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GERMANY 1974

A while ago the TIMER(my father) pulled out this box from his cupboard. Full of 1974 World Cup memmorabillia. Some awesome stuff.coins,signatures,match programmes. Yes he was there. He made the trip in 1974. Amazingly though in 1974 He went to a week in London, quarters,semis and final and 4 more days in London,accomodation,all expenses paid,flights alles for ya Believe it ot not R700. The toppie was there to see Total Football and greats like Cruyff,Neeskens,Muller,Breitner and Beckenbaur. He often talks of that magical spell where the Dutch kept passing the ball for two minutes before the Germans even touched the ball. Till today the toppie and his bras keep on saying What a Master Cruyff was. A total genius in midfield. And Beckenbauer also Class they say. He could read a game,was versatile and more importantly was his estimation of an opponent. He made it look simple.

Another interesting thing was that the Timer reckons on their way back to the hotel from the Stadium he pulls up at a newspaper vendor and it was already printed in the latest edition. Germany World Champions….This was way back in 1974. He also reiterated Europes Transport which was jacked as far as 1974. And always cherishes the fact that he has been for a World Cup.

I leave the rest to GALACTICO

WOZA SA 2010 WOZA

WEST GERMANY 1974


TOTAL FOOTBALL
AND ZEE GERMANS DO IT AGAIN


West Germany were the hosts for the 10th FIFA World Cup. It would be the first time that the new World Cup Trophy would be presented after Brazil whowere the first nation to win the World Cup 3 times kept the Jules Rimet Trophy forever.

In qualification Big Guns England, France & Spain all failed to qualify for the World Cup. The official Mascots for the 1974 West Germany were Tip & Tap.
The tournament format had changed quite a bit since the last World Cup. The opening round remained the same with 4 groups of 4 which the top 2 teams from each group qualified for the next round. However the 2nd round was not a knockout format but rather a further group phase with 2 Groups of 4 teams each. The winner of each of those groups qualified for the finals and the runners up for the Third Place Playoff. The tournament was overshadowed by heavy rains and water-logged pitches almost to the extent of being unplayable at times.

Group 1
Group 1 contained both hosts West Germany as well as East Germany who were participating in the World Cup for the first time. Hosts West Germany were already in disarray before the start of the tournament as their were internal disagreements between players and management over bonuses and payment. Both the Germans started off with victories, West Germany beating Chile 1-0 and East Germany beating their fellow first time participants Australia 2-0. The hosts then blasted the Australians 3-0 while Chile held East Germany to a 1-1 draw. In the final group games Australia drew 0-0 with Chile meaning the highly politically charged match between West & East Germany was purely for pride as both teams had already qualified. In the only ever World Cup Tournament encounter between the two Germans, East Germany succeeded and topped the group thanks to a late Sparwasser goal leaving the Mighty West Germans embarrassed with their superstars such as Beckenbauer, Muller & Overath. However there was speculation that West Germany had lost the match so that they avoided the mighty Dutch and defending champions Brazil in the next Group round.

Group 2
Defending Champions Brazil played the opening game of the tournament as Champions, however this time without the Great Pele, but still had Jairzinho &Rivelino from their 1970 success. Brazil were however held to a goalless draw by Yugoslavia. Scotland beat first time Southern African participants Zaire 2-0.Yugoslavia gained confidence from holding off the mighty Brazilians and thumped Zaire 9-0. Brazil were then once again held to a goalless draw, this time byScotland. Scotland and Yugoslavia played to a 1-1 draw while Brazil beat Zaire 3-0 and a bizarre incident occurred in this game where Zaire defender Ilungaraced out from the defensive wall while Brazil were preparing to take a free kick to clear the ball up the field. This meant that Scotland, Yugoslavia & Brazil were all tied on 4 points each and were separated on goal difference which meant Scotland became the first ever team to exit a World Cup tournament undefeated.

Group 3
Group 3 had undoubtedly one of the favourites for the tournament in the Netherlands with their new brand of attractive football known as Total Football led bycaptain Johan Cruyff and Coach Rinus Michels. Total Football was a football strategy that did away with outfield players having a fixed position but rather players become defenders, midfielders or forwards as the situation required. Johan Cruyff, Johan Neeskens, Jonny Rep, Rob Rensenbrink, Ruud Krol & AriHaan were entertaining the world with their new brand of football. The Clockwork Oranje were magnificent in their performances and won the group with victories over Uruguay (2-0) and Bulgaria (4-1) while Sweden managed to contain them to a goalless draw and qualify along with the Dutch to the next phase.

