Football Journey

Group 11. CONCACAF – Central and North America. 15 countries entered, but money, logistics, and class meant specific qualification structure, going through stages. Mexico was the undoubted favourite and for the second spot… it was anybody’s guess, for all other participants were weak, even harmless. The northern countries started together in preliminary Northern Zone, the smallest one. Two teams were qualifying to the next round – here the first alarm was triggered: Mexico finished 2nd, after Canada. Well, not very important… Mexico was perhaps not seriously prepared yet, or they played just the bare minimum. They were the sure finalist, nothing to worry.

The last stage was the really important one – a qualification tournament in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, played in November 1981. Six teams qualified to it and played against each other. Clearly, the only question was which country will get the second COCACAF spot at the World Cup finals. The intrigue was lame: the ‘soccer war’ between Honduras and El Salvador from 1969 was unearthed for the occasion, but nothing happened. Mexico underperformed again, but there was nothing to worry about… they had convenient schedule, playing the last match of tournament against possible troublemakers – Honduras. Possible, for they were hosting the qualifications and thus expected to have some advantage. So what? Mexico was head and shoulders above any CONCACAF team – traditionally so. No matter they were 2 points behind El Salvador before the last match. Surely, they were going to win and with already better goal-difference… yes, Mexico did not show any supremacy so far, they were going to be 2nd, but they were going to the finals. For sure. Honduras had nothing to play for – they already qualified. The mere formality ended in a shocking 0-0 tie and… Mexico was out.

1.Honduras^ 5 8 3 2 1 8- 1

2.El Salvador 5 6 2 2 1 2- 1

3.Mexico 5 5 1 3 1 6- 3

4.Canada 5 5 1 3 1 6- 6

5.Cuba 5 4 1 2 2 4- 8

6.Haiti 5 2 0 2 3 2- 9

May be getting advantage and benefiting from hosting the final qualification round, but going for a first time to the World Cup finals.

May be lucky, after having to fret to the very end of a match they only had to watch, but goiing to the finals for a second time.

To an outside observer – pure exotica, obvious outsiders, perhaps even a good example of the folly to give very weak continents more spots at the World Cup. To a point, two was less than one, for Mexico was more or less the only country outside Europe and South America with relatively decent football. Perhaps, from the standpoint of 1981, the only interesting news about the CONCACAF finalists was political trivia: at the end of the 1960s those countries went into a war, triggered by World Cup qualification match. Now the losers back then, Honduras, helped their enemy to reaching the final. Amusing.

South America was divided into three qualification groups, the winners going to the finals. Given the small number of participating countries, the formula perhaps was not the best possible, but that was the chosen one, entirely favouring the leading countries. Without Argentina, it was quite predictable qualification stage.

Group 8. The easiest group – Bolivia and Venezuela were not a problem even for a very weak Brazil, that was sure.

1.Brazil^ 4 8 4 0 0 11- 2

2.Bolivia 4 2 1 0 3 5- 6

3.Venezuela 4 2 1 0 3 1- 9

This is formation which faced England in December 1981 – already qualified and preparing for the finals. Tele Santana’s team already was much talked about and here it was only getting fine tuning. A team expected to thrill and very likely win the coming world finals. Problems? There were some, but so far they were not a big matter of discussion outside Brazil.

Group 9. The toughest group in South America – Peru and Uruguay were expected to fight for the spot, but Colombia was able to stand its ground too. Uruguay, given their performance at the Mondialito, was the likely winner. Group games fulfilled expectations only in part: Colombia was not the dark horse and the race was between Peru and Uruguay. The decisive match happened to be in Montevideo, where 2 first time goals gave the victory to the visitors, Peru. The next match in Lima was mere calculation: Peru kept Uruguay to a goalless tie and became unreachable, no matter how the last game – Uruguay – Colombia – ended.

1.Peru^ 4 6 2 2 0 5- 2

2.Uruguay 4 4 1 2 1 5- 5

3.Colombia 4 2 0 2 2 4- 7

Peru – to the finals for a second consecutive championship. Strong 1970s and excellent start of the 1980s.

