Chapter 34
One Night in Rosario
After everything that had happened before, it all came do this final group game in which for the first time since the ending of the Home International Championship, England and Scotland were to meet once again in a World Cup in what had more riding on it than just bragging rights. On the day of the game on June 21st, Brazil and Poland had played earlier that day in which the Brazilians would defeat the Poles 3-1 that left Brazil sitting on top of the group and looking set to play in the final. However that was not quite all settled as later on in the day would see England and Scotland battle it out in which the former knew that if they were to beat the Scots then they'd leapfrog Brazil and would win the group.
Even though the game would kick-off at quarter past eleven on a Wednesday night for UK viewers due to the time difference, that wouldn't stop millions of people to tune into ITV that night (STV for Scottish viewers) with many even calling sick to turn up to work the following day in which was estimate to be something around about twenty-one million viewers that night and for good reason mostly if you were English. If they won, then England would be playing in their first final for eight years and no one wanted to miss it. Scotland were up for such a game, well rather any game against the auld enemy, though even if they did win, their own hopes of reaching the final were dead and the best they could do was win by a barrel load of goals to at least get into the third place play-off.
However what was more apparent for the Scots was the prospect that England might reach the final. It would be bad enough to see England get there and worse if they went on to win the World Cup, but it would all be the more horrifically unbearable if it were Scotland of all teams that had to be the one that was the team England needed to beat to get into the final. Fair to say that many in that Scotland team knew if that nightmarish thought happened then likely most of that squad would never be allowed to set foot in Scotland ever again and the best they could do was to at least prevent England reaching the final which would give the Scots the last laugh. Even without the football aspect, the whole situation both politically and on a culture level prior going into this World Cup has gripped both nations and there is a feeling shared among many that no matter what happens, something about this particular encounter could have major ramifications in the UK though no one knows what.
One of the two special TV Times front covers that were made for the World Cup; this being for the Scotland and the other made was for England
This was to be the ninety-sixth of the two teams though only four fifth time they would cross paths at a World Cup and interestingly, this would be the first time the two sides would play each other in South America and the people of Rosario would be presented with the once in a lifetime chance to see this famous fixture being staged in their own backyard with about three thousand English and Scottish supporters joining them in the hope to see their respective side come out on top. While in comparison to the sight of the hordes of supporters from both sides in Frankfurt was not repeated here, the large travelling distance and expensive cost to get out to Argentina was likely a big factor in this, there was still a fear that trouble might happen out here either before or after the game.
Mercifully there didn't seemed to be any chance of that happening thanks to a suspiciously large number of police troops around the ground that were on the lookout for trouble taking place. Whatever anyone might have felt, when the managers of both teams shook hands just before the anthems were played they both knew that this could be a match that would go in history either as a famous result or something more infamous in which both Greenwood and Ormond will wanting to avoid. Both teams would start with pretty much the same players in either side that had been part of the second group games and it was a sign that both managers were willing to keep faith with those who they knew could help them get something from the game.
That said, there was a great deal of confidence from the English supporters and for good reason; they had managed to defeat Brazil, one of the favourites no less, and the same team had also utterly destroyed Scotland in that 5-1 hammering so with that all in mind, the English felt that this was all set up to be in their favour. But as there is in every derby, all form goes out of the window and the Scots would put their lives on the line if it meant denying England's moment of glory. Before long with millions tuning in for the late night game and a more than likely chance of at least someone praying for a good result, the French referee blew his whistle to start the game and thus, the two noisy neighbours that they were would begin play.
Early moment during the game
It wouldn't be long until the crowd of nearly forty-thousand would see some action as no sooner after that attempt in the seventh minute after a fairly busy period from both sides, Steve Coppell and Peter Barnes work together to make a good shot on target for England, but Alan Rough comes to Scotland's rescue in preventing an early lead for England. Just two minutes later, Keegan attempts to try and score on the left flank, but he is forced out by Stuart Kennedy which leads for a Scottish throw in though it is clear from these early moments of the match that England have started the more positive team with Willie Ormond standing on the touchline shouting out orders for his team to wake up.
