Gianni Truvianni

An article about the first World Cup final I ever saw played live, between Argentina and the Netherlands. This in fact being the first time I witnessed the excitement of a final encounter in any sport.

 

The year was 1978, in the month of June in the summer though in Argentina where the world cup was taking place the season was winter. This making it necessary for the players to wear long sleeve shirts, in what up till now has been the last time the world cup was staged in a country that was not in the middle of summer, though next year’s competition will be held in South Africa, where June is also a winter month.

 

It was the Sunday of the final which I will never forget, as I would be watching the most important of games for the first time. Argentina and the Netherlands had made it to the finals, both with great teams which despite neither being undefeated, were standing one step from becoming world champions for the first time in their footballing history.

 

Argentina was the team those who came to my house to watch the game supported, given most of them were Argentine or South American. How they would be cheering for Argentina was clear, given this had become a matter of national pride. Argentina and their fans needed a victory and how much it meant to them even I at that early of 11 could see.

 

As for Argentina they had qualified to the final over Brazil; not by having beaten them in a game but simply having a goal difference of 8-0 which topped Brazil’s 6-2. Argentina however to qualify had to defeat Peru by 4 goals in their last game before the final. This being something they would do by 6-0 in a game which till this day is suspected of having been fixed by bribery. This the case though concrete proof has never been established to support this claim.

 

The Netherlands much to my sadness made it to the final for the second time in a row by beating Italy 2-1 in a game they could have even afforded the luxury of drawing in order to get to the final. Them being a team that again like they had four years prior had great players; such as Neeskins, Resenbrink, Krol, Repp and most of those who had played in the 1974 World Cup. Johan Cruyff being the notable absentee yet in spite of this the Dutch team had managed to reach the final and again they were pitted against the host team.

 

Argentina when it came to its players was also packed with stars who had definitely made a name for themselves during the 78 World Cup. Kempes, Pasarella, Ardilles, Fillol and Bertoni were those Argentina would be depending upon that day to deliver them the title of World Champion they so desperately wanted.

 

As for myself I can not say that the game meant anything to me personally, other then wanting to watch what I hoped would be an interesting spectacle. Argentina was the country of many of my family members but this was never a nation for which I held any particular love for. This given that I grew up in the States, with a mostly Italian background. It was in a way wonderful to be watching a game, not worrying about who won or lost, as I could just lay back and observe, instead of constantly hoping for one specific team to win.

 

This due to me not caring in the least which team became champion but that it be a final worthy of a place in history. The game was to be played in “Stadio Monumental” in Buenos Aires, this being the home of one of Argentina’s most popular teams; River Plate.

 

As for the final itself, it was the last time the participants would not come out on to the field of play side by side. This being a slight factor, since the Argentine team would come out of their locker-room five minutes after the Netherlands, making them wait while the crowd became apparently even more hostile toward them. Argentina doing thus in what some considered a deliberate delay tactic, perhaps in an attempt to cool of the Dutch and prevent them from getting off to a good start like they did in the 74 final, where they scored a goal only two minutes in to the game.

 

As for the starting time, it would be delayed even more when Argentina complained in the opinion of many, mine included unfairly about a bandage on the arm of Holland’s Renier Van Der Kerkhof, which in fact had already been approved of by FIFA, apart from having been used in previous matches without any problems. It was during these moments of tension that Italian referee Sergio Gonella (last name meaning skirt in Italian) demonstrated his weak character by allowing these blatant delay tactics to continue till the point of the Dutch team threatening to walk out on the game. A solution however was found to this dilemma and it being to add an extra layer of protection to the bandage already being worn by one of the Van Der Kerkhof twins. All of which making for a very late start which seemed to be precisely what Argentina had wanted and got.

 

The game eventually got under way on this Sunday, with both teams pushing forward and having their share of scoring chances. The crowd as one could expect was behind Argentina all the way as were those who had come to watch the game in my parent’s house. How they cheered when they got close to scoring (specially when a Pasarella shot missed by very little early in the first half) or suffered when the Netherlands threatened (specially when a header by Repp missed the mark by small fractions) Fillol’s goal. It being something which showed me for the first time what a final really meant to those whose country played in it.

 

The 38 minute mark came when screams of “goal” where heard not only through out my parent’s living room but The Monumental. Joy seemed to be everywhere when Kempes, after being set up by Ardiles and Bertoni managed to beat Dutch goalkeeper, Youngblood to give Argentina a 1-0 lead. Argentina was in the lead and such the first have would end.

 

During the break those in my house who unlike me were not impartial, seemed to be about to enter heaven. Their team was winning and to them nothing else mattered. Argentina and their national football team, at least on that day was everything and there would be a feast and wild celebration not if but when Argentina won or such had they planed it. An uncle of mine even declaring Argentina had already won, as if the second half was but a formality.

 

The second half got under way with a lot of rough play from both sides but Argentina benefited the most from it. This given the still unchanged factor that they were winning. The Netherlands eventually realized that theirs would be wise to concentrate on attack as all knew they were capable of and forget returning fouls. Krol stepped up for the Netherlands and along with Haan and Neeskins took control of the game, as Argentina was bottled up in their own half of the field.