Group 10. Ecuador was seen as an outsider, so a battle between Chile and Paraguay. Hard to predict – Chilean football was rising or so it seemed; Paraguay was the reigning South American champion. Yet, neither country was seen as particularly strong and the second tier South American countries traditionally were not consistent – what happened 2-3 years ago hardly ever means the same country would have a strong team now. Momentary form ruled. Chile got a bust right after the first group match: Ecuador won over visiting Paraguay 1-0. Two games and less than a month later everything was more or less finished: Chile prevailed over Paraguay in Asuncion 1-0 – what was left was 2 home games for Chile. Only a miracle would have changed things. No miracle occurred.

Chile to the finals. By now, the political antagonism mellowed done, so unlike 1973-74, the Chilean team was seen more in terms of the sport – it was not much, depending largely on veterans, who played at the 1974 World Cup without any memorable moment.

 

Group 7. The odd European group from which only one team was going to the finals, so it was made a small group of only three teams. Malta did not count, so it was the direct battle between the other two going to decide the finalist – by now Poland lost its shine, acquired in 1974; DDR never had any, so it was, theoretically, unpredictable battle between two equal teams. When the two back to back legs between came everything fell into place: Poland was stronger, although not overwhelmingly – they won both important matches by a goal and qualified without losing even a point, just like West Germany.

1.Poland^ 4 8 4 0 0 12- 2

2.DDR 4 4 2 0 2 9- 6

3.Malta 4 0 0 0 4 2-15

Going to the world finals for a third consecutive time. However, not as a favourites and the picture shows why: this is the squad at early stage against Malta, which means some regulars were not needed. What was behind the bunch of stars, most of whom made their names in 1974, was problematic. Poland was weaker, it was obvious since the 1978 World Cup that there was no new great generation. Of course, Iwan and Smolarek were yet unknown.

The general feeling of after the qualifications was that Europe got more than it deserved: not only there were no strong teams left behind, but some second raters qualified. The increase of the finalists was a bit suspect at this points – after all, only Holland missed the boat. But Holland was in a decline. West Germany, Belgium, France, to a point Yugoslavia and Austria, were currently strong, but the others were either not improving, or shaky, or lucky, or unknown quality. What was mostly satisfied were traditional reputation and clout. Well, what could be a World Cup without Italy, England, USSR, Hungary, Czechoslovakia? Since all depends on form and current talent, names mean nothing – but football ignores reality, ever.

Group 5. Easy group – there were no doubts about Italy and Yugoslavia qualifying. Which they did. Moody Yugoslavia seemingly managed to organize a strong team for the first time after 1976. Italy… was booed. There last two matches did not matter at all and like many times before the Italian team took it easy. A tie at home with Greece did not endear the squad to the fans, but they last match with Luxembourg enraged the fans – Italy, utterly disinterested, won 1-0, but the lack of interest to the game was way too obvious and disgusted fans booed the team in earnest.

1.Yugoslavia^ 8 13 6 1 1 22- 7

2.Italy^ 8 12 5 2 1 12- 6

3.Denmark 8 8 4 0 4 14-11

4.Greece 8 7 3 1 4 10-13

5.Luxembourg 8 0 0 0 8 1-23

A version at the beginning of the qualifications in 1980 – against Denmark goalkeeper Pantelic scored the opening goal from a penalty. Some players were dropped, others were added, the team was polished with time and looked very strong again, having also vast pool of reserves (at one point veterans Popivoda and Bjekovic were also tried – old, young, there was plenty of talent).

Of course, everybody knew for a long time that the Italians never played more than the bare minimum needed to go ahead, but after the miserable end of the campaign doubts were raised: one cannot ever entirely dismiss Italy, but it was recalled that the spark of 1978 was gone by 1980 and in general Italy struggled for the most of the 1970s, losing ground in the process. Of course, they were going to the finals, but few, if any, saw them as a serious factor in 1982. It was felt that in another qualification group Italy perhaps would have been eliminated altogether.

