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.
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
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.
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…
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.
Interesting. What the towns and roads of Spain looked like during the Final.
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.