 

Pressure was mounting as chances were getting clearer for the Dutch however Argentina still kept their 1-0 lead. Time was running out for the Dutch and at one point it even seemed to me Argentina’s slim 1-0 lead might hold out till the end when Nanninga not only equalized with a header but became the first substitute to ever score a goal in a final. All in an action that occurred at the 82^nd minute mark of the game. The game was tied at 1 a piece, which sent my mother’s family in to near panic, as victory was no longer a sure thing. All of which made worse by the fact that the Dutch were controlling the game and looking to if anything go up in the score board.

 

Regarding the Dutch goal, it come of a cross by Van Der Kerkhof; who found Nanninga unmarked and streaking in to the penalty box, though seeing the reply I did notice one thing. It being that Fillol had gone too far to the side of the goal from where the centering pass came, so much that he was out of position and as a consequence of this could not get back in time to cover Nanninga’s header, which in my opinion he would have saved had he been waiting for the cross on the inside of the goal post.

 

The score was level and just as overtime seemed about to come, a long pass came to Resenbrink with a minute left which he bounced of the Argentine post. How close the Dutch came to pulling of this upset was something I nor any who saw the match will ever forget. It was at that moment that those around me who so loudly had supported Argentina through out the game seemed to almost have ceased breathing. They had been pulled so closed to disaster that it was as if their lives would have ended had Resenbrink’s shot gone in and scored what would have been the winning goal. This the case since a minute was left in the game. The game much to the relief of all those around me as well as in Monumental Stadium however would end 1-1.

 

Overtime would be needed and what a thrill it had been up till that point even if it had not been a brilliantly played game from a technical point. This due to neither side showing football which could be regarded as particularly great but in their actions one could not deny there was great determination on both sides to win.

 

It was my feelings that told me during the intermission before the overtime was due to start that Argentina would win, not that I wished them to do so but sensed that if The Netherlands after all that effort had not been able to win, their chances in overtime were less given the amount of energy they had displayed. Specially in the last 15 minutes of the game. I in all must confess was hoping to see the game be decided by penalties; as it would have been the first time in World Cup history that any kind of game would have been decided via this method. It in fact had been before the 78 World Cup that FIFA had established that if a game were to end in a draw after 120 minutes the two teams would have to go in to a penalty shoot out to determine the winner; instead of a reply, like it had been done up and till then.

 

Tensions were high everywhere as the first period of overtime started and just as I had thought the Dutch were incredibly tired after regulation time, not that the Argentines were not as well but they had not been forced to go forward in the way the Netherlands had in the last 20 minutes of the game. Argentina attacked yet if truth be told it was due to having more physical strength then their opponents rather then finesse or better quality of play. In fact I could say then that looking at the Dutch on the field and their weak attempts at attack made me see that this was one for Argentina to score and win and if they did not do it, the Dutch were going to have to hope for a good outcome in the penalty shot out. This because the Netherlands definitely did not look like a team  that could score a goal in any other way.

 

Argentina as was visible from the action on the field got their first goal and it came just as the first half of overtime was about to end, at the 114 minute mark when once again Kempes went through the Dutch defense, to give Argentina a 2-1 lead. Kempes’s was a spectacular goals in many ways but if one looks at the Dutch defense it was clear they were not in any shape to even get in his way, as he charged toward Youngblood’s goal, who like in the first goal also came off his line only to be beaten for the second time that day. Argentina was in the lead and how those around me and in the Stadium rejoiced as their team had taken the lead just as the half ended.

 

The second period began right away without delay and as it did I could sense how those around me were practically already celebrating and in my mind did they ever have reason to. The Dutch team looked like a team that was almost dead on their feet, perhaps also from a psychological point of view as well; as if that ball hitting the bar had broken their fighting spirit.

 

In the second period which like the first one would last 15 minutes the Dutch went forward but more from having no choice but to do so instead of any real desires or will to win. It perhaps was a gallant effort on the part of the Dutch to some how try to bounce back but it proved to be of no use, as Argentina would score again at the 115 minute via Bertoni. The 3^rd Argentine goal however saw Kempes handle the ball before passing it over to Bertoni who simply tucked it away past Dutch goalkeeper, Youngblood. It being a play which the Dutch would protest to the referee about. This of course being to no able as the goal stood; giving Argentina a 3-1 advantage with five minutes left in the game.

 

The last five minutes ended with The Netherlands attempting to attack without any real danger, as time ran out on their hopes, leaving Argentina as world champion for the first time in their footballing history. Argentina had won and the first ever world cup which I had seen live had come to an end, sending all around me as well as the Monumental in to a celebration that would last through out the night. 

 

In a footnote, I would add that this game left a lot of bitterness between the Dutch and Argentine players, which would be made clear in the way the Dutch team did not even participate in the post game ceremony to receive their runner’s-up medals.