years already. Allan Ball (b.1945), world champion of 1966 with 72 caps and 8 goals for England, Kevin Hector (b. 1944), English champion with Darby County and 2 caps, Trevor Whymark (b. 1950) was a regular with constantly improving in the 1970s Ipswich Town and played 1 match for England, Phil Parkes (b. 1947), the goalkeeper of the strong Woolverhampton Wanderers side of the first half of the 1970s and also familiar with North American football, having played for US teams in 1967 and 1969, Willie Johnston (b. 1946), 21 caps for Scotland and long time key player of Glasgow Rangers, also ill-famed – he was tested positive for a banned stimulant at the 1978 World Cup and consequently expelled from the Scottish team. Finally, Bob McNab (b. 1944), well known from his years with Arsenal, having also 4 caps for England – his role was more or less symbolic, for he played only 3 matches for Vancouver in 1979 – two more than Bruce Grobelaar (b. 1957). Ball, Parkes, and Whymark were the key figures.

Vancouver bought Trevor Whymark for $300 000 from Ipswich Town – money well spent, for he scored both goals for his new club at the final and thus Vancouver won the title.

The stars were influential and inspirational, but it was a squad of similar minds: 12 English players, 1 Scot, 10 born or naturalized Canadians, and 1 player from South Africa/Zimbabwe – same language, same culture, same kind of football from coach to last reserve. Chemistry was perhaps essential for success.

 

Central and North America was all about NASL. Talking about hype… statistics and awards. So many of those, it is even pointless to mention most: it looked like no one should have been forgotten and given something. The end of the1970s were the the peak years of NASL, a league going fast to its doom. 24 teams participated in the 12th league season. There were some changes: two teams were relocated. In another country that would mean two clubs seized to exist, but in North America it was just moving a franchise from one place to another… Colorado Caribous, the club with the most garish kit, was no more – there was Atlanta Chiefs instead. Oakland Stompers became Edmonton Drillers – they moved to another country, not just to another city. Two franchises only changed names: Toronto Metro-Croatia became Toronto Blizzard and Cosmos returned to its original name New York Cosmos.

The rules of the championship were almost left untouched, but must be mentioned because they were weird and complicated. 6 points for a win, 1 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game. Goal-scoring was a combination of goal+pass – 2 points per goal, 1 per assist. The new addition was breaking the tie in the play-offs: if a playoff series was tied at one victory each, a full 30 minute mini-game was played. If neither team held an advantage after the 30 minutes, the teams would then move on to a shoot-out to determine a series winner. The rest was ‘familiar’ – the league was divided into 2 conferences, each divided itself into 3 divisions, consisting of 4 clubs each. Every team played 30 games in the first phase – a mix bag of games played against their divisional opponents and some others. 8 clubs were going to the conference play-offs and here was the first little obstacle. The top 2 of each division was understandable… plus 2 of the three 3rd-placed teams. Points determined those, so the team with least points among the 3rd-placed was out. Practically, only 4 of the 12 members of each conference were out of the race after the first stage. The play-offs proceeded with 2 regular games and a mini-game after that, if there was a tie. Direct elimination followed to the conference final. The winners of each conference played a single match league final – the Soccer Bowl. The championship was played largely in the summer, ending on September 8th. The schedule, added by the lax transfer rules, made the usual mess – players changed clubs during the season, came on loan from other clubs, or moved to NASL after there European and South American seasons finished. The league always trumpeted its ‘world’ status, so the biggest emphasize was on foreign players – to the point to be impossible to tell who was legitimate import. Naturalized Canadians were presented often – but not always – as Canadians; naturalized or just born overseas Americans were most often presented as foreigners. The results were even comic, for there was a Japanese player according to NASL this year – in reality, a guy with american parents and thorough Anglo-Saxon name, who was born in Japan, having no other relation to the country. The Yugoslavians – arguably, the second biggest group of players after the British – were the most complicated case: most were Yugoslavian born, yet, listed rather frivolously as Yugoslavians, Americans, and Canadians – real citizenship seemingly was not important to the league. Since proper team-building was never practiced in NASL, the closest to it was the current coach, also a foreigner, convincing the club’s brass to get a bulk of players of his own country – thus, many teams had distinct flavour: British, Yugoslavian, and in 1979 – Dutch. For in 1979 a famous coach finally arrived in NASL – Rinus Michels was hired by Los Angeles Aztecs and with him – a bunch of Dutch players. Transfers, then… or what looked like traditional transfers. Since the list was enourmous every summer, only what appeared to be the biggest ones will be mentioned. Johan Cruyff signed with Los Angeles Aztecs – wait a second: he retired from the game in 1978. Well, he came back – without mentioning retirement, as if never announced. Wim Suurbier arrived in Los Angeles too. Plus three more Dutch players, hardly known, but Dutch – Leo van Veen, Thomas Rougen, and Hubert Smeets. Thus, Los Angeles Aztecs were clearly based on Dutch sceleton. Cosmos bought their usual group of big names – Dutch stars Johan Neeskens and Wim Rijsbergen, the Brazilian full back Francisco Marinho, the Iranian full back, so impressive at the 1978 World Cup, Andranik Eskandarian, and… almost annonimous West German goalkeeper, who played largely second division football to this moment – Hubert Birkenmeier. Neeskens and Birkenmeier were clearly not on the same level, but… Birkenmeier quickly established himself as the best NASL goalkeeper, so may be he was more important player in the history of the league than his famous teammate.

