Author: Vesselin

Group 5 was without big favorite. Czechoslovakia were reigning European champions, but they failed to qualify for the 1978 World Cup. A generational change was seemingly going on, always a difficult period for any team, but the Czechoslovaks were not to be discarded. On one hand, they had curious cycle, going up, then down, then up again. On the other, they were coached again by Jozef Venglos, who had his ways of building a strong team. A good number of the 1976 European champions were still in the team. France was rising roughly since 1975 and made strong impression at the 1978 World Cup. The team still had few weaknesses, but there was sense that they should be reaching their peak and lead by Platini, already world-class star, they were perhaps a bit better than Czechoslovakia. And finally Sweden – the dark horse in the group. A decline and lack of influential players was detected especially at the 1978 World Cup, but Sweden was always a tough cooky. Their chances were considered small – most likely Sweden would play decisive role in the battle between France and Czechoslovakia. The outsider was obvious: Luxembourg.

Luxembourg – one of the teams existing only to improve the goal-difference of others in the 1970s. Lowly teams left little pictorial material of themselves, so it is a rare moment of showing such a team. Not a single recognizable name – no wonder nobody cared for the likes of Luxembourg.

The matches proceeded as expected – Sweden was too weak to aim at anything, yet, proved the decisive factor at the end. France and Czechoslovakia battled for the first place. They exchanged home victories, so the final standing depended on their other results. Before the last group match France was first with 9 points. Czechoslovakia had 8, but they hosted the only remaining game – against Luxembourg. Practically, it was over. And it was because of Sweden – in the very first match played in the group, Sweden visited France and clinched a 2-2 tie. The lost point robbed France of any chance at the end of the campaign.

The French team for the friendly with Bayern (Munich) in 1979 – showing both the strength and the weaknesses. Standing, from left: Specht, Bathenay, Battiston, Bossis, Lopez, Dropsy.

Crouching: Rocheteau, Larios, Pécout, Platini, Six.

Plusses : Platini, of course, and the defence which will be strong for many years to come – Battiston, Bossis, Lopez. Minusses : goalkeeping – decent, but not exceptional. Search for good keeper will goon for years. Attack – Six and Rocheteau were exciting indeed, but scoring was a problem. Efficiency was not great – and the problem was never really solved. Six was more efficient than Rocheteau ; Rochetaeu was more difficult for the opponents. Specht and Pecout were no solutions and on their way out of the team. France continued to be unfinished team and perhaps that was the reason they failed to qualify.

Czechoslovakia was thought a bit over the hill and having difficulties replacing key players – younger talent was not so great. Depending on familiar names was a bit risky, for they were well known around Europe and none developed further after 1976 – they reached the top of their potential back then. But Venglos was crafty coach. His team lost only the away match against France and made no other mistake, The schedule was cleverly made too – Czechoslovakia played their last match at home against Luxembourg. Sure win and if goal-difference was needed by then – the best opportunity to score as many goals as needed was at hand. But there was no need to play for goals – just a win was needed. Since the match was no contest, it ended 4-0.

The squad for the first match with Luxembourg – Venglos took every match seriously. Eight 1976 European champions here. Plus other well known players. Very experienced squad, in which, hopefully, the younger players would gradually edge the veterans. They did – Vizek, Stambachr,Kozak, Rott defined the team of the early 1980s. For the moment, mission accomplished – Czechoslovakia qualified, so the 1980 finals had the the champions of 1976 as well.

1. Czechoslovakia 5 0 1 17-4 10

2. France 4 1 1 13-7 9

3. Sweden 1 2 3 9-13 4

4. Luxembourg 0 1 5 2-17 1

 

Group 4 had a favorite – Holland. Poland was in decline and considered good for second, DDR and Switzerland were not seen as teams capable of major upsets, and Iceland existed only to improve the goal-difference of the others. And everything went as predicted in the first 8 matches played in the group. The 9th was between Poland and Holland in Poland. The clash between potential group winners, which Poland won 2-0. Nothing really upsetting – except that Holland did not look as strong as thought. But then again, Poland had a reputation since 1974 and a home win was hardly a surprise. After this match all went as expected again… until the last 2 group matches. DDR either played better than expected or at least took full advantage of their games against weaker opponents, for they suddenly had a chance – rather theoretical still – of winning the group. They had 11 points. Poland also had 11. Holland had 10 – but they played in both last games, hosting Poland first and then visiting DDR. Suddenly the lost match in Poland was costlier than thought earlier, but no worries: a home victory over Poland and a tie with DDR was almost sure outcome. Holland needed 3 points and by now calculation, not outplaying opponents was the strength of the Dutch. 3 points were not just desirable – it was a certainty. But… Poland, also having a chance to go to the finals, played strong game, which ended 1-1, Holland having hard time to just equalize,after Poland got the lead in the 38th minute. Poland finished their campaign with 12 points, still leading before the last group match, but heir fate was already known: no matter how the last match ended, Poland will be second in the group. The winner will be either Holland or DDR. The East Germans had home advantage. It was all or nothing for both teams, so playing for a tie was not an option. It was worthy end of the campaign: DDR got 2-0 lead in the first half. Holland managed to score a goal immediately after the start of the second half and the early goal gave them psychological advantage. They were also the classier team. In the 50th minute they equalized. 20 minutes later they scored another goal. The match ended 3-2 for Holland.

