 1. Hungary, 1954. Possibly the best team ever, in my opinion. The trainer Sebes really revolutionised the game with fitness, training with a ball and tactical innovation. Most teams, including England, had rigid formations. But Bozsik tended to push up from the back a la Beckenbauer, and Hidegkuti revolutionized the striker position by dropping back into the midfield, then pushing up to shoot at goal, a la Cruyff or Bergkamp. Puskas, who probably had the best left foot ever, also had free reign to roam up and down the left side of the pitch. Kocsis, who had an unreal international tally of 75 goals in 68 matches, was an out-and-out striker with tremendous heading skills, very rare in the Continent. Combine that with a first rate goalkeeper in Grosics and the lively wing play of Czibor and you have an almost unbeatable team.
Obviously they had great natural talent, probably one of a kind for a small nation like Hungary, but their tactical innovation in basically playing an early version of Total football 15 years before Rinus Michaels even thought of it. Add their fitness and ball skills and you get a team that didn't lose for 4 years. If Puskas wasn't crocked they would have won the Final.
2. Netherlands, 1974. Oh, man. This team just had quality all over it, especially in the attacking sectors. Remember, Ajax had won three successive European Cups leading up to the tournament, and Feyenoord had won the tournament before Ajax's run, so Dutch club football was dominant at the time.
Obviously you start with the captain, Cruyff, who was a forward but basically given licence to roam at will. He had already won several European Footballer of the Year awards. You had a superb attacking midfielder in Johan Neeskens who could really creep up on the pitch, pop in a forward's position and score at any time. Wim van Hanegem, the Feyenoord midfielder, was an excellent passer and often sent Neeskens or Cruyff on darting runs through a defence. You had two tough-tackling fullbacks who could attack in Krol and Suurbier, and an interesting experimental centre-back pairing of Rijsbergen and midfielder Arie Haan. Haan functioned as a sort of crude sweeper, although he did this in front of the backs rather than behind them - a defensive midfielder on steroids if you will. Round this out with the attacking goalkeeper Jongbloed and the finishing of Rensenbrink and Rep and you have a team which will score goals.
And, of course, they played it so elegantly in Total Football. Cruyff would drop back into the midfield all the time - in fact, the legendary first goal of the final saw Cruyff take the ball as the deepest player on the pitch! Neeskens would push up and use his considerable goalscoring skill to play as a forward. Jansen would drop back as a fullback to cover for Krol''s attacks, and Haan also pushed forward while Van Hanegem dropped back. Everybody covered everybody else's position at some point. They also masterfully used the offside trap to pin the opposing team back, as the Dutch back four was quite quick (the whole team was, except for van Hanegem). If that failed, Jongbloed would often come out of his penalty area for hell and leather and hack at the ball, often diverting pressure.
They really toyed with everyone up to the final - Brazil weren't the team they were in 1970 but the Dutch really took them to the cleaners and created far more opportunities than a 2-0 win would suggest.
They lost in the final because West Germany were every bit as good as they were, and probably better. People forget this, but West Germany won Euro 72 with perhaps the best team ever to compete in a European tournament, lost arguably their best player in Gunter Netzer and won the World Cup anyway. You had one of the deadliest finishers ever in Der Bomber, Gerd Muller, along with quality in midfield with Overath, Hoeness and Bonhof, and then a very strong back four in the classy Breitner, the bulldog Vogts and the incomparable Beckenbauer, along with an excellent goalkeeper in Sepp Maier. Ajax were winning most of the European Cups, but Bayern Munich (who formed the backbone of this team) were winning the other ones.
And the thing is, they played attractive football. That generally hasn't been the modus operandi for German teams, but they too shifted positions (Breitner and Vogts were both strong at overlapping, and Beckenbauer was...) and really tried to score goals. Muller was the only first-rate goalscorer, but the other strikers were strong at creating opportunities (and occaisonally scoring themselves) and everybody could pass. Hey, Muller didn't score 68 goals in 62 international matches for nothing.
3. Brazil, 1950. Really even more of an upset than 1954, all things considered (like a home final). I'm not too familiar with this side, but it was basically assumed Brazil were going to win the final, and they had outstanding attackers in Jair, Ademir and Zizinho. The scene in Rio was basically carnival as 200,000 fans were packed into the Maracana to watch the match, singing and dancing and doing all the things Brazilian supporters do. They probably weren't an all-time GREAT team (I haven't really heard much about their defence), but they scored lots of goals, didn't let in many because they always had the ball and had really coasted through all their matches, winning with ease. Uruguay, who had struggled in the final group phase, really had no chance, and their coach decided to put as many men as possible behind the ball in order to stop the Brazilian attack and hopefully get lucky. After the coach left the room, the captain Valera basically told the team to stuff the coach's plans and actually run at the Brazilians. The first half was goalless as Brazil was taken aback by the fight of the Uruguayan team. Nevertheless, Brazil scored early in the second half and the party was on. But Valera bitterly disputed the goal and yelled at his team that it was time to WIN. Schiaffino scored to tie the game (meaningless, since a draw still meant Brazil would be champions), but then Ghiggia, who had been causing trouble all day down the right, scored with eleven minutes left to win the game from Brazil.
Brazil was in total shock. Several people committed suicide, a famous journalist retired, and many of the 1950 team lived as virtual exiles. The 1954 team had the spirit of broken men about it, and the yellow Brazil is so famous for today is used because the white with blue trim worn by the 1950 team was considered such a terrible reminder of the final match that it could not be worn again.
4. Brazil, 1982. Fucking great team to watch - an utterly mindboggling midfield of Falcao, Socrates and Zico (all of whom would be just about the best midfielders if they played today) - a strong striker in Eder, and a willingness to attack like no Brazil team had done since 1970. Also a very personable team - the Brazil sides of 74 and 78 had been racked by infighting, cynical play and lack of civility. Socrates and Falcao really put the samba back in football with their delightful ball skills.
They lost because Paolo Rossi was a man with a desperate need to be accepted again after a two year ban for match fixing and they would have had to leave him face down on the pitch dead before anybody was getting through Italy.
5. Holland, 1978. Not as open as the 1974 side - Total Football takes a team of extreme skill man to man - but still very interesting. Cruyff was gone, and so was van Hanegem - he may have been missed even more than Cruyff as the Dutch tended to have difficulty opening up space against the Argentinians, a problem solved by van Hanegem's smooth passing. Ernst Happel was coach, and his side was much stronger in defence, with Krol really coming into his own. Neeskens, Haan (now a real midfielder), Jansen (playing on the right), Rensenbrink, Rep, Jongbloed (who was not a great goalkeeper and was unsuited to Happel's more rigid, conservative style of play - Van Beveren or Schrijvers should have played) and the van der Kerkhof boys were all back, and there was definitely an air of unfinished business.
They lost because the tournament was held in a country with lots of footballing tradition and a good team, but also home to a brutal military dictatorship that was intimidating to say the least. Menotti had formed a good team, and Kempes was excellent, but the referee was dire, constantly favoring the Argentinians as he was likely frightened by the raucous and desperate atmosphere of the crowd. Even then, Rensenbrink got through to Krol's hammering free kick and struck a shot that was on its way in, but it hit.....something, and took a left turn onto the post. Holland is cursed...... |
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