# 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 10, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677 "2010-06-10T17:32:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 135
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/2681 "2010-07-14T16:41:35Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > As I am not old enough to remember 1978, what was “bought” here? I knew that 6-0 win over Peru was pretty outrageous and prompted the current policy of simultaneous games, but I never heard anything about the final. Wiki mentions Argentina [delaying the start of the game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_FIFA_World_Cup_Final), but is that what you are referring to? That seems pretty tame. The simultaneous last group games policy was as a result of the 1982 West Germany v Austria match in the group stages. An early German goal meant that both teams would qualify if the score stayed that way and in the next eighty or so minutes remaining, both teams stayed largely in their own half, passing the ball around with an occasional half-hearted attack from either side. I don’t think it was a prearranged tactic, just a tacit understanding that developed after the goal was scored. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/2682 "2010-07-14T17:04:09Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > As I am not old enough to remember 1978, what was “bought” here? I knew that 6-0 win over Peru was pretty outrageous and prompted the current policy of simultaneous games, but I never heard anything about the final. Wiki mentions Argentina [delaying the start of the game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_FIFA_World_Cup_Final), but is that what you are referring to? That seems pretty tame. This article gives what I think is a good account of why I feel that WC was a sham; in more was than one: [**When The World Cup Legitimized A Dictatorship – Argentina 1978**](http://www.twohundredpercent.net/?p=6786) BTW, my uncle was there (he’s been to six WCs vs my two) and he confirms not only what the article recounts but the incredible thuggery and climate of fear that prevailed at the time. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/2683 "2010-07-14T17:08:07Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > This article gives an interesting play-by-play of the 1978 final: [http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/goldkeep/Holland78/Argntna.htm](http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/goldkeep/Holland78/Argntna.htm) > > It’s written by an Englishman, if that helps. 🙂 > > Besides describing how brutal the match was (on both sides), it clearly paints a picture of an intimidated ref afraid to blow the wistle against the white and blues in the witch’s cauldron the _Monumental_ must have been that day. > > Also from memory, based on that documentary I keep referring to, the organisation of the cup had been messing with the Dutch team by putting them in another hotel for no apparent reason in the days leading up to the final, forcing them to travel something like 2 hours each way to their training facilities. > > All in all no rock solid case, but a lot of incidents indicating a climate was devised to deliberately destabilise the Dutch team. Further to my answer to **Erdosain** , the three match second group stage was as a result of the expansion of the World Cup to 24 teams, not as stated in the link. I’ve no doubt that the host nation took “home advantage” a bit literally (so did England in '66, playing all their games at Wembley), but had Rensenbrink(?) put it in from five yards rather than hitting the post in the last minute of normal time… That was a Dutch team without Cruyff. (Who refused to go to Argentina because he took a high-minded moral stand against playing in a country where thousands of people ‘dissappeared’ because of their political beliefs… or because his wife was unhappy about the number of away fixtures he’d been playing…) I loved the Holland and Ajax teams of the seventies, I was at Wembley in '76 when they destroyed england 2-0 (it could easily have been eight). They were a joy to watch. I enjoyed this final too - a bit like watching Arsenal v Stoke City… ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/2684 "2010-07-14T18:45:14Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > That was a Dutch team without Cruyff. > (Who refused to go to Argentina because he took a high-minded moral stand against playing in a country where thousands of people ‘dissappeared’ because of their political beliefs… or because his wife was unhappy about the number of away fixtures he’d been playing…) I read recently that the real reason he didn’t go was that there had been a kidnap attempt and he and his family had been held at gunpoint by an intruder at their home in Spain. After that he was paranoid about security and thought that travelling to Argentina was too risky. I think he gave up international football because of it. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/2685 "2010-07-14T19:06:59Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I read recently that the real reason he didn’t go was that there had been a kidnap attempt and he and his family had been held at gunpoint by an intruder at their home in Spain. After that he was paranoid about security and thought that travelling to Argentina was too risky. I think he gave up international football because of it. Right you are, sir. [**Johan Cruyff finally reveals why he didn’t play in 1978**](http://cl.theoffside.com/barcelona/johan-cruyff-finally-reveals-why-he-didnt-play-in-1978.html) ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/2686 "2010-07-15T17:36:46Z")
Interesting. What the towns and roads of Spain looked like during the Final. [**Ghost Spain**](http://kurioso.es/english/ghost-spain/) ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/2687 "2010-07-16T03:19:01Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > Well, you WOULD say that, wouldn’t you? And I don’t blame you. 🙂 > > But really. A final match that was a joy to watch for the non-partisan observer? When did that ever happen? The 1978 final sure was thrilling, but as we’ve retroactively found out, it was bought. Ever since then, you tell me. > > Too much at stake. More and more so in this day and age with the world cup becoming a advertising platform for the next EUR 100 million transfer. Winning is everything, and they’ll do anything to get there. Um, West Germany 2 - 3 Argentina in Mexico, '86? I watched that one on a Spanish language channel, unable to understand much of anything, and thoroughly enjoyed it! For what it is worth, I found the final this year quite difficult to enjoy. While I understood what the Dutch were doing, I disliked the result. The last three finals were all much more fun to watch. This reminded me too much of Brazil - Italy in '94, without the heat exhaustion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677.md?page=134)