Surprisingly good campaign for DDR – they almost won the group stage. Almost… Third row from left: Werner Walter (assistant coach), Gerd Weber, Hartmut Schade, Hans-Ullrich Grapenthin, Bodo Rutwaleit, Hans-Jürgen Riediger, Reinhard Häfner, Georg Buschner (coach).

Middle row: Hans-Jürgen Dörner, Michael Noack, Martin Hoffmann, Lutz Lindemann, Joachim Streich.

Sitting in front: Konrad Weise, Wolfgang Steinbach, Dieter Kühn, Jürgen Pommerenke.

Poland finished 2nd, but fooled no one: the team was a pale shadow of the great squad of 1974. Aging played a role – by now, few of the 1974 heroes were still in the team and the younger talent was not at its prime yet. They were competitive, but no more.

Holland qualified and on the surface everything was fine: they were expected to win, they won. But…

This is the squad, which was almost beaten by Poland at home. Standing, from left: Piet Schrijvers, Johnny Rep, Huub Stevens, Hugo Hovenkamp, Ernie Brandts, Ruud Krol.

First row: Bennie Wijnstekers, Wim Jansen, Willy van de Kerkhof, Simon Tahamata, Kees Kist.

Impressive on a picture… familiar names, the hero of 1978 Ernie Brandts, the top European goalscorer Kist, bright young talent Tahamata, plenty of experience… It is save to say that by 1979 only Ruud Krol was a great star – the rest were either declining (Rep, Jansen, van de Kerkhof), or never really great (Schrijvers, Hovenkamp), or more or less empty promises (Brandts, Wijnstekers), or just promises (Stevens, Kist, Tahamata). A competent team, a bit too physical, not so technical and imaginative. A far cry from the exciting Dutch circa 1974. It was muscle and determination, not skill, qualifying them at the last minute.

1. Holland 6 1 1 20-6 13

2. Poland 5 2 1 13-4 12

3. DDR 5 1 2 18-11 11

4. Switzerland 2 0 6 7-18 4

5. Iceland 0 0 8 2-21 0

Group 3 was unpredictable, like Group 2 at first: Cyprus did not count, but Spain, Yugoslavia, and Romania not only were matched, but had all scores to settle. They competed for a place at the 1978 World Cup finals. Before that Spain and Romania were together and earlier Yugoslavia and Spain went to extra match to decide who goes to 1974 World Cup. Nobody could know it when the first group matches were played, but they decided the final outcome. Yugoslavia lost at home to Spain 1-2 and then away to Romania 2-3. A bad start, but the tournament was still young, so nothing really terrible. And Yugoslavia won their remaining group matches. Meantime Spain managed to tie their away match in Romania. Spain had another small advantage – they played the very last game scheduled. They were visitors, but visiting Cyprus was hardly a trouble. Yugoslavia ended their campaign with 8 points. Spain was trailing with 7. The Yugoslavs could hope only for a miracle. Spain just won 3-1.

To a point, the squad above, which won 3-0 away in Cyprus, tells why Yugoslavia finished 2nd. After 1976 the national team was a mess – players were changed all the time, experiments were constant, there was hardly a core of stars and practically no new team emerged. This squad is no different – few established stars – Surjak, Peruzovic, Hadzic, few talented youngsters, who will be key players later, but were not ready yet – Zajec, Zlatko Vujovic, Stojkovic; and the rest was just those in good current form, but with the exception of Savic, none really lasted long in the national team, let alone becoming a star. Shaky team.

Spain largely depended on the team they had at the 1978 World Cup – not an exciting team, but gritty, tough one. Fighters. This is the squad which tied 2-2 Romania – as it turned out, the most important match Spain played, for the point they got qualified them at the end.