In short time Birkenmeier became the top NASL goalkeeper – nobody remembers him in Germany, but in USA he became a legend.

Of course, the league was full of famous names: here is a brief sample: Horst Blankenburg, Arno Steffenhagen, Wim van Hanegem, Peter Ressel, Jorgen Kristensen, and Dick Advocaat were all with Chicago Sting. Except Advocaat, the rest won huge number of domestic and European trophies in the 1970s. Then again everybody known who Advocaat is nowadays. Bjorn Nordqvist and Willie Morgan played for Minnesota Kicks. Alex Stepney and Antonio Simoes for Dallas Tornado. Salif Keita, Artur, Alhinho, and Jordao – for New England Tea Men, which seemingly chose Portuguese sceleton. Peter Lorimer was with Toronto Blizzard. David Nish with Tulsa Roughnecks. Alan Hudson and Harry Redknapp with Seattle Sounders. Clyde Best with Portland Timbers. Miralem Fazlic, Julio Baylon, and Piero Prati with Rochester Lancers. Phil Parkes, Kevin Hector, Willie Johnston, Allan Ball, and entirely unknown yet Bruce Grobelaar with Vancouver Whitecaps. Trevor Francis with Detroit Express. So far – relatively clear, but: Joszef Horvath (Washington Diplomats) and Laszlo Harsanyi, Hugo Sanchez, Leonardo Cuellar, and Julie Veee, all of San Diego Sockers were not so. The Mexican stars Sanchez and Cuellar were loaned to the Sockers after the end of the Mexican season – or may be even before the end? The three Hungarians are difficult to figure out – were they legally allowed to play abroad or were they refugees? Looks like Hungary started exporting players after the 1978 World Cup – largely, in 1979. But the trio played abroad before that and most likely were defectors. Horvath arrived from Rot Weiss (Essen, West Germany), where he played in the 1977-78 season. Harsanyi joined San Diego in 1978. As for Julie Veee, this is not his real name, but the one he chose to use when he left Hungary – he was clearly a defector, eventually became US citizen and even played for the national team of USA. Yet, listed as Hungarian in the NASL records – but American when he played in Europe, for he moved often from one continent to another. Big names, not so bi names… who is not familiar with the names above can just Google them and find out. Perhaps the most famous new arrival this year was Gerd Muller. If not the biggest, at least the most emblematic.

Gerd Muller displaying his new shirt – contract signed with Fort Lauderdale Strikers. On his right, the old star of the team – one George Best. Well, who can dream of more lethal strikers than Muller and Best together? Note the number Muller got – 15. Strange, for NASL heavily promoted ‘brands’ – and Muller’s ‘brand’ was number 9. The other option was 13 – the number he used at the 1970 and 1974 World Cups. The new number was not one associated with Muller. Then again, George Best played with number 3 this season. Eventually these two got one more famous addition to help them from the midfield – the Peruvian star Teofilo Cubillas. Jumping ahead, he had excellent season. Muller too, but the picture above was a hint of the life in NASL:

Soon Muller was photographed enjoying American life. Doesn’t look concerned with the next game… NASL was really well paid good time for aging stars. A bit of football and back to the pool with glass in hand – George Best was the master at that. Gerd Muller was starting to enjoy his booze too… eventually becoming an alcoholic, just like Best.

As for the less important than drinking activity – playing football – this photo shows something unthinkable: Muller vs Beckenbauer. They never played against each other before 1979. The famous teammates, fond of each other, creating fantastic moments for years together, now were opposing each other. And both using new, unfamiliar numbers. Well, this was NASL summerized in three photos – no wonder European and South American players loved it. George Best summed it once upon a time: one can spent hours everyday in the bar and nobody will ever bother him with nasty press. After all, socker players were never real stars in North America – the press covered baseball, american football, basketball, ice hockey. Golf and tennis players, boxers were more important too – and socker players enjoyed almost anonymous, but rich life to indulge in their vices. British players liked their drink, Neeskens his drugs, and so on – and nobody cared. Life was great and to hell with football.