Group A – Football Journey

Group A. Played in Mexico City and Puebla and opening the championship, for Italy was there and by tradition the reigning world champion played the first game. Italy, Argentina, Bulgaria, and South Korea.

Head coach: Enzo Bearzot

No.

Pos.

Player

Date of birth (age)

Caps

Club

Giovanni Galli

29 April 1958 (aged 28)

Fiorentina

Giuseppe Bergomi

22 December 1963 (aged 22)

Internazionale

Antonio Cabrini

8 October 1957 (aged 28)

Juventus

Fulvio Collovati

9 May 1957 (aged 29)

Internazionale

Sebastiano Nela

13 March 1961 (aged 25)

Roma

Gaetano Scirea (Captain)

25 May 1953 (aged 33)

Juventus

Roberto Tricella

18 March 1959 (aged 27)

Hellas Verona

Pietro Vierchowod

6 April 1959 (aged 27)

Sampdoria

Carlo Ancelotti

10 June 1959 (aged 26)

Roma

Salvatore Bagni

25 September 1956 (aged 29)

Napoli

Giuseppe Baresi

7 February 1958 (aged 28)

Internazionale

Franco Tancredi

10 January 1955 (aged 31)

Roma

Fernando De Napoli

15 March 1964 (aged 22)

Avellino

Antonio Di Gennaro

5 October 1958 (aged 27)

Hellas Verona

Marco Tardelli

24 September 1954 (aged 31)

Internazionale

Bruno Conti

13 March 1955 (aged 31)

Roma

Gianluca Vialli

9 July 1964 (aged 21)

Sampdoria

Alessandro Altobelli

28 November 1955 (aged 30)

Internazionale

Giuseppe Galderisi

22 March 1963 (aged 23)

Hellas Verona

Paolo Rossi

23 September 1956 (aged 29)

Milan

Aldo Serena

25 June 1960 (aged 25)

Juventus

Walter Zenga

30 April 1960 (aged 26)

Internazionale

Well, Italy is always seen as favourite. Reigning champions also are always seen as favourites. International observers overwhelmingly saw Italy as favourite – it was almost like before the finals in 1974. Back then Italian journalists and pundits saw Italy as candidate for the title, but now it was the opposite: Bearzot was heavily criticized and predictions were dark. Critics considered the team rather weak and were right to some degree: a whole bunch of key players were aging and no longer in top form, notably Paolo Rossi. Bearzot, true to his old promise and well known loyalty to his pupils, ignored some local favourites in favour of his old guard. Key positions were shaky at best – notably, the goalkeepers and playmakers. However, critics pretty much ignored offering solutions, for there were none – Zoff and Antognoni were no longer around and there were no similar players at hand. It was objective situation, nothing to be done about it. As for objections to the inclusion of some players and the absence of others… frankly, it was more or less comparing similar players and Bearzot, like almost every coach, chose experienced and familiar with teammates guys. There was no doubt Italy would be formidable in defence and for the rest… it was as ever: counterattacks could provide a goal or two. This Italian squad promised, at a glance, exactly what usually made Italy lethal: hard experienced team, not given to some extravagant play. One only had to recall the 1978 World Cup – wonderful play and nothing at the end. Of course, one may go back to 1974… dreadful play and nothing, but playing some painful football in 1982 made Italy world champions, the team eventually improving with time and at its best when mattered most. Italy was seen as the favourite in the group and certainly qualifying to the second round. And from there – sky was the limit.

Argentina.

Top row from left: trainer, Pumpido, Valdano, Giusti, Zelada, Clausen, Brown, Ruggeri, Islas, Maradona, trainer.

Middle row: Bochini, Tapia, Enrique, Pasculli, trainer, Bilardo – coach, Borghi, Cuciuffo, Trobbiani.

First row: trainer, Passarella, Olarticoechea, Garre, Almiron, Batista, Burruchaga, trainer.

Head coach: Carlos Bilardo

No.

Pos.

