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Since the dawn of time man has wrestled with this impossible conundrum. And following the glorious football that has generally been on display
in Euro 2008 a lot of people are wondering where it stands in the pantheon of great tournaments. Coupled with this excellent Guardian
blog and some terrific contributions from posters, it's got us here at MD Towers thinking. Is it possible to assess which
are the best and worst major tournaments? The simple answer is no. So here goes.
The Criteria
We have decided that there are 5 categories which we will judge each tournament on. These are;
1.Quality of matches
2.Great goals
3.Great individual players
4.Crowds and Atmosphere's
5.Controversy / TV theme tunes / Our own prejudices / Well, basically anything really
As the most important category is quality of matches we will judge that out of 10 and the others out of 5. One factor that we
can't help is our own personal prejudices. So although France 1984 is universally praised as a cracker, England's non-participation
which begat an absurdly poor level of TV coverage goes against it.
Also our contributor's collective memories only go back as far the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. Anything before that would be, to
put it kindly, imaginative. However, I do remember, quite literally, spitting my dummy out of the pram when Jack Taylor gave West
Germany that penalty in 1974.
So them's the rules and on completion our papers will go forward to Professor Gunter Mittelfeld at the Bremen Institute of Footballology
and Professor Toninho Cerezo de Derby Classico Horizonte at the Copacabana University's Soccer Science department for peer review.
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1. Quality of Matches
It was generally decent without being outstanding. It didn't reach the technical heights of 1974 or 1982 but there were enough high
quality matches to savour (and earn a decent score). One of the flaws however, was the continuation of FIFA's misguided policy of
having a second group phase with only the winners progressing to the final. This rendered much of the second phase irrelevant in the
overall outcome. Many of the best games involved the Dutch. In the 1st group stage their kamikaze 3-2 defeat by Scotland provided some
comfort to the previous humiliated Ally's Army. In the 2nd phase they played sumptuous football to beat the highly competent Austrians 5-1.
But possibly the game of the tournament was re-match of the 1974 final, a 2-2 draw between the Dutch and the West Germans.
The result was far more beneficial to the Dutch and therefore some recompense for the events in Munich four years earlier.
The Brazilians were superior to 1974's thuggish outfit but despite some marvellous individual goals they didn't leave any great
memories in terms of matches. The eventual winners Argentina were a highly attractive team at their best, but they were aided by
some dubious refereeing decisions, particularly in their thrilling group game against France. The final was the only meaningful knockout
match of the tournament and though not a classic it was better than most. Both teams contributing to an exciting occasion, won 3-1 by the hosts.
Score: 6/10
2.Great Goals
Lots. Particularly in terms of long range shooting. In fact the 1978 competition probably had the highest proportion of goals
scored from long distance than any other tournament before or since. The Peruvians scored two blazing strikes to help humble the
fancied Scots, Cubillas' clever free kick with outside of his boot a particular favourite. Yet it was the Dutchman Arie Haan who
emerged with the greatest reputation for long range goals. His blasts against West Germany and Italy in phase 2 being especially
memorable. His Dutch colleagues also scored joined the fun, Ernie Brandts deserving a mention for his thunderbolt in the Italy fixture.
The Brazilians scored some crackers with Nelinho's free kick versus Poland and Dirceu wonderful angled drive the picks. In terms of
individual goals Walter Schachner's mazy dribble and finish for Austria was only overshadowed by possibly the goals of the tournament.
This of course was Archie Gemmill turning the Dutch defence inside out before slotting a clever finish past Jongbloed. The best team
goal was arguably Bettaga's strike against Argentina after a flowing move involving Rossi and Antognioni. Kempes finished the game as the
competitions leading scorer and his opener in the final was a perfect demonstration of his quickness of thought and opportunism.
Score: 4/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1vM1GogpVw
3. Great Players
This was a strange tournament in certain ways, sandwiched as it was by two classics and without a truly great team. The player of the
tournament was undoubtedly Mario Kempes. A pocket size dynamo he topped the scoring charts aided by his clever, moustachioed foil
Leopoldo Luque. At the back Passarella, the captain, was immense and Ardiles made things tick in midfield. For the Brazilians Zico
stood out though he wasn't as prominent as he'd be four years later in Spain. His most famous contribution was the 'goal' that Welsh ref
Clive Thomas ruled out by blowing the final whistle just as the ball was arcing into the net. Cubillas was dazzling at times for Peru and
Krankl and Schachner formed a potent strike partnership for the Austrians. In the absence of Beckenbauer the Germans suffered, but the
Dutch thrived once they negotiated the first round. Haan, Neeskens and Rensenbrink became increasingly influential as the Dutch thrived
without their own Kaiser, Cruyff. Fundamentally though, nobody apart from Kempes, truly set the heather on fire.