Group 6. Not particularly strong, but entirely unpredictable, for there were 3 teams practically equal. Having similar problems as well, so a forth team – Northern Ireland – was not to be entirely discarded. Israel was the obvious and certain outsider. No team was in particularly great shape – Sweden was rather in a decline, detected in 1978, and Portugal was not able to climb back from its slump during the 1970s. Scotland was more or less considered one of the qualifying teams, whether 1st or 2nd did not matter. And predictions were fulfilled, except that for Israel, which took advantage of the shaky opponents, meddled with their fate, and ended with 5 points. Scotland won the group, 2nd place was taken by a surprising team, mostly making the best of the shuffling and ups and downs of the others.

1.Scotland^ 8 11 4 3 1 9- 4

2.Northern Ireland^ 8 9 3 3 2 6- 3

3.Sweden 8 8 3 2 3 7- 9

4.Portugal 8 7 3 1 4 8-11

5.Israel 8 5 1 3 4 6-10

Scotland had a steady and serious campaign, which qualified them early, but, compared to the 1974 World Cup squad, the current vintage was quite uneven and unbalanced: great players, like Dalglish, Souness, and new wonder Archibald, but also weaker ones – Rough, Robertson, for instance – and there were no better, unfortunately. But Scotland qualified for a third consecutive time and it was well known they played with heart at finals. In this group – the most deserving team.

Northern Ireland – may be a surprise winners, but perhaps the team pleasing most, for the underdog going ahead is always wonderful. Lucky a bit, it may be argued, but after all it was not Irish fault Portugal was destroyed by Israel and Sweden had an awful start, losing points left and right. Northern Ireland always played with great spirit and motivation, making more than the best of otherwise limited squad. They won when mattered most – which was generally at home – had tough defense and plenty of enthusiasm. If anything, it was great to see players like Pat Jennings and Sammy McIlroy going to play a world cup finals. May be George Best could have a chance too… it was always considered.

Group 3. Compared to group 2 – nothing really. It even looked unfair to have 4 strong fighting teams in one group and hardly any at their level in the next group. USSR and Czechoslovakia were sure favourites here, but there was bit of bitter taste: USSR had a dreadful decade, arguably reaching rock bottom at the qualifications for the 1978 World Cup. New generation and club success came recently, but the young players were yet unknown. Czechoslovakia was rather unpredictable, following a wild cycle of ups and down. Their last team was unimpressive at the 1980 European championship and the general feel was that the previous generation, now getting too old and stepping down, was much better than the current one. But there was not much opposition in the group and although shaky, especially Czechoslovakia, both teams qualified. Wales suddenly had a chance to go ahead, but to a point USSR qualified the Czechoslovaks instead – in the last tow group games USSR first won against Wales 2-0 and then tied Czechoslavakia 1-1. The last results equaled the points of Wales and Czechoslavia and worse goal-difference eliminated Wales.

1.USSR^ 8 14 6 2 0 20- 2

2.Czechoslovakia^ 8 10 4 2 2 15- 6

3.Wales 8 10 4 2 2 12- 7

4.Island 8 6 2 2 4 10-21

5.Turkey 8 0 0 0 8 1-22

The new USSR team taking shape. One of the most talked about teams in the 1980s was still too new and unfamiliar – even friendly nations, like Czechoslovakia, were not sure of the proper spelling of the names, as is shown here.

Like USSR, going to the World Cup finals for the first time since 1970. Unlike USSR, Czechoslovakia enjoyed success during the 1970s, becoming European champion in 1976. The winning team inevitable became the measure for any other squad and by this measure, the new version was found lacking quite a lot: it was a precarious mix of European champions, who were younger back in 1976, thus still in shape, and those, who came after them. Unfortunately, a good number of the newer crop were actually active in 1976, but playing second fiddle to the champions at best. Hence, the doubt how good they could be now – but they were not challenged by sufficient numbers of young talent and there were problems with some positions.

Group 4. Naturally, England was seen as the big favourite and Hungary, Romania, and maybe Switzerland fighting for the second place. Reality was different: England struggled during the whole campaign and Norway popped-up from nowhere, as a pleasant surprise and the only improving team in the group: they even beat England. As a result, the group produced the tightest race possible, with all five teams participating and having hopes for the finals. The last 6 games decided the winners and losers: Romania lost steam when mattered most, Hungary qualified first, thanks to home wins over Switzerland and Norway, and England fretted to the end – before the last group match, they were trailing Romania by the point and hosting Hungary proved once again difficult task – England won minimally, 1-0, against a team which nothing to play for at this point and was not great anyway.

