Campeonato Nacional, structured like a cup tournament, gave chances to smaller, unheard of clubs, scattered in provincial Argentina. Like Loma Negra (Olavarria).
Standing from left: profesor Jorge Habbeger, Norberto Desanzo (DT), Carlos Casamayor, Horacio Ferrero, Luis Barbieri, Osvaldo Gutiérrez, Jorge Vázquez, Carlos Magistral, Eduardo Draghi, Giménez.
First row: Néstor Rivera, Ricardo Lazbal, Mario Husillos, Carlos Carrió, Carlos Squeo, Aldo Varales, Juan José Urrutia.
Very rarely such clubs had famous veterans in their squad – Carlos Squeo, on this occasion, who was in the1974 World cup Argentine selection. For teams like Loma Negra qualifying to the group stage of Campeonato Nacional was the big, brave achievement – they had no chances there. Others, however, were in better position – well known clubs, down on their luck for one or another reason, and not playing in 1st or 2nd Metropolitano league. Clubs like Belgrano (Cordoba).
Sometimes they played surprisingly strong football and even moved ahead – Belgrano did not this year, but Gimnasia y Esgrima (Jujuy) did: they finished 2nd in Group 1 and qualified to the quarterfinals. The other winners at this stage were:
Rosario Central, 1st in Group A – 2 points ahead of Gimnasia y Esgrima, and record scorers at this stage with 32 goals. Standing from left: Bauza, Carnevali, Sperandio, Craiyacich, Ghielmetti, Riquelme. Crouching: Iglesias, Gaitan, Marchetti, Chazarreta, Magallanes.
Ferro Carril Oeste won Group 2, followed by River Plate. Ferro Carril were confident winners, but the battle for the second place showed the peculiar logic of cup formats: River Plate qualified thanks to better goal-difference. The unlucky team was the already mentioned nobodies from Loma Negra. A whole bunch of current world champions no stronger than tiny club.
In Group 3 four points were deducted from the record of Atletico Racing (Cordoba) and that was the only reason Velez Sarsfield took the 2nd place and qualified.
Once again a big club was roughened by practically unknown small club. Standing from left: Ischia, Hugo Ismael López, Bartero, Moralejo, Osvaldo Piazza, Larraquy.
First row: Bujedo, Castro, Carlos Bianchi, Juan Domingo Cabrera, Dante Sanabria.
Osvaldo Piazza and Carlos Bianchi were back form years in France and they helped – but time changed and the headline makers were younger players. Still, Velez Sarsfield was just lucky to qualify to the next stage. Unlike Independiente – they won the group comfortably.
Standing from left: Goyén, Olguín, Clausen, Trossero, Zimmermann, Mario Killer.
Crouching: Alzamendi, Giusti, Brailovski, Bochini, Sandoval.
No longer the formidable squad of the early 1970s, even a bit shaky and not a factor transitional team – but the seeds of recovery were present: Olguin, Giusti, Clausen, Trossero – the world was going to here of them. For the moment they were young hopefuls and the big figure was Bochini – not enough for success.
Boca Juniors easily won Group 4. No problem, when Diego Maradona plays for the side, right? Back row from left: Roberto Mouzo, Hugo Alves, Abel Alves, Oscar Ruggeri, Ariel Krasouski, Carlos Alberto Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel Brindisi.
Front: Osvaldo Escudero, Diego Maradona, Hugo Perotti, Carlos Córdoba.
Behind them finished Instituto (Cordoba) thanks to a single goal – they had a tiny bit better goal-difference than Estudiantes (La Plate).
The quarterfinals had a lucky draw for Ferro Carril Oeste – their opponent was perhaps the weakest of the qualified teams: Gimnasia y Esgrima (Jujuy). Ferro won both legs 1-0. Independiente eliminated Instituto 2-1 and 0-0, and River Plate replicated the same results against Rosario Central. No miracles so far, but the last pair was something else: Velez Sarsfield vs Boca Juniors. Nothing much at first… Boca was visiting and won the opening match on the hostile stadium 2-1. Well, Maradona wins always – the second leg seemed a mere protocol. Boca scored a goal alright, but Velez scored 3! Maradona out, the old feet of Bianchi and Piazza marching ahead. But not for long…
Velez Sarsfield had the easiest opponent among the semi-finalists – Ferro Carril Oeste – and lost 1-2 and 1-1. Meantime River Plate and Independiente produced no winner – both legs ended in a tie, but River scored a goal in Avellaneda and qualified thanks to the away goal rule.
In the final River Plate won both legs, but a close look suggest pretty equal matches and tough opposition: River won twice 1-0.
Modest Ferro Carril did it again – they were the most consistent team this year, finishing second twice in two differently structured championships. This was not just luck – the boys obviously were determined, tough, and consistent. They deserved praise. They also deserved closer attention – this happened to be the best period in the history of the club and Ferro was to be really heard of yet.
When there are two championships in a single year and the club wons one, the fiasco in the other is easily forgotten – but, really! Passarella, Kempes, Fillol, Tarantini, Gallego, Alonso, Diaz, Lopez, Commisso, Olarticoechea (in this version)… Boca Juniors with Maradona pales in comparison and there is no even point of mentioning others. Yet, River Plate suffered and was not dominant winner.