Quarterfinals 21.06.86 (12.00) Guadalajara, Estadio Jalisco FRA - BRA 1:1 (1:1, 1:1, 1:1) p 4-3 (+65000) Igna ROM, Christov CZE, Nemeth HUN FRA: Bats - Battiston, Amoros, Bossis, Tusseau - Giresse (84 Ferreri), Tigana, Platini (c), Fernandez - Stopyra, Rocheteau (101 Bellone) BRA: Carlos - Josimar, Julio Cesar, Edinho (c), Branco - Alemão, Socrates, Junior (91 Silas), Elzo - Müller (72 Zico), Careca 0:1 Careca 18, 1:1 Platini 42 (75 Bats saved a penalty by Zico) Penalties: (0:0) Socrates (save Bats), 1:0 Stopyra, 1:1 Alemão, 2:1 Amoros, 2:2 Zico, 3:2 Bellone, 3:3 Branco, (3:3) Platini (out), (3:3) Julio Cesar (out), 4:3 Fernandez booked: Edinho (during pen shoot-out)
A lot was expected from this match and the teams not only did not disappoint, but elevated the duel into incredible show and to one of the all-time best World Cup matches. Too bad this game was not the final – 120 minutes followed by penalty kicks; wonderful football and fantastic misses of not one, but three superstars. What can you say... one team had to be eliminated. Brazil already came to its great form, France was also improving, the 1/8 finals whetted everybody's appetite for more beautiful football. Brazil was slightly stronger in the first half and scored relatively early goal, but France was not going to give up and although a bit illogically, Platini equalized shortly before the break. So, the second half started again from equal positions and France was seemingly getting the upper hand this time, now Brazil was showing its own great ambition and determination and had this ' illogical' chance France got in the first half: a penalty.
Zico, already established as the 'supersub' of the Brazilian team, stepped in. And missed! It was not the best penalty of the grand-master, but such things happen. The debate about why Zico may go fruitlessly to the end of time... the result stayed 1-1 and no team managed to change it to the end of regular time. In the extra-time one may slightly blame the referee for not giving a penalty to the French, but the fact remains: the game was not even stopped. Which may have been even a gesture to the excited fans: let give them drama to the fullest. However, Igna soon made a second mistake. Was it a mistake? The penalty shoot out started and started with a big bang: Socrates shot the first penalty – and missed! Zico, however, did not miss this time, but Brazil was trailing France now. Then Bellone stepped in, the ball bounced back from the post, hit Carlos, and bounced from his head into the net. Igna allowed the score. Was he right? Brazil protested a long time and Edinho was booked, but whoever changed a referee's decision? But was it a rightful goal? The rules are a bit murky about that... no big deal if the ball comes in after slight deflection from either the goalkeeper or from the a goalpost. But after two deflections? What if the ball deflects from the side post up and then from the top post into the net? It was similar case – from post to goalkeeper's head and into the net. The player was the problem, although passive at this point. But if that, why not the opposite – say, the ball deflects from the post back to the striker and just bounces from him into the net? Really, it was splitting hairs – Igna allowed the score. 'Justice' was restored quickly – Platini stepped in and kissed the ball before making his super-important shot. The ball went high and out... What a thrill – three of the greatest players in the world, all of them supreme penalty shooters missed. What a fate, what a drama. And immediately after him Julio Cesar was unlucky, the ball hit the side post and went out. Fernandez did not miss and France won. Brazil was send home.