Player

Date of birth (age)

Caps

Club

Sergio Almirón

18 November 1958 (aged 27)

N/A

Newell’s Old Boys

Sergio Batista

9 November 1962 (aged 23)

N/A

Argentinos Juniors

Ricardo Bochini

25 January 1954 (aged 32)

N/A

Independiente

Claudio Borghi

28 September 1964 (aged 21)

N/A

Argentinos Juniors

José Luis Brown

10 November 1956 (aged 29)

N/A

Deportivo Español

Daniel Passarella

25 May 1953 (aged 33)

Fiorentina

Jorge Burruchaga

9 October 1962 (aged 23)

Nantes

Néstor Clausen

29 September 1962 (aged 23)

N/A

Independiente

José Luis Cuciuffo

1 February 1961 (aged 25)

N/A

Vélez Sársfield

Diego Maradona (Captain)

30 October 1960 (aged 25)

Napoli

Jorge Valdano

4 October 1955 (aged 30)

N/A

Real Madrid

Héctor Enrique

26 April 1962 (aged 24)

N/A

River Plate

Oscar Garré

9 December 1956 (aged 29)

N/A

Ferro Carril Oeste

Ricardo Giusti

11 December 1956 (aged 29)

N/A

Independiente

Luis Islas

22 December 1965 (aged 20)

N/A

Estudiantes La Plata

Julio Olarticoechea

18 October 1958 (aged 27)

N/A

Boca Juniors

Pedro Pasculli

17 May 1960 (aged 26)

N/A

Lecce

Nery Pumpido

30 July 1957 (aged 28)

N/A

River Plate

Oscar Ruggeri

26 January 1962 (aged 24)

River Plate

Carlos Tapia

20 August 1962 (aged 23)

N/A

Boca Juniors

Marcelo Trobbiani

17 February 1955 (aged 31)

N/A

Elche

Héctor Zelada

30 April 1957 (aged 29)

N/A

América

With all the outrage against Bilardo and dark predictions that his team would not go beyond the first phase, hardly anybody in Argentina really thought that: the group was easy. Most likely Argentina was to finish second. As for the urgent calls ‘Bilardo, resign!’, perhaps nobody was taking this seriously either – changing coach just before the finals was suicidal move. Besides, in the great crusade against Bilardo 1982 was deliberately forgotten – the argument of ugly Bilardo football vs beautiful Menotti football did not hold water: Argentina was neither beautiful, nor successful in 1982 and Menotti had to go. And Bilardo made radical change of both philosophy and selection, so if he was sacked just before the World Cup, that meant making a new team from scratch. As for the team, it did not look much at first – only 5 players remained from the 1982 squad: Passarella, Maradona, Valdano, Pumpido, and Olarticoechea. Of them only Passarella amd Maradona were regulars. Valdano appeared in only one match, Olarticoechea was unused substitute and Pumpido never made even the game list. Of the 1978 world champions there was only Passarella left. The other radical departure from Menotti’s years was the massive inclusion of foreign-based players – 8 in total. True, Menotti stubbornly followed his believe that foreign-based players think mostly for their clubs and not for the country, but even if he was still at the helm ‘foreigners’ were going to be in the team, for by now the best Argentinians, including his own favourites, were playing abroad. However, Bilardo’s squad echoed the team of 1974 – practically no players from River Plate and Boca Juniors. The 1974 team was dreadful… and so was Bilardo’s. Scandals did not help either – Passarella compromised and decided to stay, perhaps driven by desire to play at third World Cup, but Fillol did not compromise and left the national team. Both played in the qualifications and suddenly looked like Bilardo was going to build anew – Passarella was in the squad, but was not going to be used. Perhaps – mostly because of his age – he was replaceable, but Fillol was a big loss. The best goalkeeper Argentina had and nobody even remotely close to him. Calling Zelada to replace Fillol produced justified outcry, but other members of the squad were similarly suspect: Almiron, Garre, Tapia… at least outside South America those were strange nobodies. To a point, the inclusion of Bochini was also suspect – a living legend, yes, but rarely called to play for Argentina. Already old… may be a legend, but Bochini was not included in the squads for 3 World Cups – 1974, 1978, and 1982. Why now? What for? Was he going to be used? To a point, Bochini was similar to Maradona player – one, who needs the rest of the team to play for him. This was Bilardo’s concept, of course, but based on Maradona. Maradona and Bochini could not play together, so unless thought of replacement, if Maradona fails, Bochini was going as a tourist. Claudio Borghi as well, for he was similar and compared to Maradona. There were too many suspicions and questions and Argentina was not seen as prime force, but expected to climb out of the group. Most likely second.

A trivia note: a point is usually made that Argentina used ‘unusual’ numbering at this World Cup. So fickle is the memory in the world of football – Argentina used alphabetical numbering in 1986, just like in 1982 and 1978. ‘Unusual’ numbering was used in 1974 too. And there were always some exceptions granted to the prime stars, so, following tradition, Maradona, Valdano, and Passarella were permitted to use their favourite numbers.

Bulgaria.

Sitting from left: Vassil Dragolov, Radoslav Zdravkov, Plamen Getov, Georgy Dimitrov, Stoycho Mladenov, Bozhidar Iskrenov, Kostadin Kostadinov.