Wherever or not his shouting works to get the players motivated, it isn't until the twelve minute in which Joe Jordon is given the ball up by Andy Gray and the Manchester United player takes it into the English penalty box and looks set to score from out of nowhere after all that pressing from the English. However his shot towards the top left hand corner of the net is somehow saved by Ray Clemence which keeps the game level, nonetheless Scotland are now playing a massively improved performance that has not been seen since the Dutch game; then again Scotland seem always want to do their best against England which does frustrate their supporters over why can't they play like this more often against any other team they play.
By this point Scotland are the ones putting pressure on English but much like their opponents, they can't seem to find a way through to get the opening goal and it isn't too long until the play drifts back in favour of the English. A waste of time in trying to get something for Scotland and before they know, It all goes from bad to worse. In the twenty-first minute of the game, Keegan breaks the deadlock in which, but some unfortunate bad luck on the part of the Scots, Rough drops a clanger and the English player rushes in to capitalise on this mistake and fires the ball into the top left of the net and put England in front. The Scottish goalkeeper lies face down on the pitch feeling shameful for yet
another mistake of his and it's only the help of captain Graeme Souness that has to help him back on his feet and get up and find a way back into the game.
Keegan helps England take the lead with Andy Rough not wanting to look...
Willie Ormond and the rest of those on the Scottish bench groan in despair, a terrible thing they and perhaps every Scotland fan watching is that they have only just realised just then was that Scotland had coincided a goal at
all of their matches at this World Cup and it was clear that the Scots' ropey leaky defence had been pretty much the problem for much of their ropey performances. Nonetheless, Scotland don't decide to give up so easily and they try all they can to get back into this match and much to the enjoyment of the neutrals in the stadium watching, the game quickly opens up with both sides pressing forward in either half and in all fairness, either side can score. Question is who would it be? Then in the thirty-third minute there is another chance from Jordon as he tries to slip it in but his shot is a wasted on in which Ray Clemence saves it and kicks it up the field for the game to carry on.
On the English bench, the reaction one can see from Ron Greenwood and much of the England assistant team is one of cautious optimism and knows that a slender 1-0 lead can easily change the longer this goes on. Greenwood's actions are justified as then in the thirty-seventh minute, Scotland are awarded a free kick due to a tackle on Jordon by Phil Neal and Dalglish steps up to take it. He awaits as the referee tries to push back some of the players from getting too close to Dalglish. Finally he is given the call as he fires it over the English wall, but sadly the ball goes wide of the post and a good chance for Scotland goes amiss. The Scottish supporters in the ground look uncomfortable as their fears of England getting into the final because of beating them is now a real possibility, they can't be given up like this now?
Despite the said slender lead and that freekick that could have gone badly wrong for England, the Three Lions look rather comfortable it must be said as if they are under no pressure despite the gravity of the situation while the Scots seem to cut a frustrated look at how they just can't seem to have any luck falling their way. There is one chance right of the death of the half for Scotland in which Gray makes an utter blunder of it seeing the ball clear over the bar and before they know, the first half ends with England leading Scotland 1-0. It is only as the players are walking off the field that it dawns on them all that should the result remain the same then England is now only just forty-five minutes away from reaching a World Cup Final...
England and Scotland clashing towards the end of the first half
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After a fairly eventful team talk from both managers over what needed to be done, the teams are back on the pitch and Scotland come out of the traps flying in hoping to find that elusive goal that could help stop England reaching the promised land of a final any many nervous fans across Scotland are feeling really tense about this. For some weird reason though, England look rather lazy and don't seem the need to get into this game, it's like they already feel like they are already in the final, don't they know that Scotland will punish them if they play like this? Greenwood notices this and gives his players an angry yell to concentrate as Scotland start to cause problems for England on their flanks.