Standing from left: 'Socrates' Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, 'Elzo' Aloisio Coelho, 'Julio Cesar' da Silva, Edino Nazareth Filho 'Edinho', Claudio Ibrahim Vaz Leal 'Branco', 'Carlos' Roberto Gallo. Crouching: 'Josimar' Higinio Pereira, Luis Antonio Correa da Costa 'Muller', Leovegildo Lins Gama 'Junior', Antonio de Oliveira Filho 'Careca', Ricardo Rogerio de Brito 'Alemao'. So unfair... Brazil, the most exciting team and, for many, the strongest one in two consecutive world finals was eliminated early again. A whole wonderful generation was going out without climbing the highest football peak. From Brazilian perspective, it was already 3rd World Cup in a row in which the team played great and lost. A national tragedy. From outside point of view... the mediocre football Brazil played in their early games was quickly erased from memory – now the great Brazilians were lamented. They were stronger than in 1982, they deserved at least to reach the final, what a bad luck not just for them, but for everyone. It was true that Brazil was superior team than the one in 1982, for now they had a good goalkeeper and paid more attention to defense. But it was also true that Brazil struggled greatly until Santana found the right combination of players as the finals progressed. It was not the joyous wonderfully playing squad the world saw 4 years earlier – the current Brazil shaped into that only in the last group match. One problem was not solved, though, and it is very difficult to figure out why – the strikers were not very effective. Same was noticed in 1982 and continued into 1986, no matter what combinations Santana tried. But it was impossible to find out why was that – the boys played strongly, had even flashes of greatness, there was nothing to really blame them... they just did not score goals. And little something was costly in the long run. Brazil had no reason to be ashamed of its performance, but going home proudly... Brazil was not Northern Ireland, good play did not count. No matter how many fans and observers thought them the best team in 1986, they were eliminated. 21.06.86 (16.00) Monterrey, Estadio Universitario GER - MEX 0:0 (0:0, 0:0. 0:0) p 4-1 (+44000) Diaz COL, Bambridge AUS, Snoddy NIR GER: Schumacher - Berthold, K.H.Förster, Jakobs, Briegel - Brehme, Eder (115 Littbarski), Matthäus, Magath - K.Allofs, Rummenigge (c - 59 D.Hoeness) MEX: Larios - Servin, F.Cruz, Quirarte, Amador (70 J.Cruz) - Munoz, Aguirre, Negrete, Espana - Boy (c - 32 de los Cobos), Sánchez Penalties: 1:0 K.Allofs, 1:1 Negrete, 2:1 Brehme, (2:1) Quirarte (save Schumacher), 3:1 Matthäus, (3:1) Servin (save Schumacher), 4:1 Littbarski booked: K.Allofs, Förster, Matthäus / Aguirre, Quirarte, de los Cobos, Servin, Sánchez sent off: Berthold (84) / Aguirre (100)
Great football was not expected from this match and there was none. It was long battle better forgotten quickly, which was decided by penalty shoot-out. Mexico was slightly better 110 minutes and West Germany – the last 10 minutes of the overtime, but there were few shots. Only one in the overtime, for instance. Mexico played as much as they could and were permitted; West Germany soldiered. This game was mostly blamed on the referee.
The Colombian Diaz was accused of over-zellous refereeing – 7 yellow cards and 2 red ones! What was that? Diaz did not let the guys play... after all, it was the match establishing Schumacher as gentleman player. As if a wolf could become a lamb... Both teams were hacking each other from the first second and did not stop to the end. The Mexicans were systematically hunting down Matthaus and Briegel. The Germans... well, can you blame a machine with all kinds of dangerous parts for cutting off the hand of one careless enough to come close? Can you blame a rifle for spitting out bullets? That what rifles do... and so Germans. Matthaus and Briegel were kicked any each way 120 minutes and finished the game unharmed. Tomas Boy was out injured in the 32nd minute,though... which pretty much killed the creative force of the Mexican team and practically left Hugo Sanchez without supply of useful balls. There was hardly a full minute of play in this match, yet, now the wave was reversing: so far there was outcry of brutal football and referees not punishing the culprits, but now... Now it was a referee showing too many cards and preventing the boys from playing with his whistle. Diaz lost the game early – of this he was guilty. It was clear that the Mexicans were after Matthaus and Briegel by the 5th minute and nobody was punished. By the 10th minute Rummenigge tried a karate kick, worth of Bruce Lee, at the head of Mexican player and the game was not even stopped! And immediately after that Schumacher rather casually attempted to decapitate another Mexican – again, no reaction from the referee. By the 15th minute it was crystal clear who has the upper hand, when the German wall ignored Diaz entirely – the wall was no more 6 meters from the ball and reacted to all gestures and orders of Diaz with adding one and then a second player to itself. It was like