Middle row: Iliya Dyakov, Zhivko Gospodinov, Anyo Sadkov (Ayan Sadakov), Georgy Yordanov, Georgy Vassilev – assistant coach, Ivan Voutzov – coach, Nikolay Arabov, Petar Petrov, Atanas Pashev, Plamen Markov.

Top row: Nasko Sirakov, Petar Aleksandrov, Boycho Velichkov, Nikolay Donev, Borislav Mikhaylov, Iliya Valov, Aleksandar Markov, Christo Kolev, Andrey Zhelyazkov.

Head coach: Ivan Vutsov

No.

Pos.

Player

Date of birth (age)

Caps

Club

Borislav Mikhailov

12 February 1963 (aged 23)

Vitosha Sofia

Nasko Sirakov

26 April 1962 (aged 24)

Vitosha Sofia

Nikolay Arabov

21 February 1953 (aged 33)

Sliven

Petar Petrov

20 February 1961 (aged 25)

Vitosha Sofia

Georgi Dimitrov (Captain)

14 January 1959 (aged 27)

Sredec Sofia

Andrey Zhelyazkov

9 July 1952 (aged 33)

Strasbourg

Bozhidar Iskrenov

1 August 1962 (aged 23)

Vitosha Sofia

Ayan Sadakov

28 September 1961 (aged 24)

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

Stoycho Mladenov

24 April 1957 (aged 29)

Sredec Sofia

Zhivko Gospodinov

6 September 1957 (aged 28)

Spartak Varna

Plamen Getov

4 March 1959 (aged 27)

Spartak Pleven

Radoslav Zdravkov

30 July 1956 (aged 29)

Sredec Sofia

Aleksandar Markov

17 August 1961 (aged 24)

Spartak Pleven

Plamen Markov

11 September 1957 (aged 28)

Metz

Georgi Yordanov

21 July 1963 (aged 22)

Vitosha Sofia

Vasil Dragolov

17 August 1962 (aged 23)

Beroe Stara Zagora

Hristo Kolev

21 September 1964 (aged 21)

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

Boycho Velichkov

13 August 1958 (aged 27)

Lokomotiv Sofia

Atanas Pashev

21 November 1963 (aged 22)

Trakia Plovdiv

Kostadin Kostadinov

25 June 1959 (aged 26)

Trakia Plovdiv

Iliya Dyakov

28 September 1963 (aged 22)

Dobrudzha Tolbuchin

Iliya Valov

29 December 1961 (aged 24)

Vratsa

First of all, a note on names – Turks were forcefully renamed at that time, so Ayan Sadakov was listed as Anyo Sadkov in 1986. After the Cup final scandal in 1985, clubs were ‘disolved’ and renamed by the government: Vitosha is Levski (Sofia); Sredetz – CSKA (Sofia), Vratza – Botev (Vratza), Trakia – Botev (Plovdiv) today.