Score: 2/5
4. Crowds / Atmosphere's
The games involving Argentina have to be set aside from the other fixtures. The most amazing ticker tape parades since the opening
titles of Hong Kong Phooey was merely the taster for the cauldron noise at any home fixture. The final against Holland at the River
Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires was truly memorable for the fanaticism that was generated in the steep stands. Crowds were good for the
rest of the tournament but that was mainly down to the support of home fans. Argentina's difficult location for European supporters,
coupled with the political ramifications of staging the World Cup in a country that was run by a military dictatorship, did not encourage
large visiting supports. Even the neighbouring Brazilians didn't seem to travel in the same numbers as they did to Spain in 1982. The wet,
cool weather didn't help either.
Score: 3/5
5. Controversy / TV theme tunes / Our own prejudices / Well, basically anything really
This was possibly the most controversial World Cup of all time. The military Junta had seized power in 1976 and thousands of opposition
supporters had been murdered. Johann Cruyff refused to play in the tournament due to kidnapping fears and a number of more politically
aware players signed an Amnesty International petition against the country's rulers. Willie Johnstone was sent home in disgrace after
failing a drugs test, but the Scots generally provided plenty of inadvertent light relief (for the non-qualified English at least).
The refereeing was often appalling. Giovanni Trappatoni, manager of Juventus at the time, thought that without some helpful decisions,
Argentina would have been out in the first round. The BBC's theme tune was certainly as memorable as ITV's wasn't.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHhUbtRiChg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfsqbNPbhzU&feature=related
The final was also marred by a bizarre stand off over Rene van der Kerkoff's bandage on his arm which had been approved by the match
officials in previous matches. But surely the greatest stench emanated from the fixture between Argentina and Peru in the 2nd phase.
This was the last game of the group and the hosts entered it requiring a four goal victory margin to eliminate Brazil.
There was a great deal of dark murmurings from the Brazil camp beforehand. This became a crescendo when the home side won the game,
not by 4 goals, but by six! The coach Coutinho was scathing, questioning the integrity of the Peruvians.
To finish on a lighter note, England fans reeling from their non-participation watched Scotland implode. After a victory bus tour around
Hampden before they left Glasgow (?!), boss Ally MacLeod was telling anyone and everyone that a Scotland victory was inevitable. After a
hammering from Peru and a disastrous draw with Iran, MacLeod was getting a hammering from the Scottish media at a pitchside press conference.
Whereupon a stray dog appeared and MacLeod bent down to stroke the mutt stating "well at least this wee fella still loves me".
The dog bit him.
Score: 4/5
Total Score: A decent score of 19 out of 30.
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1. Quality of Matches
Generally pretty rotten. This was UEFA’s first attempt at creating a proper tournament for the European Championships and the quality of football didn’t do justice to the concept. The only truly good match, was West Germany’s 3-2 victory Holland in the group phase, which all but guaranteed the Germans a place in the final. The lack of semi-finals was a serious mistake rendering Group A’s closing fixtures meaningless. The final wasn’t bad with the West Germans beating an adventurous Belgian side 2-1 but the tournament was summed by the fact that there were less than 2 goals per game. This was a strange period for many of Europe’s major teams. They were either rebuilding (Germany / Holland) or in a state seemingly inexorable decline (England / Spain). The football reflected it.
Score: 2/10
2.Great Goals
Some more goals would’ve been nice. It wasn’t a tournament memorable for goals of any description let along great ones. The best we can come up with was Klaus Allofs second goal in the victory over Holland and Ray Wilkins’ clever volley to earn England a draw against Belgium. Nothing that will feature in a Best Of dvd though.
Score: 1/5
3. Great Players
The tournament did feature some emerging talent. The West Germans in particular had the stars of the tournament in Bernd Schuster, Klaus Allofs and Hansi Muller. This was also the beginning of Belgium’s greatest period and the talismanic Jan Ceulemans left his mark on the tournament. Kees Kist of Holland also played well in the group stages but it was his ill luck that Holland was entering a dark period after the glories of the seventies.
Score: 2/5
4. Crowds / Atmosphere's
Oh dear. Abysmal is the only word to describe. Only Italy’s 1-0 victory over England in front of just shy of 60,000 in Turin was respectable. For their deciding match against Belgium, Rome’s Olympic Stadium was barely half full. As for games which didn’t involve the hosts, the picture gets decidedly grim. Only West Germany versus Holland pulled in more than 20,000 and Greece’s defeat by Czechoslovakia was watched by an unbelievable 4,726 in Rome. To make matters worse this was no festival of fandom and there was serious trouble when English hooligans caused a 20 minute delay in Turin, while battling with Italy’s police the Carabinieri. The image of Ray Clemence leaving the field with tear gas in his eyes was possibly the defining image from an English perspective.
Score: 0/5
5. Controversy / TV theme tunes / Our own prejudices / Well, basically anything really
Zip. Diddly squat. There was little off field activity to excite any enthusiasm. The rioting English hooligans gave Mrs Thatcher an early chance to practice her contempt for the game and its followers. Staying with the Iron Lady there was also that infamous photo taken before the England squad flew out to Italy of her getting a smacker on each cheek from Kevin Keegan and Emlyn Hughes. We think the one point this section was going to get has just been lost.
Score: 0/5
Total Score: A frankly embarrassing 5 out of 30. One to forget.
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The Best Football Tournaments, Ever... 