1974 FIFA WORLD CUP
Part 3
The last remaining eight teams left had brought up some mouth-watering fixtures which included a battle with the Dutch and Germans, Italy and Argentina going at it, Uruguay and Brazil in a rematch from the last tournament and finally an unlikely pair in the form of Poland and East Germany all battling it out for a place in the last four. They would however throw up a lot of surprise results but for some for all the wrong reasons...
The first match of the Quarter-finals saw the hosts taking on the much fancied Netherlands, though there were some doubts among the Germans due to the fact that Paul Breitner was out injured and unable to play. It would turn out not to be the Dutch that was the main trouble, but rather, the Russian referee. From the get go, the Dutch were awarded a penalty which helped them take the lead. However the real controversy happened in the 25th minute in which Bernd Hölzenbein was fouled in the Dutch penalty box yet for some reason, the referee gave no call [1]. Despite this, the Germans would get a goal back before the break and hoped things would turn out better for them. Little did they know...
There would be a number of chances for both sides to win the game yet the West Germans had a few penalty calls not going in their favour, only leading them for the team and the supporters to get more livid and what they felt was clear bias against them. More trouble came for them later on when Müller thought he had scored when he put the ball in the net, only to be denied by the linesman flagging him for offside [2] and all around the ground, many German supporters could be heard whistling and jeering in fury...then finally it all came to a head in the 75th minute when Cruyff scored a volley to help the Dutch retake the lead and in the end and the horror of the home supporters, the Germans had not only been beaten in their own backyard by their rivals, but what seemed to be clearly cheated out by a dodgy Soviet referee called Kasakov that many Germans felt had a strong anti-German bias due to the second World War and many nations felt sorry for the German's bad fate. Some consolation was given when FIFA stepped in and made sure Kasakov never refereed another World Cup match again and to this day, many German supporters still say
'Dieser verdammte russische Schiedsrichter!' ('That damn Russian referee!')
For the Dutch, it did feel like they had won the final though there was still a long way to go. Despite the way they might've been 'helped' to make it to the last four, many were now pretty sure that the Netherlands were surely the team to beat now.
Angry exchanges with the referee during the match
As a host nation was weeping injustice, Italy and Argentina prepared to face off each other in what would be historic match as the first World Cup match to be settled on penalty kicks [3]. While Italy were slight favourites to win the game, Argentina were not a team to mess with and they would show this as they gained the lead in the 20th minute. However it would a blunder in the 35th minute when Argentina scored an own goal and this was what Italy needed to try and win the game yet despite all this, neither side get find a winning goal throughout the rest of the game [4] and thus, the game went to penalties.
It is said that taking spot kicks is a horrible way to go out if you lose and it would be one such Italian, Anastasi, would be the only one to miss his spot kick and despite the rest of his team taking their kicks and scoring, Argentina would score all their penalties and would book their place in the last four for the first time since 1966 [5]. It was a day of shocks by all concern and most were wondering just what was going to happen the following day. Were more shocks to follow?
Italy vs Argentina in the Quarter-finals
The following day saw an all South American affair with Brazil taking on Uruguay, the latter whom had played a dirty game with the Romanians and who was the team many wanted to see kicked out. It was in fact a rematch of the 1970 Semi-final in which Brazil came from behind to win [6]. What followed would be a fast and frantic game in which proved to be quite a unlikely game for goals being scored. At last for many at least it felt that the Brazilian magic that many thought about the South American giants, however Uruguay weren't going to simply roll over to let them win that easily.
Brazil would score first, then Uruguay scored, Brazil scored again before half time, then during the second half, Uruguay scored to make the Brazilians sweat and there was feeling as time went on that another upset was on the cards. However just eleven minutes before the end, Brazil scored the final goal that would take them into last four and dump their fellow South Americans out of the World Cup.
Brazil and Uruguay during the match
The final match of the Quarter finals was perhaps the one that had turned heads, Poland vs East Germany. Being two unknown sides, no one knew what to expect and yet what would happen in that game was a true thriller in which Poland scored early on and lead for large parts of the game looking like their unlikely run to the Semi-finals seemed to be reality, however East Germany would strike back with five minutes of regulated time to go and the game moved into a tense period of extra time.
Despite East Germany throwing everything they had at Poland, it would be a Polish goal that would send them through to their first ever Semi-final and it was truly an amazing story, though much to Polish fans annoyance, they were being called as a triumph for the east...Poland only played for themselves and this was a way to express their identity. Could their miracle become a reality?
An Artist's work showing the moment in which Poland scored the second goal in extra time
When the dust (and controversy) was settled, four remained and somewhere in FIFA's offices in Switzerland, plans were now being seriously looked at to expand the World Cup for 1982 [7] as football had become more popular than it had ever been thought previously. Changes were ahead, though would a familiar name be carved on the trophy or would a new name find it's way on the cup? This World Cup was really up anyone to think about.
Final results of the 1974 Quarter-finals
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Well...bet you didn't see any of those results coming, however the butterfly effects of the World Cup in this world are taking effect you wouldn't believe in. Anyway I must I'm quite pleased at how well many have taken to this, even compared to 'All To Play For'. How do you feel about the POD as a good enough way to see the World Cup expanded earlier than OTL? I am surprised that despite being quite a known moment in football history that no one has done a TL regarding it. Anyway, some notes to follow as always:
[1] A different referee leads to a whole different set of butterflies in place.
[2] This happened in OTL, though probably has a more horrid effect here.
[3] This wouldn't be seen until the 1982 World Cup IOTL.
[4] Pretty much the same OTL group stage game, though it last a whole 120 minutes before spot kicks happen.
[5] Look back on TTL.
[6] Ditto.
[7] Watch this space!
Anyway, here is the last four as it stands:
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Netherlands vs Argentina
Brazil vs Poland
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A very strange last four no doubt, so who do you think will go all the way now? Until then...see you soon!
