Group 6. Brazil – the favourite not only of the group, but one of the likeliest winners of the championship. New Zealand – the outsiders. Scotland and USSR to fight for the second place. Tough group, but essentially the battle was expected to be just for the second place.
Brazil not just traditional favourite, but this time with a team playing great football, thanks to Tele Santana. It looked like that finally Brazil found the right way, the right chemistry, the right players, and the right style – which was also a return to the ‘samba’ after many years of trying to copy European ‘disciplined’ styles. Head and shoulders above the teams not only in Group 6.
Top, left to right: Waldir Perez Arruda, José Oscar Bernardi, Edinho Nazareth Filho, Luis Carlos F. Luizinho, António Carlos Cerezo, Leovegildo Lins G. Junior, Carlos Renato Frederico, Socrates Brasileiro Oliveira, José Leandro Souza Ferreira, Alcides Fonseca J. Juninho, Carlos Roberto Gallo, Bottom, left to right: Edevaldo Freitas, Arthur Antunes C. Zico, Paulo Isidoro Jesus, Joao Batista Silva, Sérgio Bernardino Serginho, Paulo Sérgio Oliveira Lima, Dirceu, Eder Alexio Assis, Antonio Careca, Pedro Luiz V. Pedrinho
Head coach: Telê Santana
1
GK
Waldir Peres
2 February 1951 (aged 31)
23
São Paulo
2
DF
Leandro
17 March 1959 (aged 23)
6
Flamengo
3
DF
Oscar
20 June 1954 (aged 27)
36
São Paulo
4
DF
Luizinho
22 October 1958 (aged 23)
24
Atlético Mineiro
5
MF
Toninho Cerezo
21 April 1955 (aged 27)
49
Atlético Mineiro
6
DF
Júnior
29 June 1956 (aged 25)
35
Flamengo
7
FW
Paulo Isidoro
3 August 1953 (aged 28)
28
Grêmio
8
MF
Sócrates (c)
19 February 1954 (aged 28)
33
Corinthians
9
FW
Serginho
23 December 1953 (aged 28)
15
São Paulo
10
MF
Zico
3 March 1953 (aged 29)
56
Flamengo
11
FW
Éder
25 May 1957 (aged 25)
24
Atlético Mineiro
12
GK
Paulo Sérgio
24 July 1954 (aged 27)
3
Botafogo
13
DF
Edevaldo
28 January 1958 (aged 24)
17
Internacional
14
DF
Juninho
29 August 1958 (aged 23)
4
Ponte Preta
15
MF
Falcão
16 October 1953 (aged 28)
17
Roma
16
DF
Edinho
5 June 1955 (aged 27)
34
Fluminense
17
DF
Pedrinho
22 October 1957 (aged 24)
8
Vasco da Gama
18
MF
Batista
8 March 1955 (aged 27)
32
Grêmio
19
MF
Renato
21 February 1957 (aged 25)
13
São Paulo
20
FW
Roberto Dinamite
13 April 1954 (aged 28)
32
Vasco da Gama
21
MF
Dirceu
15 June 1952 (aged 29)
23
Atlético Madrid
22
GK
Carlos
4 March 1956 (aged 26)
6
Ponte Preta
A lot going for Brazil – Tele Santana not just built a new exciting team playing in the way Brazilians naturally preferred, but restored confidence and ambition. The team wanted to win, it was hungry. It was the right mix too – the right age, the right blend of experience and young talent, two great leaders – Zico and Socrates. The real strength of the team was the midfield – creative, goal-scoring, dominating even without using great physical pressure. On the negative side – well, minor flaws. Goalkeeping. Nothing new between the goalposts: Brazil had no great keepers after Gilmar, it was well known. Leao was the best by far, but he refused to join the team, disagreeing with the style Tele Santana wanted. No big deal at the end: Leao had very difficult character and there was a real danger that his presence can poison the camp. Valdir Peres – or Waldir Peres, depending on who was writing – was seemingly the first choice since he was coming to his 3rd World Cup. He never played at the finals so far, but was one of the most experienced Brazilian goalkeepers at this time. However, no big deal – even if goals were received, the team was so much attack-oriented that surely would score more goals than received. The other problem was the attacking line – it was shaky and Tele Santana had to try different combinations often. Serginho was a trouble on and off the pitch and there was a big possibility he will be going to jail instead to play in Spain – but the court ‘mercifully’ postponed his criminal case for after the World Cup. Yet, Serginho was not exactly the certain center-forward starter – the option was Careca. Just before the finals Careca got injured and had to be replaced in the last moment with Roberto Dinamite – the change settled the problem: Serginho was the certain starter. The whole attacking line was coming a bit short of expectations, but the midfielders more than compensated for that. Overall, Brazil was formidable and one the 4 big favourites of the championship.