The photo perhaps describes best the uncertainty of coach Voutzov’s mind, which was characteristic of his spell as national team coach. This was the squad just before the last cut – 24 players, 2 had to be eliminated. These were the goalkeeper Nikolay Donev and the center-forward Petar Aleksandrov. Voutzov took a risk by going to Mexico with only 2 goalies – the wisdom of having 3 keepers at world cup finals is weird, but stubbornly popular. He went against it, taking a risk. But then he followed fear… Aleksandrov was young yet and not very stable player at the time, but he was typical strong center-forward and great scorer. With his elimination, the team had no typical center-forward left – and that happened when the opponents were already known! Physical, gritty teams like Italy, Argentina, and South Korea required strong, physical centers, capable to fight in the air and difficult to push around. Voutzov somehow chose to get rid of his only player suitable for such opponents, scared by his fragile age. But it was not only that – there were a quite a few questionable choices. Yes, Voutzov went to the head of the state to beg amnesty for heavily suspended players in 1985, because they were national team regulars, but the only really needed one was the goalkeeper Borislav Mikhaylov. Some of the restored just because he claimed he need them for the national team were not called at all – instead, some strange guys were included: the full backs Iliya Dyakov and Aleksandar Markov. Dyakov, playing in the Second Division, was universally seen just called to make the numbers. Markov was a little better, but his main quality was that he was tough fighter. Looked like Voutzov had no options for some positions… which was not true – there were a few better than those defenders, who he entirely ignored. Similar was the case with the strikers, particularly center-forwards – some good players were never even tried. Looked like Voutzov preferred more universal, lighter, and mobile players, but that led only to emphasis on defensive-minded players, saturation with midfielders, and piling up of players playing similar positions. Attacking midfielders like Getov, Gospodinov, Kolev, Yordanov tended to stay on the left side. Add Dragolov and Velichkov plus left-winger Pashev, plus universal strikers, often used as left-wingers like Mladenov and Iskrenov. Voutzov tended to use about 5 of them in a match, so… when things were going the wrong way and he had to look for different solutions, he had none. As the World Cup games proved. Andrey Zhelyazkov was another player Voutzov constantly used for reasons unknown – Zhelyazkov was, at the time, the most expensive and successful Bulgarian export and the first foreign-based player to play for the national team in the Communist era, but he was out of place on the field. Most likely Voutzov wanted him for his experience and Zhelyazkov tried to help,although had no idea how. He was running constantly, but he was entirely out of touch with the rest of the team, sometimes it was even funny when he suddenly made a run in the opposite direction of the flow of the game at the moment or pass awkwardly the ball in some known only to him direction. It was more like Zhelyazkov was playing for the other team, not his own. By now he was 34 years old and it started to show, especially when he was moved further back to help defence in Mexico – out of breath and speed, he often just gave up chasing an opponent near Mikhaylov’s net. It may be strange, but Bulgaria had a big number of talented players at the moment, yet, they somehow did not deliver in the national team, presenting constant problem establishing lines. Tactics and concepts were not the strongest points of Voutzov, so he constantly changed players, hoping that some combination could work, but always inclined to reinforce defence and saturate midfield. Hoping for some miracle, he took Kostadinov and Pashev, presumably, because they played together in Trakia and scored a lot. But they were tried and dismissed from the national team many times already, because they never performed well there – yet, Voutzov never tried the obvious: if calling them, to call their club playmaker, who provided them with great passes and their center-forward, who was ready to finish their crosses with a goal. This could be said for almost all his squads – they were somewhat piles of players to make the numbers, a rag-tag unfinished groups ill-fitted to play together. Bulgaria was expected to finish third, for South Korea was obvious outsider.

South Korea.

Head coach: Kim Jung-nam

No.

Pos.

Player

Date of birth (age)

Caps

Club

Cho Byung-deuk

26 May 1958 (aged 28)

N/A

Hallelujah FC

Park Kyung-hoon

19 January 1961 (aged 25)

N/A

POSCO Atoms

Chung Jong-soo

27 March 1961 (aged 25)

N/A

Yukong Elephants

Cho Kwang-rae

19 March 1954 (aged 32)

N/A

Daewoo Royals

Chung Yong-hwan

10 February 1960 (aged 26)

N/A

Daewoo Royals

Lee Tae-ho

29 January 1961 (aged 25)

N/A

Daewoo Royals

Kim Jong-boo

3 November 1965 (aged 20)

N/A

Korea University

Cho Young-jeung

18 August 1954 (aged 31)

N/A

Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso

Choi Soon-ho

10 January 1962 (aged 24)

POSCO Atoms

Park Chang-sun (Captain)

2 February 1954 (aged 32)

N/A

Daewoo Royals

Cha Bum-kun

21 May 1953 (aged 33)

125

Bayer Leverkusen

Kim Pyung-seok

22 September 1958 (aged 27)

N/A

Hyundai Horangi

Noh Soo-jin

10 February 1962 (aged 24)

N/A

Yukong Elephants

Cho Min-kook

5 July 1963 (aged 22)

N/A

Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso

Yoo Byung-ok

2 March 1964 (aged 22)

N/A

Hanyang University

Kim Joo-sung

17 January 1966 (aged 20)

N/A

Chosun University

Huh Jung-moo

13 January 1955 (aged 31)

N/A

Hyundai Horangi

Kim Sam-soo

8 February 1963 (aged 23)

N/A

Hyundai Horangi

Byun Byung-joo

26 April 1961 (aged 25)

N/A

Daewoo Royals

Kim Yong-se

21 April 1960 (aged 26)

N/A

Yukong Elephants

Oh Yun-kyo

25 May 1960 (aged 26)

N/A

Yukong Elephants

Kang Deuk-soo

16 August 1961 (aged 24)

N/A

Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso

Well, the outsiders. A mystery team, but no more – some improvement was registered, but it was mostly considered to be due to the fame of Cha Bum-kun, now playing for Bayer (Leverkusen). Inspirational player, certainly boosting moral, but he was 33 years old and aided by enthusiasm was still not enough. South Korea was to be considered lucky if they got a point. The only thing in their favour was that the were unknown and could surprise careless opponent – but even so, it was unlikely they could win even one match.