asking a boulder to move... no reaction, no movement, nothing... until Diaz gave up. After that... yes, he made more mistakes – wrong calls, no calls, too early for some things, too late for other. Not a single card was undeserved, but... in the eyes it was too many cards for nothing. True, it was very difficult to punish Germans – how can you find a machine doing something deliberately: it was it job to run and mow, so it did without emotions, mechanically, orderly... And how many cards one can show anyway? To every player? Diaz had no authority on the pitch, that was sure, and for the opponents – well, that was their best anyway. The goalkeepers had very little to do in this match. Was it the ugliest game? Hardly, but it was a typical example of 1980s football. Run and chop. Better speak of something else... German victory was quite expected. Lucky team... having the weakest possible opponent in the 1/8 finals and weakest in the ¼ finals. Why so lucky, was a question better put to the Danish coach Piontek... if he was really clever, he would try to lose against the Germans in the group match: the second-placed in the group knew who they will meet all the way to semi-finals, for the group was finishing after the others. It was Morocco and then the winner of Mexico-Bulgaria. The Germans chose to take the second place... and Denmark went into the mouth of Spain. West Germany suffered terribly against both Morocco and Mexico, but still reached the semi-finals. It was not the first time... one could easily recall the lost group match in 1974 against DDR. It was not like West Germany did not play – for pretty much the same reasons as in the match against Denmark: the team was struggling so far and it was under heavy criticism. Plus, it was a political clash. But West Germany lost back then and appeared in the easier semi-final group. Now – against 2 easier opponents, thanks to the lost game. Twice West Germany benefited by losing a game, thus winning in the long run. And in 1982 the Germans proved they win in the long run by not playing at all – the shameless theater with Austria. There was a big lesson in that.Mexico was eliminated – it was expected. Deep in their hearts, the Mexican fans knew it as well – only a miracle could move them further than the ¼ finals. They did not have a team equal to the leading football nations. In fact, it was rather limited team – Hugo Sanchez and Tomas Boy were the really classy players. Add Negrete, Aguirre, Quirarte and that was all. Severe goalkeeping problems – the half-Japanese Pablo Larios was much respected in the dressing room, but it was not for goalkeeping. Yes, he did what he could – perhaps even more than what he could – but he was spectacular liability: the fans loved his flying acrobatics, but it was just a show - he was not strong goalie. Not his fault – Mexico did not have solid goalies. Did not have solid players at many positions. Bora Milutinovic did wonderful job with the limited resources at hand – first of all, he managed to keep his team both motivated and relaxed. His personality greatly helped – all smiles and jokes, he managed to keep journalists on his side. The players respected him and listened to him – and tried as best as they can to follow his requirements. It helped Mexico knew him well – he played there, he started coaching there, Tomas Boy played against him on the pitch, Hugo Sanchez played a bit along with him and then was coached by him. If there was anything to criticize Milutinovic for, may be it was the choice to run and battle the Germans – Mexican players were slower, slower even than the slow Magath and Matthaus. And physically weaker – the Germans could easily run for hours, this was not a secret. Trying to outrun them only served the Germans. The tactic Morocco used was much more effective, but may be Milutinovic just did not have technical enough players for similar approach. And when the Germans injured Boy there was nobody to control the tempo. Overall, Mexico did well – they went as far as they could, they did not lose to West Germany on the pitch. 22.06.86 (12.00) Mexico City, Estadio Azteca ARG - ENG 2:1 (0:0) (~115000) Ben Naceur TUN, Dochev BUL, Ulloa COS ARG: Pumpido - Cuciuffo, Brown, Ruggeri, Olarticoechea - Batista, Giusti, Burruchaga (76 Tapia), Enrique - Valdano, Maradona (c) ENG: Shilton (c) - G.M.Stevens, Butcher, Fenwick, Sansom - Hoddle, Steven (76 Barnes), Reid (66 Waddle), Hodge - Lineker, Beardsley 1:0 Maradona 51 h?, 2:0 Maradona 56, 2:1 Lineker 81 h booked: Batista / Fenwick, Butcher
Well, this match remains in memory and is still talked about, it is so well known. For two reasons, pretty much defining the football of the 1980s: the ugly and the wonderful went hand in hand, entangled and inseparable. Cannot cancel the one without canceling the other. Hero or villain, no clear cut, no distinction. The shameless and shameful 'Hand of God' followed by the incredible beauty of the second goal scored by Maradona, which is at its last phase above.
Lineker scored his 6th goal, but England lost. They tried, but Argentina had enough teeth.