USSR was back at the finals for the first time since 1970. After perhaps the weakest decade in the history of Soviet national team, observers did not see USSR as a major force – perhaps a bit stronger than Scotland in a good day, may be a bit bellow Scotland in a bad day. Something like that. The Soviets themselves did not expect miracles. The team was practically made in 1981 and no big changes were even possible – traditionally the Soviets preferred compact teams, usually made of two clubs. Players, used to play together. Konstantin Beskov did not deviate from tradition and he was seemingly better option than morose Lobanovsky, with his practical aims and stubborn preference for Kiev players. Yet, at least to an outside eye, Beskov fell into caution under pressure. His team was a combination of Dynamo Kiev, Spartak Moscow, Dinamo Tbilisi, but Kiev players were the leading group – at the expense of exciting Georgians – with some players clearly close to the physical and sometimes brutal style of Kiev: Sulakvelidze (Dinamo Tbilisi) and Khidiatulin (Spartak Moscow). May be second in the group.
From left: Chivadze, Dassaev, Baltacha, Burjak, Blokhine, Kipiani, Sulakvelidze, Borovsky, Oganesian, Andreyev, Bessonov.
Head coach: Konstantin Beskov
1
GK
Rinat Dasayev
13 June 1957 (aged 25)
21
Spartak Moscow
2
DF
Tengiz Sulakvelidze
23 July 1956 (aged 25)
16
Dinamo Tbilisi
3
DF
Aleksandr Chivadze (c)
8 April 1955 (aged 27)
15
Dinamo Tbilisi
4
DF
Vagiz Khidiyatullin
3 March 1959 (aged 23)
26
CSKA Moscow
5
DF
Sergei Baltacha
17 February 1958 (aged 24)
11
Dynamo Kyiv
6
DF
Anatoliy Demyanenko
19 February 1959 (aged 23)
8
Dynamo Kyiv
7
FW
Ramaz Shengelia
1 January 1957 (aged 25)
16
Dinamo Tbilisi
8
MF
Volodymyr Bessonov
5 March 1958 (aged 24)
32
Dynamo Kyiv
9
MF
Yuri Gavrilov
3 May 1953 (aged 29)
28
Spartak Moscow
10
MF
Khoren Oganesian
10 January 1955 (aged 27)
17
Ararat Yerevan
11
FW
Oleg Blokhin
5 November 1952 (aged 29)
78
Dynamo Kyiv
12
MF
Andriy Bal
16 February 1958 (aged 24)
4
Dynamo Kyiv
13
MF
Vitaly Daraselia
9 October 1957 (aged 24)
18
Dinamo Tbilisi
14
DF
Sergei Borovsky
29 January 1956 (aged 26)
5
Dinamo Minsk
15
FW
Sergey Andreyev
16 May 1956 (aged 26)
18
SKA Rostov
16
FW
Sergey Rodionov
3 September 1962 (aged 19)
2
Spartak Moscow
17
MF
Leonid Buryak
10 July 1953 (aged 28)
43
Dynamo Kyiv
18
DF
Yuri Susloparov
14 August 1958 (aged 23)
6
Torpedo Moscow
19
MF
Vadym Yevtushenko
1 January 1958 (aged 24)
2
Dynamo Kyiv
20
DF
Oleg Romantsev
4 January 1954 (aged 28)
9
Spartak Moscow
21
GK
Viktor Chanov
21 July 1959 (aged 22)
1
Dynamo Kyiv
22
GK
Vyacheslav Chanov
23 October 1951 (aged 30)
0
Torpedo Moscow
There was no particular excitement about this squad: seemingly, it was based on Dynamo Kiev – tough, no nosense, physical, and… bland. Difficult to beat, but also a team not exactly capable of winning. On the negative side – it looked like that some players were included just to complete the required number. Dinamo Tbilisi won the Cup Winners Cup not long ago with thrilling attacking football, but Kipiani and Gutzaev were not included in the final selection. Gutzaev was an old problem – he was inconsistent and unpredictable. As a rule of thumb, he was invited to the national team camp for years, only to be left out of the team at the last moment. David Kipiani was another matter: perhaps the best Soviet player at this time and certainly the most inventive and creative. Great organizer, goal-scorer, highly