1. Spain 4 1 1 13-5 9

2. Yugoslavia 4 0 2 14-6 8

3. Romania 2 2 2 9-8 6

4. Cyprus 0 1 5 2-19 1

 

Group 2 was expected to be tough: 4 teams were capable of qualifying. Norway did not count at all. They got just a single point from away match, surprising Belgium. Perhaps the matches between Belgium and Scotland were really the decisive ones – they were scheduled at the end of the campaign, Scotland actually playing the last 3 games in the group, and thus looking like having an advantage. Belgium won 2-0 at home and was with 10 points. Scotland was out after this match – they had to win all of their last 3 matches to qualify and nothing else could do. Austria was still on top with 11 points, but no more matches to play. Belgium had to win their last match, which was doubtful – Scotland may have been eliminated, but they never gave up. But Belgium, which started badly with surprising home tie against the outsider Norway, was in great shape by now and managed to prevail 3-1. The last match of the group between Scotland and Portugal was mere protocol – both countries were already eliminated.

Austria with a new coach, but preserving the team so impressive at the 1978 World Cup. Standing from left: Karl Stotz – coach, Baumeister, Schachner, Pezzey, Obermayer, Hattenberger, Gasselich, Prohaska, Krankl, Schmidt – assistant coach.

First row: Weber, Zuenalli, Mirnegg, Koncilia, Baumgartner, Kreuz, Sara, Hintermaier.

Austria had a chance to reach the finals – but their fate depended on others and they finished 2nd.

The battle between 4 countries was intriguing to the very end – even Portugal had theoretical chance of winning the group, if Belgium and Scotland tied the matches between them and then Portugal won with a big result their last away match. Well, the chance was strictly theoretical – they needed to beat Scotland by more than 5 goals. But theory was not to be tested. Belgium delivered when mattered most – first they won at home 2-0 over Scotland, thus coming back into the picture. Still nothing was decided yet – before the last any of the 4 competitors could end on top. The all-decisive match was in Glasgow. And here Belgium was superb, winning 3-1. End of story.

The squad, beating Scotland 2-0 in Bruxelles on November 21, 1979: standing from left: Vandereycken, Custers, Millecamps, Meeuws, Ceulemans.

First row: Van Moer, Gerets, Renquin, Van Der Elst, Voordeckers, Cools.

Some of the players were well known either from the past – van Moer – or from the recent strong years of Anderlecht and FC Brugges, but they were very famous yet. Still, it was not surprising to see Belgium going to the finals – the Red Devils did not reach World Cup finals in the 1970s, but were regularly strong in the European championships. They did not lose a match during the qualification campaign.

1. Belgium 4 4 0 12-5 12

2. Austria 4 3 1 14-7 11

3. Portugal 4 1 3 10-11 9

4. Scotland 3 1 4 15-13 7

5. Norway 0 1 7 5-20 1

 

The year came to a close with the final standings in the European Championship qualification groups. The tournament was changed, following the formula of the World Cup. The host of the finals – Italy – qualified automatically. The rest of the European countries were divided into 7 groups, the winners going to the finals in 1980. Unlike the World Cup, the winners of the previous European championship had to go through the qualification phase. Two years of group matches finished by the end of 1979. The group stage was not without drama, highs and lows, but there were also easy and difficult groups – some winners were easily predictable and did not have much difficulties.

Group 1 – five teams: England, Eyre, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, and Denmark. The Danes were the outsider, England was the big favorite, and the rest were considered equal. Easy group for England – they had no match, all opponents playing convenient for England football. England was a big disappointment since 1972, failing to reach 2 World Cup finals and missing the final stages of the 1976 European championship too. However, short of some major English blunder, they were considered sure winners: the opposition was too weak. Denmark was still lowly team, Bulgaria was in a decline since 1974, the two Irish squads were perhaps capable of occasional heroic match, but no more. Even if England was not in good form, the fairly equal opponents most surely were going to cancel each other out. And they did precisely that. More or less, the only surprise was the away win of Northern Ireland in Bulgaria – 2-0. England had no real opponent and was head and shoulders above the rest.

Northern Ireland finished 2nd and perhaps this squad tells why: the Irish were unable to field 11 classy players. They did not have a full team first division players – Derek Spence played for Southend and Bryan Hamilton for Swindon Town. Nothing new, really, but spirit was not enough of a weapon.

England had an easy sail, losing only 1 point though the campaign – a 1-1 tie, visiting Eyre.