1.Hungary^ 8 10 4 2 2 13- 8

2.England^ 8 9 4 1 3 13- 8

3.Romania 8 8 2 4 2 5- 5

4.Switzerland 8 7 2 3 3 9-12

5.Norway 8 6 2 2 4 8-15

Hungary before the home game with Norway, which qualified them to the finals. Some lovely players, led by Nyilasi, but it was largely the same team as in 1978 and by now it looked like they reached the limits of their potential already.

England, looking formidable and struggling on the pitch. At least Keegan & Co. managed to reach the finals – for the first time since 1970.

 

Europe. Group 1. Easy group with unquestionable favourite, no matter current form – West Germany. Bulgaria and Austria were to fight for the 2nd spot, Austria slightly having the edge, because Bulgaria was in disarray and the Austrians had strong generation, already impressive at the 1978 World Cup finals. The other three teams were outsiders. At the end, the direct clashes between Bulgaria and Austria decided the second finalist: Austria prevailed with a win and tie.

1.West Germany^ 8 16 8 0 0 33- 3

2.Austria^ 8 11 5 1 2 16- 6

3.Bulgaria 8 9 4 1 3 11-10

4.Albania 8 2 1 0 7 4-22

5.Finland 8 2 1 0 7 4-27

West Germany not losing even a point in this campaign – fantastic record and going to the finals as one of the biggest favourites.

From left: Krankl, Feurer, Pezzey, Dihanich, Mirnegg, Hattenberger, Prohaska, Jara, Keglevits, Weber, Welzl. The team was perhaps at its peak.

Group 2. Arguably, the toughest one – Holland, France, and Belgium were expected to fight for 2 spots, but unexpectedly Ireland joined the leaders and the entanglement depended much on direct results. Holland lost the race first and Belgium was the first to qualify, but really the battle went to the very last group game – true, only miracle would have discarded France then, for they were hosting Cyprus, but theoretically Ireland still had a chance. But only in theory – France won 4-0. To a point, it was the schedule – France played the last three games of the group, thus, knowing precisely what they needed against opponents not able to make any corrections.

1.Belgium^ 8 11 5 1 2 12- 9

2.France^ 8 11 5 0 3 20- 8

3.Ireland 8 10 4 2 2 17-11

4.Holland 8 9 4 1 3 11- 7

5.Cyprus 8 0 0 0 8 4-29

Belgium running high – they were always taken seriously, but after their splendid European championship expectations climbed up a notch. They delivered and were to play their first World Cup since 1980.

Standing, left to right: Gerard Janvion, Phillipe Mahut, Maxime Bossis, Pierrick Hiard, Alain Moizan, Christian Lopez.

Bottom, left to right: Jean-Francois Larios, Alain Giresse, Michel Platini, Jacques Zimako, Didier Six.

Not only because of Platini many fans and pundits rooted for France – it would have been a shame this wonderful team to miss the finals.

Of course, not everybody was happy with the finals standings, but one thing was undeniable: Holland was in decline, Republic of Ireland had more enthusiasm than class, Belgium and France were bright, up and coming teams and deserved to grace the finals most of all.

 