technical. With him in midfield and Gutzaev and Daraselia in attack the Soviets would have been very dangerous. Without him… there was only one classy passer in midfield, Leonid Buryak. Who, however, reached his peak about five years earlier: great runner, precise, but surprise inventive attacks were impossible to him. Limited vision, predictable. Without Kipiani, Buryak was to set the tone – to the point even if Buryak was not in good form, he was to play. With Buryak, team USSR was not very dangerous opponent. Beskov settled for conservative safety, discarding risky creativity – which made his team very convenient for Scotland.
Scotland… unlike secretive Soviets, who never unveiled internal troubles in print, the Scots had big public disputes. Jock Stein was a great coach, yet, his demands were not liked by current Scottish stars. Some were left out of the team as a result, others almost placed on hold. But Scotland had no giant pool of talent, so it was not all that easy to replace some great names – compared to 1974, the options were fewer to begin with. It was also well remembered that Scotland went to Argentina to win the title in 1978 – and returned quickly with a full bag of scandals. No big declarations this time and no big expectations. The aim was eventually reaching the second stage of the finals – which depended largely on the clash with USSR. Possible.
Head coach: Jock Stein
1
GK
Alan Rough
25 November 1951 (aged 30)
48
Partick Thistle
2
DF
Danny McGrain
1 May 1950 (aged 32)
60
Celtic
3
DF
Frank Gray
27 October 1954 (aged 27)
22
Leeds United
4
MF
Graeme Souness (c)
6 May 1953 (aged 29)
25
Liverpool
5
DF
Alan Hansen
13 June 1955 (aged 27)
14
Liverpool
6
DF
Willie Miller
2 May 1955 (aged 27)
17
Aberdeen
7
MF
Gordon Strachan
9 February 1957 (aged 25)
11
Aberdeen
8
FW
Kenny Dalglish
4 March 1951 (aged 31)
86
Liverpool
9
FW
Alan Brazil
15 June 1959 (aged 22)
7
Ipswich Town
10
MF
John Wark
4 August 1957 (aged 24)
15
Ipswich Town
11
FW
John Robertson
20 January 1953 (aged 29)
21
Nottingham Forest
12
GK
George Wood
26 September 1952 (aged 29)
4
Arsenal
13
DF
Alex McLeish
21 January 1959 (aged 23)
15
Aberdeen
14
DF
David Narey
12 June 1956 (aged 26)
13
Dundee United
15
FW
Joe Jordan
15 December 1951 (aged 30)
51
A.C. Milan
16
MF
Asa Hartford
24 October 1950 (aged 31)
49
Manchester City
17
DF
Allan Evans
12 October 1956 (aged 25)
3
Aston Villa
18
FW
Steve Archibald
27 September 1956 (aged 25)
14
Tottenham Hotspur
19
FW
Paul Sturrock
10 October 1956 (aged 25)
7
Dundee United
20
MF
Davie Provan
8 May 1956 (aged 26)
10
Celtic
21
DF
George Burley
3 June 1956 (aged 26)
11
Ipswich Town
22
GK
Jim Leighton
24 July 1958 (aged 23)
0
Aberdeen
On the positive side, experienced, tough team, with core of great players, some of them coming to their 3rd World Cup – Dalglish, Souness, Jordan, Hartford. Younger talent, particularly in attack: Archibald, Strachan, Brazil. On the negative side: rather predictable British style. Suspect goalkeeping. No great central-defender, commanding the defensive line. Moody team. But also a team capable of inspiration and having to prove something: Scotland was unlucky in 1974, when exited early, but unbeaten. It was unlucky in 1978 too. It was high time to move beyond the first stage and it was possible if Scotland mended its old problem: taking it easy against outsiders. To a point, the most important match was to be not against Brazil or USSR, but against New Zealand.
