World Cup 1974: When the Dutch replaced Brazil as crowd pleasers

Match hosted by West Germany and below heavy safety cowl following the Munich assault of the 1972 Olympics.

The West Germany squad have fun after their 2-1 victory over Netherlands within the 1974 FIFA World Cup last [Allsport/Getty Images/Hulton Archive]

Host: West Germany
Groups: 16
Format: Group stage, second spherical, third-place playoff, last
Matches: 38
Objectives: 97
Winner: West Germany
Runners-up: Netherlands
Golden boot: Grzegorz Lato (Poland)

Background

The match was hosted by West Germany for the primary time, and below heavy safety cowl following the Munich assault of the 1972 Olympics.

The match was held throughout 9 cities in West Germany, together with West Berlin.

After a prolonged qualification stage, international locations resembling England, Spain, Mexico and Portugal missed out. East Germany performed their solely World Cup, whereas Australia, Haiti and Zaire (now DRC) additionally certified for the primary time.

The golden era of Brazil had lengthy left the world stage, and brought with them their samba model of soccer, in addition to the legend that's Pele.

Brazil’s 1974 crew performed a distinct model of soccer and have been changed by the Netherlands as crowd pleasers. Led by Johan Cruyff, the Dutch crew used “complete soccer”, whereby each outfield participant might take any position relying on their place. They remained unbeaten till the ultimate the place they met the reigning European champions and hosts West Germany.

Cruyff received a penalty inside the primary minute, earlier than any German participant might contact the ball, and gave Netherlands the lead.

Germany equalised with a penalty of their very own within the twenty fifth minute. Gerd Muller then scored earlier than half time and it turned out to be the profitable aim.

Highs

Dutch show of “complete soccer” mesmerised the crowds.

A brand new trophy, referred to as the Fifa World Cup Trophy made out of 18-carat gold, was launched.

Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa had their first illustration at a World Cup.

East and West Germany performed one another on the group stage, leading to a shock 1-0 for the Japanese facet.

Lows

Final World Cup for Dutch legend Cruyff and Germany’s Muller.