Then in the fifty-fourth minute, Jordon, while running down the right, volleys a shot to Clemence who rather than save the ball, punches towards the left of the field and right in the ball's descending path, there is Dalglish right on a collision course. The Liverpool keeper's eyes widen in horror at what is about to happen as he stumbles back to try and make the save, but the Scottish forward makes the advantage of this and fires a low ball home past the England keeper and finally brings Scotland level in the game. It is major relief for the Scots though for some realise something strange about the situation in which The Liverpool star. Dalglish, has scored against his Liverpool teammate, an irony not lost on the disappointed England fans watching from the terraces who now know that they have a game on their hands.
it is a wonderful start of the second half for the Scots yet a horrible start for England and In the fifty-ninth minute, Greenwood decides to make a switch in which Greenhoff goes off for Emlyn Hughes in the hopes that the team can freshen up and retake the lead. The game goes along at quite a steady pace and then right in the sixty-third minute, another change is made and this time it is for Scotland with Archie Gemmill going on for Don Masson in the hopes to find another goal and maybe attempt to replicate his wonder goal against the Netherlands. Although England do make a couple of good chances during the second half, the momentum is with the men in dark blue as they are fighting tooth and nail to get the winning goal.
Dalglish going in for the kill to level the game out
The next eight minutes of the game proves to be quick a tasty affair with tackles coming in from mostly Souness who is pretty much without question playing for the shirt and leads the charge on England; clearly he wants more than anything to stop England reaching for final in which as it stands, Brazil are going through though only on goal difference. Yet like before, Scotland just can't seem to break down Clemence and that backline and while a draw might be just enough, a draw is never quite just what Scotland want to get out from this game. Either way it is a tense affair for those in the ground and watching on TV across the UK, and surely there is another twist in the tale to follow?
It is a good game, a
damn good game by all accounts, perhaps one of the best England/Scotland games to be seen and is indeed a much more exciting game than that dull tudi affair in the last world cup and that rout at Wembley in 1975. Ormond yells out to his players to switch their formation slightly...or pretty much throw the kitchen sink in and show no fear to ruin England's World Cup hopes. Scotland have now switched to a 4-3-3 shape and make great assistance to each other, Greenwood looks quite nervously and fears the worse might yet fall upon on his team. Then in the seventy-ninth minute, Gemmill replicates his solo move that he did with the Dutch and both Dave Watson and Phil Neal can't seem to stop him, but rather shoot on target, he back passes towards Joe Jordon who only manages to keep the ball out of play and runs with the ball on the left towards the penalty area.
This time he aims up his shot and without any fear, he thumps home the ball into the back of the net and puts Scotland 2-1 into the lead! At last, the Scots have gotten the goal they wanted and in all fairness, probably deserved and Willie Ormond looks certain to have masterminded victory over England and probably one that might be more important than any other result previously in terms of the situation. There are now looks of dismay among the England bench and there is a sinking feeling among many England fans watching that they might have chucked this game. Could they do something in these final ten minutes?
Jordon barely keeps out the ball
With it dawning on the England players about how close they are to are losing the game, the English now seem to wake up and now it's their turn to throw the kitchen sink at Scotland in order to find an equaliser late on into the game. However, in the eighty-fourth minute, Keegan looks certain to score when he get's through a gap in the Scottish defence that leaves the goal open with only Alan Rough there. In fact no, not only is it open, it's
gaping. However he panics in the heat of the moment and balloons his shot over the bar and into the dismayed England supporters sitting behind the goal. Cue a sigh of relief from the Scottish contingent in that stadium.
The tension is building from both. England are desperate to keep pressing while Scotland now find themselves pinned back and are on the defensive while anyone looking not on the pitch will see suddenly a long line of army troops entering the stadium to stand between the pitch and the terracing in what seems like a precaution in fear of violence spilling over or a pitch invasion. It seems that after what happened in Frankfurt and with the reputation of British sporting hooligans, that the Argentine forces are wanting to risk it; either way those sort of scenes are nothing like what you'd see at either Wembley or Hampden Park.
The last ten minutes are pretty much the most tense anyone watching this famous fixture will remember, so much so that there are stories that many across the UK were having heart attacks from the sheer tension that was happening but by this point, Scotland were still leading 2-1 but they had their backs against the wall. After a mad rush from the English players in the mad chase for a goal, it turns out to be all too late as that certain shrill sound of a referee's whistle is heard by all abd the game is eventually brought to an end as Scotland have signed off from this World Cup on a high with a victory over England and in turn, ending their arch rivals World Cup hopes.