1. England 7 1 0 22-5 15

2. Northern Ireland 4 1 3 8-14 9

3. Eyre 2 3 3 9-8 7

4. Bulgaria 2 1 5 6-14 5

5. Denmark 1 2 5 13-17 4

England to the finals – after three consecutive failures in the 1970s! The team looked more than impressive, lead by Kevin Keegan. Well, it looked like England was going to restore her fading glory.

Among the countless debutantes this season was a pocket-size West German winger. He was born 1960 in West Berlin, which perhaps explains his not-so German sounding name, but he appeared with 1. FC Koln jersey. His talent was noted, but talented youngsters are many and dilemmas are eternal: is a teenage going to be just a quick flash, just as quickly disappearing, or going to develop into real star? Is it better to put a youngster quickly into the trials of professional football, or is it preferable to introduce him slowly and carefully, step by step? He may burn out right away… his development could be arrested too, if kept on the bench. The first Bundesliga season of the 1.68 m tall winger is not bad as numbers go: 16 matches and 4 goals. Not bad… not great either, for the record says he played only in half of the seasonal matches. Very likely not full games either – coming as a substitute more often than starting a match. Yet, it was a debut in the Bundesliga – a tough and challenging place to be. No matter what point of view one adopts, the youngster’s debut was not big sensation and he was unknown. Yet.

Some boy called Pierre Littbarski. One of the greatest players of the 1980s appeared on the scene without fuss.

As a rule of thumb, retirements are more interesting than debuts – famous veterans step down. At the end of 1978-79 season it was Gianni Rivera. Once upon a time – in 1959-60 – barely 16-years old debuted for Alessandria. It was sensational start: the teenager almost immediately became a starter and played 26 matches in his first season, scoring 6 goals as well.

Alessandria was better known club then than now, but it was a small club. It was easier to get starting position in a struggling team without stars – Rivera may have been lucky, but his debut was more than noticeable nevertheless. The ‘Golden boy’ of Italian football was born. As for Gianni – he was born in 1943.

Rivera in his first season – and his only season for other club but Milan. He was bought for a record fee of $200 000 – a testimony of his talent. Milan had the cash and also plans for a teenage genius: to replace aging star Juan Schiaffino. Not right away, but in the future. However, the talent of the new boy was so great, he became a starter immediately – an attacking midfielder or offensive playmaker, a rather mixed definition, but eventually putting him against another youngster back than: Sandro Mazzola. A quick jump forward: both Mazzola and Rivera became superstars, definitive players of the 1960s, extremely successful, key players for both clubs and country. It was difficult to play them together in the national team, for they had the same position, yet both accumulated impressive number of caps for Italy. Rivera, however, became and remained the Golden boy of Italian football, part of the international success of Italian football in the 1960s, scoring goals, which was not easy at the pinnacle of cattenachio and playing for perhaps more defensively oriented team than the originator of the dreadful defensive tactic.

This photo from the early 1970s speaks volumes of football history: Nereo Rocco, Gianni Rivera, and Trapattoni. Born to win and knowing how. Rivera shined in ultimately defensive, tough, and hardly attractive team devised and run with iron hand by Nereo Rocco. As for young ‘Trap’ – he had the luxury to learn coaching craft from a grand master and having at hand a genius player. As for Rivera – he was and is so well known, the best would be to just give numbers.

He played for Milan from 1960 to 1979 – so long, that often his first club is even not coming to mind. A one-club man, something fans adore and remember – a Milan legend in the true sense. He played 501 games for his club and scored 122 – that is official Italian championship games. When all other matches are added… the number perhaps cannot be even established correctly. With Milan he won 3 Italian titles – 1962, 1968, and 1979; 4 Cups – 1967, 1972, 1973, and 1977; 2 European Champions Cups – 1963 and 1969; 2 Cup Winners Cups – 1968 and 1973; and 1 Intercontinental Cup – 1969. He was also once the top scorer of Serie A – in 1973, although he shared the honor with two other players (Guiseppe Savoldi and Paulino Pulicci). He captained Milan from 1966 to 1975 and again from 1976 to his retirement in 1979.

For Italy he played 60 matches, in which he scored 14 goals between 1962 and 1974. After the awful Italian performance at the 1974 World Cup finals Rivera was no longer called to the national team – which in a way makes his stats even more impressive: Rivera not only accumulated so many largely during the 1960s, when national teams did not play many games, but also against the odds, for he had great rival – Sandro Mazzola. With Italy, Rivera played a 4 World Cup finals – 1962, 1966, 1970, and 1974. And he won the European Championship in 1968 – unfortunately, he missed the final because of injury. And he was voted European player of the year in 1969.