Fair, unfair... the English bookies refused to accept 'the hand of God' and did return lost bets, but even this patriotic act did not change reality – England went home. For many and not just British, it was unjust and perhaps in the name of justice the actual performance of England was elevated higher. True, England left somewhat better memories than in the 10 years, but still struggled and anybody who thought that they unfairly lost possible title should be directed to watch again the games against Portugal and Morocco. No doubt, Bobby Robson did good job, but a combination of traditional attitudes, bad luck, and may be late decisions crippled England. First of all, for all the praise Robson got, he did not bring England up to date – nobody was playing defense in line in the world, but England. By 1986, this was terribly outdated... it was outdated concept 10 years earlier, now it was simply some 'prehistoric' and the main result of it was rather easy penetration of English defense by modern strikers, playing on the edge of offside – they just run away in empty space with only Shilton in front of them. Midfield finally appeared to be more creative, but it was plagued by injuries – particularly Bryan Robson. Things improved only when the middle line was practically replaced with different combination, but it is doubtful B. Robson would have made such drastic change if Bryan Robson was relatively healthy and Wilkins was not red carded. The old inclination to have typical center-forward kept Hateley for awhile and Lineker became instantly ineffective. The much better combination Lineker-Beardsley was finally found, but more out of desperation than anything. One can blame Robson for late substitute in the match against Argentina – Barnes invigorated the team, but came on the field when there was no enough time - but that's academic. England was and still a moral winner, but only if the second goal of Maradona is ignored. England needed huge rework – the whole defense had to be replaced (with whom?), the midfield re-invented (no matter how good Bryan Robson, his frequent injuries made him liability) – and all that needed a coach with some modern thinking, for radical vision was a must. As it was since 1972... It was a verdict pronounced by English TV commentator in the early minutes of the match with Argentina: Maradona was the only star of the gauchos, and England also had only one... Peter Shilton. A man who can only keep a game scoreless. 22.06.86 (16.00) Puebla, Estadio Cuauhtemoc BEL - ESP 1:1 (1:0, 1:1, 1:1) p 5-4 (~45000) Kirschen GER, Brummeier AUT, Codesal MEX BEL: Pfaff - Gerets, Renquin, Demol, Grun - Vercauteren (106 L.van der Elst), Scifo, Vervoort - Ceulemans (c), Claesen, Veyt (83 Broos) ESP: Zubizarreta - Tomás (46 Señor), Gallego, Chendo, Camacho (c) - Julio Alberto, Victor, Michel, Calderé - Butragueno, Julio Salinas (63 Eloy) 1:0 Ceulemans 34, 1:1 Señor 85 Penalties: 0:1 Señor, 1:1 Claesen, (1:1) Eloy (save Pfaff), 2:1 Scifo, 2:2 Chendo, 3:2 Broos, 3:3 Butragueno, 4:3 Vervoort, 4:4 Victor, 5:4 L.van der Elst booked: Demol, Grun - Tomás, Calderé
If there was anything to say before the match, it was a bit of complaining – Belgium had 3 days more to rest, recover, and plot. It was sure they would be fresher. Was it fair? Well, there is no ideal way to make a schedule. Tactically, both teams were expected to play what they played so far – looking for counterattacks. This slightly favoured Belgium – they were masters of this kind of game, they played it since the 1960s, created and perfected the offside trap and were able to slice the opponent with speedy counterattack, not bypassing the midfield, but using their side backs as constructors. Spain won over Denmark in similar fashion, but it was team used to play with the ball, so they were likely to be lured into attacking efforts, which suited the Red Devils best. And so the match went... Spain seemed to be somewhat prevailing and in control, but incapable of really penetrating the Belgian defense in part because they had to keep and eye on their back too and did not dare to put defenders massively ahead. Gerets, in particular, kept the Spanish defenders back with his deadly long passes in open space. The slight superiority of Spain did not materialize with anything dangerous – both goalkeepers had little to do and when they had to act, acted superbly. Still, Belgium got what they wanted in the 34th minute. After that Spain had no choice but to push froward, to try and try, and try. Going ahead in mass, they left their own back quite open and the Belgians made good use of this, but little dangerous came from their efforts too. Call it sheer luck, call it the genius of Butragueno... 5 minutes before the end Butragueno most likely improvised a corner kick, passing the ball quite back and from great distance Senor managed to kick a lightning bolt right on target. 1-1 and the the overtime produced nothing more, except the Spaniards looking more and more tired. But the crawled to penalty shootout, the sheer lottery, in which somewhat curiously two great goalkeepers were unable to save a single ball. It was the lousy kick of Eloy which decided the winner: Pfaff was practically required to take the ball, it would have been bigger effort and even skill to let it in the net. Belgium reached the semifinals.
Spain went as far as they could. How to describe them... solid. The great promise of 1984 did not materialize, Spain'86 was a step back from Spain'84. But it was not the ugly and quickly burnt-out Spain'82. The team somewhat lacked depth – Eloy and Caldere were clearly inferior to the regulars; Victor and Salinas apparently reached the limits of their potentials two years ago and those who thought they will go further up were wrong; Zubizarreta was also a step back compared to Arconada. Too bad Camacho was getting too old, it was more or less the end of him as a national team player. On the positive side was rather compact and well balanced squad, playing competent football and less inclined to make a corrida out of football match. And Butragueno. He already was a star, but his debut on world stage was excellent. A deadly player. Top scorer. His teammates used him well – they knew what to do to get the best of him, to pressure defense in the penalty area, to pass balls in tiny free space, where he can rush and score, or cross balls from the wings and he can pop up suddenly and head it in the net. Spain had future, but needed more endurance and also a few classy players.