The Scottish players and supporters celebrate while the English are crestfallen, some of the players fall to the ground from how just how close they were from reaching a final but alas, the Scots have decided to get the last laugh and in some ways this victory for the latter might be even better than winning the whole tournament. Eventually the two managers go over to shake hands to congratulate each other on a great game. Despite Greenwood's disappointment of not leading England to the final, he can't help but feel happy for his Scottish counterpart who, if rumours he hear are true is his final World Cup and if so then what a way to sign off.
"Well done chap," Greenwood speaks to Ormond, "deserved win that."
"Aye, well done too," Ormond replies with a grin. "Good luck for the next game now."
That indeed is true, even though England may have failed to reach the final, they have though finished in second place and thus will play in a third place play-off game in which Greenwood has to put his disappointment to one side and focus on gaining some pride for England. Shortly after the game, Ormond would make the announcement to the press that he would be leaving the Scotland job and while he didn't get any silverware or reach a final for his country, he would be looked back with fondness by the Tartan Army with that victory over England going down in Scottish football history. With that though, the great South American adventure was over.
Final results of Group A and B of the 1978 World Cup
After that thrilling game, England would return to the capital to play West Germany and the game in question would be quite a turgid affair in which a combination of feeling sad for not reaching the final and not wanting to be there, England would win the game 1-0 thanks to a goal from Keegan who while doesn't gone on to win the golden boot, he does get a lot of interest from many clubs across Europe who all want him to sign him though that is all for another story. Speaking of which, it wouldn't be long until England and the Germans would end up crossing paths again much sooner that expected.
When it came to the final, it would be an all South American affair that perhaps everyone wanted; Argentina vs Brazil. Though it would be something a little bit more than a football game with a lot riding on it mostly for the junta to remain in power. When the players do appear onto the pitch, there is a huge amount of ticker tape raining down onto the field and although there is about 2,000 Brazilian fans who have made the daunting journey to Argentina, they are vastly overwhelmed by their Argentine counterparts. Despite this, the Brazil do have an advantage of surprise right from the very start of the match. The normal thing for all footballers the world over to do when kicking off from the centre circle is for one of the two players standing over the ball to play it backward to a midfield player and play the game from then.
However, the cunning Brazilians buck the trend and instead of doing this, Rivellino taps the ball to Reinaldo and instead of knocking the ball backwards, he takes it forward, surprising the two Argentina strikers, whom he duly passes them with ease. After then twisting the ball around Osvaldo Ardiles and then Daniel Passarella before threading the ball forward towards the supporting Rivellino as Daniel Bertoni closes in with a killer tackle. Rivellino moves it wide to Zico who gives it back to Dirceu. The midfield player, on the right side of the field, just outside the Argentinian penalty area, notes the Argentines flooding back toward their own goal and then he dinks a beautiful pass over their heads where Reinaldo sprints forward to meet the ball and headers it in past the hands of Fillol, the Argentinian goalkeeper. With just less than a minute played, Brazil are 1-0 up in the final.
It is only the help of Fillol that keeps the score the way it as Brazil prove to be utter ruthless trying to add to their lead, Argentina are utterly rattle and so are members of the junta watching from the VIP box. The first half is nothing sort of painful for the hosts as they struggle to find a way back into the game but to their credit as the first half goes along, the hosts get into the game and do get a couple of chances to find the equaliser. Then with just exactly ten minutes of the first half still remaining, Kempes takes matters into his own hands as he rushes with the ball past many Brazilian defenders and reaches into the penalty area and many spectators rise to their feet expecting the goal. Then it does arrive. From ten yards outside the box he lobs it over the Brazilian keeper and the ball neatly falls into the back of the net. The Buenos Aires crowd, who have been growing restless at this point, leap up in celebration and ticker tape rains down onto the pitch from the higher tier of the stadium. It comes at the right time to end the first half 1-1 and everything still has to be played for. However what would follow next in the second half would be a feeling of how Brazil felt many years ago when the World Cup was in their country and what happened when Uruguay came to spoil the party...