There was another side of him as well: the love of the game and his gentleman approach to it lead him to… banishment. In the 1970s he spoke against Italian referees and was punished for that. He also refused to move across the Atlantic and join the lucrative NASL – Rivera was entirely against going to the weird league and made fun of it. So, he played for Milan to the end, finishing his illustrious career at 36, but at high note: as a champion of Italy.

After retirement, he became vice-president of Milan and stayed at this post until 1986 when Silvio Berlusconi bought the club. After 1986 Rivers turned to politics and was elected in the Italian Parliament. Much later – to the Eurpean Union Parliament too. But it is not his political life remembered and cherished by people: Rivera became a football legend long time ago and remain exactly that not only in Italy. One of the all-time greatest players.

Stepping down – graceful exit, waiving at the fans. Nothing is forever, except memory – the Golden boy remains after 20 years delighting fans on the pitch.

The Golden Shoe, arbitrary as it was, had new winner – a Dutch of the next crop. Two men scored 31 goals this season – Laszlo Fekete (Ujpesti Dosza) and Thomas Mavros (AEK). The Greek was a prolific scorer and one of the best players of his country in the 1970s. Fekete was already a bit fading, he never fulfilled earlier expectations, but scored he did. Hungarians appeared often among the best scorers – Golden shoe really favoured weaker leagues, where a striker of strong team had plenty opportunities against much weaker opponents. Nothing surprising that Greeks and Hungarians scored so much. But they were outdone.

Two silver and one golden boot – from left: Fekete, Kist, Mavros.

Kees Kist scored 34 goals and got the award. He played for the strangely made, but rapidly rising AZ’67 Alkmaar. Kist was rising along with his club – he was of the next Dutch generation, pushing its way to replace the famous Flying Dutch of the first half of the 1970s. Players like Kist seemingly ensured continuity.

A typical dangerous Kist, not afraid from and not really stopped with such tackles. Like many Dutch players, he made strong impression playing for a smaller club – and then moving to Ajax or Feyenoord. It was a bit different this time: Kist was to stay with AZ”67 and have sensational European season before moving to other teams and countries as already established big star. To a point, the Golden Shoe was the big impression he made to Europe. He continued to score everywhere he played, but perhaps he got bigger reputation he really deserved. For he was not to be the next great world superstar… like the rest of his generation, he represents the time of relative decline of Dutch football. But this is general assessment – Kist outdid all other European strikers this year. He was good player and excellent scorer. Those, making the 1980s were pushing ahead – they were coming, Kist was a clear sign of that.

At the end of the decade Europe was in similar to South America situation: no truly outstanding players. Some were already too old, others still young and not trusted. The Europeans were not as adventures as the South Americans and voted for the well known. Upcoming stars did not get many votes – Hansi Muller got only 1, for instance. Michel Platini was good for only 5th place – the European journalists did not give credit even when presented with evidence. Club success was strong guiding principle – Maradona would never have been voted first in Europe because his club did not win a trophy. But lacking players like Beckenbauer and Cruyff, the European journalists went full ahead for the best known name at the moment… Kevin Keegan was overwhelming winner with 118 points. The second placed had less than half of that: 52. Further down was the 3rd – 41, and then there was one more chasm between him and the 5th, who had 27. Manfred Kaltz was 5th… perhaps at his best at exactly that time. He was ahead of Platini, who also was peaking. Ruud Krol was 3rd – if consistency was valued, he should have been 1st – at the moment, he was arguably the best European defender and was top world class player for many years. But Ajax was a pale shadow of what it was in the beginning of the 1970s… and Krol was not getting many votes. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was 2nd – again a player at his prime, but… Bayern was in deep crisis, so forget him. A few players should have been higher – but they were not, because conservatives voted and they deemed them too young to be a certain quality, or playing for smaller clubs to be real stars, or playing for teams not winning. Uli Stielike, Bruno Pezzey, Kenny Dalglish, Paolo Rossi, Liam Brady, Marius Tresor, Franco Causio – they were all at their best form and got little recognition. Then again, who can really tell who is best? Every name can be objected. Success was solid criteria, Hamburger SV was rapidly rising, Keegan was essential for that, he was already a superstar, he had strong season, and… he was perhaps ranked lower than he should have been a few years back. Journalists voted for him massively. He had no real rival too… And there is no need to say anything more about him – Keegan needs no introduction.