Group 4
Another team creating waves with their impressive football were Poland with the likes of Lato & Deyna in their squad. Poland beat all teams that crossed their path in convincing manner with a 3-2 victory over Argentina, a 7-0 hiding given to World Cup first timers Haiti and a 2-1 victory over the Italians. In the opening game of the Group little known Haiti took the lead against Italy early on and ended Dino Zoff’s record run of not conceding for over 1142 minutes for the Italian national team. Italy however went on to win 3-1. The Italians then drew 1-1 with Argentina who then went on to beat Haiti 4-1 and qualify 2nd ahead of the Italians on goal difference.

Group A

TOTAL FOOTBALL AT ITS BEST

The 2nd Group Phase Group A was definitely a hard group to be in with defending World Cup Champions Brazil, their South American challengers Argentina, The East Germans and off course the Brilliant Dutch. In the opening games of the 2nd Phase Group, The Netherlands Total Football were flying high with a breathtaking display of Magical Football against the Argentines. The Dutch made Argentina look like a second rate team with Cruyff scoring twice and defenderKrol scoring to demonstrate the Total Football philosophy. Brazil were also finding their feat and beat both the East Germans 1-0 and Argentina 2-1 with their 1970 members Rivelino and Jairzinho scoring the goals. The Dutch 2-0 victory over East Germany meant that the final match between them and Brazil would act as semi-final with the winner qualifying for the finals. Once again Total Football took control in a violent game with rough tackles. Cruyff again was the leader and both he and Neeskens scored to ensure that the Dutch were the team to eliminate the South Americans from repeating their success.

Group B
Hosts West Germany after their shock defeat to neighbours East Germany got their campaign back on track with a 2-0 victory over Yugoslavia and a 4-2 victory over Sweden. Poland continued from their 1st Group Phase success and beat Sweden 1-0 and Yugoslavia 2-1 to set up a virtual semi-final with hostsWest Germany in the final Group Game. The deciding game between Poland and West Germany only went ahead after the Fire Department had soaked enough water from the Water-logged Pitch in order to make the surface playable. A single Gerd Muller strike sent the West Germans through to the final at the expense of Poland. This was Gerd Muller’s 13th World Cup goal which meant that he had equalled Just Fontaine’s record of the most goals ever scored at the FIFA World Cup.

Third Place Playoff
Poland and Brazil challenged for the right to finish 3rd at the 1974 World Cup. It was Poland who came out on top thanks to Grzegorz Lato’s winner which took his tally for the competition to 7 which would make him top scorer for the tournament.

Final
Hosts West Germany, defending European Champions, with class players such as goalkeeper Maier, Berti Vogts, Paul Breitner, Wolfgang Overath, GerdMuller and lead by one of the greatest footballers ever Franz Beckenbauer were in the finals with this brilliant team as underdogs surprisingly. Their opposition,Holland, were causing waves at the World Cup with their beautiful new brand of football known as Total Football. Lead by Captain and Legend Johan Cruyffthe Dutch swept all before them and were outright favourites to win the competition. Not many would have bet against Netherlands winning their first title.

The final began as expected with the Dutch Total Football philosophy being displayed in true style as the first goal of the final came from Holland within just 2 minutes before the Germans had even touched the ball. Cruyff at the end of a string of countless passes burst through the defence with one of his amazing runs only to be fouled in the penalty area. Neeskens stepped up and converted the penalty. The game was already looking ominous for the Germans as the Dutch were already dictating and mesmerising the Germans.

However the Germans, like 20 years earlier, showed their true fighting spirit and battled their way back into the game. Midway through the first half the Germans were awarded a controversial penalty which was converted by Paul Breitner who spontaneously stepped up to take the kick. These 2 penalties were the first in a World Cup final match. This goal gave the Germans heart and they began to push for a goal as well as control the game. Berti Vogts was now stuck to Cruyffand succeeded in his task of subduing the brilliant Dutchman.

With half time looming the Germans surprisingly took the lead through Gerd Muller. This goal was Gerd Muller’s 14th in the FIFA World Cup and obviously most important and memorable as it turned out to be the winner as well as the goal that would make him the all time top scorer at the FIFA World Cup.

The 2nd half produced many chances for both sides including a disallowed goal from Gerd Muller. In the end the West German
s had defeated the Dutch and their impressive Total Football system. West Germany had become the first and only team to date to win the FIFA World Cup as reigning European champions. Johan Cruyff and Total Football with their breathtaking and beautiful football displays were defeated by the classy West Germans.


Captain Franz Beckenbauer and Coach Helmut Schon holds aloft the new FIFA World Cup Trophy for the first time.

Galactico

Swoosh0018’s Freds was in Durbs. Pics of whats cutting in Durban
View of Durbans World Cup Stadium from a distance

A Sand Castle Replica of Durban Stadium

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