With each passing minute of the second half with the hosts wasting many chances due to what seems like pressure, the home crowd grows more nervous with each passing minute and in the sixty-eighth minute after Brazil and forced off the field in order for an Argentine throw in. Argentina's manager, Menotti, gets to his feet and runs over to the touchline and, in an effort to get his team back on the rails, he yells out to them crying, "There are only eleven of them and seventy thousand of us, we can't lose this!" Try as he might, it now becomes clear that Argentina have, ever since that very early goal by Brazil, look weak and it does become more clear that they are slowly cracking under the weight of pressure that has been placed on the shoulders of the unfortunate players.
With the game getting into the eighty-seventh minute, it looks like that despite Brazilian pushing and pressing, the final will go into extra time. However the Brazilians have one more trick up their sleeve as they are awarded a corner and there is a mass of bodies in the Argentine box all scrambling to get into the right position for the kick. The corner kick is taking and the ball doesn't get to the head of any player and instead it becomes a mad scramble to get the ball somewhere. Then from in the middle of this madness, Rivellino finds the ball rolling to his feet and with one slightly over powered shot, he fires it upwards into the roof of the net and puts Brazil 2-1 up in the final. Cue many Argentinians covering their eyes in horror at the nightmare about to unfold.
One brave Brazilian fan at the final
The crowd grow more restless again and despite Argentina throwing everything to bring the game into extra time, it is too late, the referee has blown his whistle and in the end, Brazil are world champions for a fourth time, but their victory is greeted with near silence from the stunned crowd who can't make any amount of noise. The Argentinian players on the pitch are still as statues, they are in a state of shock for what has happened while the Brazilian bench gets up and runs onto the field to celebrate their historic victory. Videla waits to carry out his duty of presenting the World Cup, a matter now uncomfortable for him as he can't use the moment for propaganda purposes. Finally, the large crowd finds it's voice and a great roar of furious, bottled up hatred engulfs the stadium.
It is as if, in the vacuum left by defeat, they recognise how empty a regime-backed victory for Argentina would have been. The stadium has become a tinderbox and this is no longer about football, but a turning of the tables on the men who have tried to use the Argentinian's love of football for their own means. One young man, with a blue and white hat, leaps over the wall separating Videla and his men from the crowd and a solider steps in to stop the man. But rather than shoot him in plain sight, he smashes the butt of his rifle down on the man's face, bloodying the national colours on the man's head. The solder's violence only makes the crowd worse as Videla stands frozen as a dozen more people from the crowd leap forward and, undaunted by a similar fate, rush forward to the VIP box.
More and more angry fans descend like a swam of wasps onto the box and Videla and his men have no choice but make a hasty retreat down the corridor behind them. But it is unlikely he'll get far at all. On the pitch, thousands of supporters invade the field and security probably wisely withhold their batons and the Brazilian players have retreated to the tunnel fearing what might unfold for them. In a crazy set of circumstances, as horrible as the loss is for Argentina to lose the final at the hands of their arch rivals, it would bring about the end of the junta and Argentina would move into democracy; who would have thought a football match could achieve such a thing?
Final results of the third place and final of the 1978 World Cup
With that though, the 1978 World Cup would end in perhaps one of the most explosive and incredible finales ever for a World Cup though not exactly for the reasons one would think. The 1970's were drawing to an end and next time there was to be a tournament would be at the start of the new decade and who knows how well the Home Nations could do in this crazy and ever changing world...?
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And so, here we come to the end of 1978. Pretty much the same as in the old TL though a few tweaks and improvements here. It is strange having no MacLeod here in Argentina for a football TL and it does makes things boring for Scotland though honestly when you think about it, I suspect that whole 'It's shite being Scottish' actually started because of the Argentine disaster. Think about it, notice that after that, every tournament we entered and exited tip toeing and reducing our hopes to such a low level that we not not had bothered to be there all because of the massive hype we had going into 1978.
Without that, the butterflies on Scottish football and perhaps all culture takes a different path here going forward. Hope that doesn't mean butterflying 'Trainspotting' here, christ above...Anyway hope you loved this update and see you next time for Euro 1980!