FIFA World Cup: Orange-Beauty, Orange-Sadness. Uruguay to Qatar

Football is a game where the joy and pain of not scoring are mixed with the fun of the most complex formations and tactics. This great universality of being able to enjoy the game from anywhere has made the game the most popular event in the world. And without a doubt, the biggest football event is the World Cup football. During this four-year tournament, the whole world watches who won and who lost. Because of the game’s ability to capture all human emotions, FIFA World Cup football is not limited to winning and losing. This history is the history of people. The 22nd edition of the World Cup will begin in Qatar in a few days.

Before that, let’s look back and hear the story of the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

You can say daydreaming. Crazy delirium again? Judging by the situation, that is also correct. Total football was invented in the country that introduced capitalism. Then the game changed. But those who changed, the crown of the world’s best did not rise on their heads. Some are tragedies or ornaments of history. Such an ‘ornament’ is adorning the cover of the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Dutch sadness.

The 10th edition of the World Cup was held in West Germany with a new trophy designed by Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga as Brazil won the Jules Rime Trophy forever. A new football season began in 1974, which began on June 13 and ended on July 25.

FIFA World Cup: Orange-Beauty, Orange-Sadness

West Germany and Spain made an agreement between themselves in 1966. 1974 and 1982 would give reciprocal support to their bid to host the World Cup. However, on the football field, Spain could not sustain the success achieved through reciprocal support. The team could not make it to the qualifying round of Seva. Even more surprising was the omission of England, Portugal, Belgium, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania.

The Soviet Union was also among the excluded. The back story is different. The socialist country refused to play qualifiers in Chile under CIA puppet tyrant Pinochet. The ground where the match was to be held, the National Stadium, was used as a concentration camp and firing squad for days before the match. On the day of the match, the Chilean players celebrated the goal in the empty post as the team from the former Soviet Union was not sent.

FIFA World Cup

West Germany played host to services from Europe and the remaining eight countries included communist-ruled East Germany across the Berlin Wall. In addition, four are in Latin America; Haiti, Zaire, and Australia – these 16 countries are divided into four groups. However, with a change in the format, the top two teams from each group are again divided into two groups in the second round. The champions of those two groups play in the final and the runners-up teams in the third-fourth place match.

After the groups were decided by lottery, excitement spread across the two Germanys. Because both East and West Germany were in the same group. In the June 22 match, the Communists won and the hosts lost with Jürgen Sparwasser’s goal. However, both teams go to the next round due to good results with Australia and Chile getting a chance in the gap.

FIFA World Cup

From Group ‘B’, Brazil and Yugoslavia easily progressed to the next round. A much weakened Brazil drew goalless with Scotland and Yugoslavia. And in Zaire, it was as if everyone had a shooting practice team. Scotland gave 2, Brazil 3, and the Slavs very ruthlessly counted 9 goals! Group ‘C’ surprise was Sweden. They beat Uruguay by 3 goals and drew with the Netherlands.

Let’s talk briefly about Total Football, the Dutch originator of the public limited company idea. Not only is the land low-lying, but the country is also land-scarce due to water scarcity. The use of space was therefore learned by the Dutch. Using this space is one of the philosophies of Total Football. Added to this is the concept of ‘working together from ‘socialist’ football in Austria and Hungary.

The ‘Clockwork Orange’ or the Dutch team’s terrible beauty is the first to feel Argentina. The Latin team scored 4 goals in the first game in the second-round group. What with the name Clockwork, the game was not ‘mechanical’; but rather an art. The whole party was like a mighty river. Everyone is going to attack simultaneously and everyone is handling the defense together. Seeing this, the opponent would go crazy. Johan Cruyff used to say, FIFA World Cup “Football is a game of the feet, but the game is played in the head.” In that world cup, the green carpet of the field was like a chess board for this champion of total football and the FIFA World Cup.

Seeing that ‘orange’ beauty, a Brazilian journalist remarked, ‘They (the Dutch) are messy in an organized way.’ Brazil was powerless to stop them.
Nickens and Cruyff’s 2 goals defeated the defending champion Brazil. However, in the fight for Latin honors, old Georginio’s Brazil beat Argentina 2-1 and Rivelino’s goal beat East Germany to finish as runners-up in the group FIFA World Cup.

Despite losing the German derby, West Germany continued to play well. In the second round group, they defeated Sweden and Yugoslavia, along with Poland, which was in great form and reached the final. The only goal in the match with Poland was scored by guard Muller who scored 10 goals in the previous season.

Muller, who once worked 14 hours a day in a textile mill, knew that FIFA World Cup football would bring him liberation, and was determined, missing the opportunity to score meant endangering his own liberation, never making that mistake, so this striker was hoping to win the final. However, Poland’s Lato was the highest scorer of the service. His seventh goal beat Brazil to finish third in the Eastern European nation, Poland’s best performance to date.

The Dutch took the lead from a penalty just two minutes into the final in Munich. They also had power in the field. Attack after attack on the Total Football table. But West Germany’s goalkeeper Sepp Meyer stopped them like an unyielding wall.

In the 25th minute of the opposite match, Paul Breitner equalized for the hosts by scoring from the penalty spot. The opportunistic Muller put the team ahead in the 43rd minute. After that, the rest is actually the Netherlands game with Beckenbauer.

FIFA

Beckenbauer is called ‘Kaiser’, German for Emperor. Born in a working-class family in Munich, the game was royal. Attacked from the midfield like a fireball. He also prevented the attack of the opponent. Like the magical Magyars of 1954, the ‘Clockwork Oranges’ were defeated by a Beckenbauer in defense, with West Germany emerging as champions (2-1).

We have to talk about another emperor. The Netherlands changed the game on the field and the Brazilian Havelange changed the game outside. The old elites of Europe were removed from power, and with the help of Africa and Asia, they sat on the FIFA World Cup table. Other African nations protesting apartheid in South Africa and Asians who felt deprived throughout their lives voted for Havelange.

But like many other chapters of history, Havelange’s politics was only about grabbing power, not about restoring the rights of the deprived. ‘Emperor Havelange’ turned the game into a billion-dollar industry. Havelange and his supporters, who were more powerful than the Pope, were not only raking in the bulk of the ‘industry’ money but were above the law.

In fact, the 1974 FIFA World Cup changed football forever on and off the field.