Modest New Zealand was out of the race – they were expected to be happy just for playing at the finals, expected to play with big hearts, but only trying not to lose with big results and may be score a goal. That was all and nobody paid more attention to this team – exotic nobodies. Even at their own country, where rugby ruled.
Front: Dods, McClure, B. Turner, Malcomson, Simonsen, Bright.
Middle row: Adshead (sél.), Mackay, G. Turner, Wilson, Van Hattum, Herbert, Hill, Fallon (ass.).
Third row: Cole, Boath, Sumner, Almond, Elrick, Wooddin.
Head coach: John Adshead
1
GK
Richard Wilson
8 May 1956 (aged 26)
NA
Preston Macedonia
2
DF
Glenn Dods
7 July 1957 (aged 24)
NA
Adelaide City
3
DF
Ricki Herbert
10 April 1961 (aged 21)
NA
Mount Wellington
4
MF
Brian Turner
31 July 1949 (aged 32)
NA
Gisborne City
5
DF
Dave Bright
29 November 1949 (aged 32)
NA
Manurewa AFC
6
DF
Bobby Almond
16 April 1951 (aged 31)
NA
Invercargill Thistle
7
FW
Wynton Rufer
29 December 1962 (aged 19)
NA
Miramar Rangers
8
MF
Duncan Cole
12 July 1958 (aged 23)
NA
Hanimex United
9
FW
Steve Wooddin
16 January 1955 (aged 27)
NA
South Melbourne FC
10
MF
Steve Sumner (c)
2 April 1955 (aged 27)
NA
West Adelaide Hellas
11
MF
Sam Malcolmson
2 April 1948 (aged 34)
NA
East Coast Bays AFC
12
MF
Keith MacKay
8 December 1956 (aged 25)
NA
Gisborne City
13
MF
Kenny Cresswell
4 June 1958 (aged 24)
NA
Gisborne City
14
DF
Adrian Elrick
29 September 1949 (aged 32)
NA
Hanimex United
15
DF
John Hill
7 January 1950 (aged 32)
NA
Gisborne City
16
DF
Glen Adam
22 May 1959 (aged 23)
NA
Mount Wellington
17
MF
Allan Boath
14 February 1958 (aged 24)
NA
West Adelaide Hellas
18
MF
Peter Simonsen
17 April 1959 (aged 23)
NA
Manurewa AFC
19
MF
Billy McClure
4 January 1958 (aged 24)
NA
Mount Wellington
20
FW
Grant Turner
7 October 1958 (aged 23)
NA
Gisborne City
21
GK
Barry Pickering
12 December 1956 (aged 25)
NA
Miramar Rangers
22
GK
Frank van Hattum
17 November 1958 (aged 23)
NA
Manurewa AFC
Anonimous team, perhaps with a player or two hoping to attract the interest of some British club.
So, Brazil first and either USSR or Scotland second. Big surprise not expected here. Hopes for Scotland – largely because they were unlucky in the two previous World Cups.