The last important event of 1981 was the qualifications for the 1982 World Cup. By the end of the year all finalists were known. It was not a trouble-free process: the new World Cup format was not to everybody’s liking – the increase of the number of the finalists was not the problem, this was praised. The problem was the quotas. Europe got the biggest number – 13. Compared to the previous 8 spots, the Euros should have been satisfied. In any case, the best football in terms of the strength of the teams, was there. Yet, the Europeans was not very happy – Africa, Asia, and North-Central America had 100% increase and what for, grumbled the Europeans, who got much smaller percentage, not even 50%. South Americans felt entirely cheated, for they remained with 3 spots as before – true, their third spot was ensured now, whether before they sometime had to play a qualification for it, but the numbers did not change really. The Europeans pointed out that South America got 50% more,which was higher than the European percentage and that for a continent of only 10 countries. Do they really deserve to have almost half of the countries going to the World finals since the best continent never had such a chance? The weaker continents may be deserved more spots at the finals, but why a quarter of the whole? To develop the game, fine… but their appearance at the finals was really disservice ti the game. Who needs to watch the likes of Zaire from 1974? Let them develop aside and bring only real football to the finals. The ‘weak continent’ were quick to accuse Europeans and South American of being almost racists – the World Cup belonged equally to everyone and they were so far unfairly treated. Even now they got so few spots – just think of it: a whole Africa with only 2 places at the finals. Oceania, perhaps the least protesting entity, was bulked into the Asian qualifications, which was not exactly to the liking of the proper Asians, but on the other hand, the football there was so weak that nobody considered Oceania deserving a spot of its own. Politics, of course, fueled arguments, counter-arguments, whining, and accusing, but then the qualifications had to be played and everything went back to the most important issue – reaching the finals. Argentina as reigning World champions and Spain as hosts did not have to worry about qualifications. 22 spots were open when the rounds started in 1980.

Europe first, divided into 7 groups. Six groups were larger, because 2 teams qualified from each , according to the increased European spots. The 7th group had only the winner going to the finals and was made smaller because of that – of only 3 teams. Not all groups were equal in strength, as always, but big favourites at least for the first place were in every group. Some had it easier than others, but, again as ever, form and strength changed with time and there were heavy battles to the very ened, surprises, disappointments, along with easy sailing. What could be said in advance is this: the East European countries earned perhaps their biggest presence at World Cup finals – including Yugoslavia, 5 Communist countries went to the finals. More than 50% of the Communist countries. Also, the thorny problem of Israel was settled – expelled from Asia, Israel was included in Europe. And stays in UEFA to this very day. South Africa, on the other hand, remained out of world football – expelled from Africa and nobody wanted it elsewhere, because of the apartheid. Perhaps the South Africans were not concerned – after all, cricket and rugby were the important sports for them. The world was divided into 13 groups – nominally, because ‘groups’ meant different things and had different structures in different places and hardly anybody called them that.

The European Player of the Year award was interesting to think about – three West Germans were voted best. The last time there were three Germans was 1972 – so, the parallel suggested the coming of a new great West German era. But… West Germany won the European championship in 1972. This time it was in 1980, so it looked like the award was trailing events. The three of 1972 were current stars at their peak and of one generation – this time it looked like three different generations were represented and may be other great players were ignored, for when it came to current success, it was debatable whether the Germans were most deserving. However, every yearly award brought criticism and doubts, so nothing new.

Bernd Schuster was third with 39 points. By now, he was playing for Barcelona, which made his ranking suspect: Barcelona was still not at its best and unable to win even the Spanish championship, let alone conquer Europe. But memories of his play in 1980 were strong and without any doubt he was considered the great star to rule the 1980s, the next generation.

Paul Breitner was second with 64 points. His return to Bayern brought him back to the centre of attention. He was the link with the great 1972 – the last of the ‘old’ golden generation, European and World champion, a player associated closely with total football. Watch out, Schuster… the newest generation was not yet ready to take the reigns, those, who played total football were still preferred and not easy to replace.

Like in 1980, number one was voted Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. At 26, he was at his peak, no doubt about it. He was the star of the new Bayern, instrumental to its coming back on top after the lean years of the second half of the 1970s; he conquered Europe with the national team, which also came back to exciting and formidable kind of football. He was already ‘King Kalle’, the biggest West German star. To a point, Rummenigge benefited greatly from Breitner’s return to Bayern: both combined in a terrific duo, called ‘Breitnigge’, was really making Bayern successful. Alas, only at home… outside West Germany Bayern was not getting anything. Still, this was the greatest German player at the moment – strong, dangerous, goal-scoring, dominant. He lacked finesse perhaps, but he had Breitner, the genius of total football of the past. And he had Schuster for the future, the closest to total football young player. So, Rummenigge was rightly on top and surely was about to influence the game in the 1980s. To a point, he was the player of the new decade – finally, the generation of the previous decade was firmly left behind.