Kevin Keegan – the European player of the year for a second time. Adorable player even when he is not looking pleased.

 

South America voted differently. Today the best player of 1979 seems natural choice – but it was not so back in time. There is peculiar trouble: the big names of the 1970s were shaky and not exactly successful. Journalists were torn between natural inclination to elect well known for years players, but since they were not satisfying a radical change perhaps was in order. The top ten reveals a clear split: Passarella was 8th, Kempes – suffering from injuries – 9th. Fillol – 4th. These won the world championship in 1978 – but were nothing a year later… Zico was 5th – the ‘White Pele’ still had no real victory with neither club, nor national team. The Uruguayan Fernando Morena was 6th – clearly a sympathy vote, for he played for small Spanish club – Rayo Vallecano – and was hardly noticed in Europe. Similar was the case of Carlos Caszely – the Chilean was never a big international news and perhaps was not as good as he was 5 years back. But he was well known name. The old guard was carried on reputation really – and compared to stars from the 1960s, may be found not so great. Argentina and Uruguay had miserable Copa America. Brazil also did not shine. Yet, the Paraguayans,who won both Copa America and Copa Libertadores were hardly great stars – interestingly, not a single player of Olimpia (Asuncion) made the top 10 and only one Paraguayan was included in it. The journalists went for the future – they voted for the young players, who were to really bloom in the next decade. May be a bit premature shift, but it was better than electing some old horse only because he played fantastic football 5 or 10 years ago. The next generation was represented by 4 players – the Argentine striker Ramon Diaz was 10th, his strength was largely based on the second Under-20 World Championship, which Argentina won and he was the top scorer of the finals. And this was the objective problem… great players normally play for highly successful teams. Unfortunately, this was not the case this year and it was very difficult to justify votes. At the end, even the final standing may have been affected by calculations of success – the top three places went to future stars.

Falcao was 3rd, perhaps the only more or less established player among the top three, but just beginning to be a key player for Brazil. Unfortunately for him, no international success – Internacional Porto Alegre won the Brazilian title, but that was all – Brazil did not excel this year.

Second was Julio Cesar Moreno. For many – not just a rival of Maradona, but better than the Argentine. But… Moreno played for a small club – Sportivo Luqueno was the best provincial club of Paraguay, yet, not capable of overcoming the clubs from the capital. The Paraguayan league was small and compared to Brazil, Argentina, even Chile and Peru – a weaker one. Moreno really shined at Copa America and was instrumental to the victory of his country, but perhaps even this counted a bit against him: Argentina and Brazil played with strange teams, as if they did not care for the continental tournament.

First was Diego Maradona – but what can be said about his success? Like Moreno, he played for a smaller club – Argentinos Juniors were not bad, they had more than just Maradona, but they achieved nothing in the Argentinian championships. The national team was even worse. Maradona himself hardly played at Copa America. Yes, he was sensational, scored goals, the fans adored him, but without trophies it was difficult to judge him the best. Perhaps the Under-20 World championship tipped the scale in his favour – he captained Argentina to the title. Junior title… His teammate Osvaldo Rinaldi said “Before every match, Diego played with the ball, putting it on his neck or his shoulders while the Japanese people couldn’t stop applauding him. When I would see this, I would say to myself: “Wow, and the show hasn’t even started yet”. True, but this was in Japan – before still young and unsophisticated audience, easily impressed. It may have been different, if Argentina lost the final – they played against USSR, which had a team of players soon to become more than known around the world. To a point, Argentina even had lesser team than the Soviets.

Standing from left: Sergio Garcia, Sperandio, Carabelli, Rossi, Simon, H.Alves.

First row: Barbas, Escudero, Ramon Diaz, Maradona, Calderon.

At the final Sperandio was replaced by already mentioned Rinaldi. Junior teams are never big indication for future stardom – some players expire early, others develop later. Simon, Barbas, and Calderon eventually became stars. Ramon Diaz – bigger one than the previous three. The rest faded into oblivion… a junior team. Maradona won with it – the only victory he had this year, not the same as winning Copa America, but combined with his impressive play for his club, it sufficed.

Diego Maradona, still teenager, but already captaining Argentinos Juniors, was voted the best South American player.

Perhaps boringly familiar picture now – Maradona scored yet another goal – but it was new back than. It was matches like this one – he destroyed Boca Juniors with fantastic goals, despite the vicious tackles – which perhaps counted more than the junior world title. Maradona had arrived. May be it was even good that most established names of that time underperformed – Maradona became more visible.