Or so it seemed… for Schuster was quick to say right after the voting that as long as Rummenigge and Breitner, particularly Breitner, are playing for the national team, he was not going to play for West Germany. ‘They run the national team, they decide everything, and if they don’t like one’s face, this player is out’, he accused. Rightly so, it turned out.

 

 

 

 

The Golden Shoe was awarded to Georgy Slavkov of Trakia (Plovdiv), who scored most goals in Europe – 31.

For a second time Bulgarian player was the top scorer in Europe, but it was different this time. Petar Zhekov won the Golden Shoe in 1968-69 with 36 goals. Unlike Zhekov, Slavkov did not play for the top team in the country. Also, he was not a central-forward, constantly supplied with balls and opportunities, made for him. Slavkov was attacking midfielder, who, with time, settled for playmaking role. When Zhekov won the trophy, he was already the top scorer of Bulgaria and he was 25 years old with vast experience – Slavkov was younger, 23 this years, and although highly talented, did not have many games – he practically missed a year, when he was with CSKA (Sofia), but played only 9 games and was moved back to Trakia. At a glance, Slavkov’s achievement was of higher order: young midfielder, who missed about 1/4 of the championship games, but yet scored 31 goals in 23 appearances. His average was higher than Zhekov’s: 1.34 goals per game to 1.24. It was very exciting – young and versatile goalscorer, operating from midfield – this was new and not typical at all. Alas, this season could be judged the best one for Slavkov. He never scored that many goals, did not come even close – on the contrary, his goals were fewer and fewer every next year. One may think his achievement was accidental, but this was not the case – first, Slavkov was not genuine striker and with time his position prevented high scoring. Inevitably so – a playmaker creates opportunities for others. Second, he moved again to play for CSKA, where were many competing scorers and high records became virtually impossible. When years later he was transferred to St. Etienne (France), he was the typical playmaker and scored nothing. May be he was unable to adjust to the new country too, but goals did not come not matter what. Anyhow, he was number one in Europe for 1980-81 season.

Note: the name of his club may be confusing – today it is Botev (Plovdiv). That is the original name of the club, which was renamed in the 1960s to Trakia. The original name was restored after 1989 and records referred to Botev today, thus, at odds with records from the actual time.

Iceland was 32nd and last in the European club ranking, but there was one more country recognized by UEFA, which was not in the ranking table at all: Wales. The reason was that Wales had no official championship, but only a Cup tournament. And a strange one at that: not only the strongest Welsh clubs played in the English leagues, but English clubs traditionally participated in the Welsh Cup, often winning it too. This complicated participation in the Cup Winners Cup – if the winner was English team, it was not allowed to play, replaced by the losing finalist. If it was a Welsh club… Professional teams were almost always stronger than the genuine Welsh teams and this year was no exception: Swansea City (Welsh, playing in the Second English Division) versus Hereford United (English, 4th Division). It was weird final to the continental eye, but not so on the British Isles: the final was competitive and tough. Swansea won the first leg 1-0 and managed a 1-1 tie in the second leg.

Hereford United came very close to winning the Welsh Cup – which was a great achievement, considering who they played against. In a sense, too bad they lost, although they had no chance for playing in the Cup Winners Cup.

‘The Swans’ were no strangers to Cup winning, but this year was special: the club was rapidly climbing up the leagues and under John Toshack as playing manager, they won promotion to First Division for the first time in their history. Although winning the Cup proved to be difficult, they still won it, thus completing their best season to date. Looking back, it was arguably the best period in the club’s history and not finished yet, largely due to the Liverpool connection: Toshack at the helm and also playing, Phil Boersma coaching, and Ian Callaghan. A few good players were already making the team dangerous – Leighton James, Leighton Phillips, and Tommy Craig. And very soon reinforcements were added: Jimmy Rimer, just winning the European Champions Cup with Aston Villa, two Yugoslavian national team players – Dzemal Hadziabdic and Ante Rajkovic, and Bob Latchford from Everton. But those were still to come and play the next season. For the moment, Swansea City was gloriously swimming ahead.