Grauniad piece on 1974 final

Yo yo...

Another "On second thoughts" piece from the Grauniad, this time on the subject of that 1974 World Cup final. Haven't read the comments yet, but interesting piece, the ludicrous "third most successful country in international football" beginning notwithstanding...

On Second Thoughts: the 1974 World Cup final

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/sep/19/germanyfootballteam.holland

Knock yourselves out. Thoughts?

Nice try Otto : we're not buying.

Try this site : http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~goldkeep/Holland74/index.htm

"Nice try, but nobody's really buying it. Hungary played a poor final, for sure, yet still scored twice, hit the woodwork three times, and had a goal disallowed for a ludicrous offside decision by a Welsh linesman with pieces of cheese on toast for retinas. Puskas was hopping around on one leg, his ankle having been reduced by Germany's Werner Liebrich in that 8-3 group debacle. And the entire Hungarian team were utterly spent: while the Germans sauntered to the final thanks to an easy draw pitting them against Yugoslavia and Austria, Hungary had to beat the 1950 runners-up Brazil, engage in a 10-minute fist-and-bottle fight in the changing rooms afterwards, then contest extra-time in the semi-final against reigning world champions Uruguay, who had never previously lost a World Cup match. They were also kept up until 5am the night before the final by the sweet soul sounds of a Swiss band parping away outside their hotel, the theme tune to Hancock's Half Hour on continuous loop. Whatever could go wrong for one of the greatest collection of players the world has ever seen, went wrong: no wonder the romantics are still apopleptic about it."

Otto's Olympic Dream wrote:"Nice try, but nobody's really buying it. Hungary played a poor final, for sure, yet still scored twice, hit the woodwork three times, and had a goal disallowed for a ludicrous offside decision by a Welsh linesman with pieces of cheese on toast for retinas. Puskas was hopping around on one leg, his ankle having been reduced by Germany's Werner Liebrich in that 8-3 group debacle. And the entire Hungarian team were utterly spent: while the Germans sauntered to the final thanks to an easy draw pitting them against Yugoslavia and Austria, Hungary had to beat the 1950 runners-up Brazil, engage in a 10-minute fist-and-bottle fight in the changing rooms afterwards, then contest extra-time in the semi-final against reigning world champions Uruguay, who had never previously lost a World Cup match. They were also kept up until 5am the night before the final by the sweet soul sounds of a Swiss band parping away outside their hotel, the theme tune to Hancock's Half Hour on continuous loop. Whatever could go wrong for one of the greatest collection of players the world has ever seen, went wrong: no wonder the romantics are still apopleptic about it."

Also Hungary was unbeaten for two years apart from the 1954 World Cup final. It is a little known fact that the Soviet Union - realising that they had no chance in the 1960 first European Championship unless they broke up that supremely talented Hungarian side - invaded Hungary in 1956 to make sure that they would not get their arses kicked. It wasn't just Puskas that never played for Hungary again.

EMP who was that Soviet Union player that got made to work in the coal mines in 1956?

He was supposed to be better than Pele, but because of his attitude they sent him to the mines saying he raped a young girl, which he never did.

EMP wrote:

Otto's Olympic Dream wrote:"Nice try, but nobody's really buying it. Hungary played a poor final, for sure, yet still scored twice, hit the woodwork three times, and had a goal disallowed for a ludicrous offside decision by a Welsh linesman with pieces of cheese on toast for retinas. Puskas was hopping around on one leg, his ankle having been reduced by Germany's Werner Liebrich in that 8-3 group debacle. And the entire Hungarian team were utterly spent: while the Germans sauntered to the final thanks to an easy draw pitting them against Yugoslavia and Austria, Hungary had to beat the 1950 runners-up Brazil, engage in a 10-minute fist-and-bottle fight in the changing rooms afterwards, then contest extra-time in the semi-final against reigning world champions Uruguay, who had never previously lost a World Cup match. They were also kept up until 5am the night before the final by the sweet soul sounds of a Swiss band parping away outside their hotel, the theme tune to Hancock's Half Hour on continuous loop. Whatever could go wrong for one of the greatest collection of players the world has ever seen, went wrong: no wonder the romantics are still apopleptic about it."

Also Hungary was unbeaten for two years apart from the 1954 World Cup final. It is a little known fact that the Soviet Union - realising that they had no chance in the 1960 first European Championship unless they broke up that supremely talented Hungarian side - invaded Hungary in 1956 to make sure that they would not get their arses kicked. It wasn't just Puskas that never played for Hungary again.

Romantic idea But there really was a revolution in progress which I think was a litte bit more of a factor in the Soviet Tanks move in

The Easter Bunny wrote:EMP who was that Soviet Union player that got made to work in the coal mines in 1956?

He was supposed to be better than Pele, but because of his attitude they sent him to the mines saying he raped a young girl, which he never did.

Did he play for the soviet Union?

Otto's Olympic Dream wrote:

EMP wrote:

Otto's Olympic Dream wrote:"Nice try, but nobody's really buying it. Hungary played a poor final, for sure, yet still scored twice, hit the woodwork three times, and had a goal disallowed for a ludicrous offside decision by a Welsh linesman with pieces of cheese on toast for retinas. Puskas was hopping around on one leg, his ankle having been reduced by Germany's Werner Liebrich in that 8-3 group debacle. And the entire Hungarian team were utterly spent: while the Germans sauntered to the final thanks to an easy draw pitting them against Yugoslavia and Austria, Hungary had to beat the 1950 runners-up Brazil, engage in a 10-minute fist-and-bottle fight in the changing rooms afterwards, then contest extra-time in the semi-final against reigning world champions Uruguay, who had never previously lost a World Cup match. They were also kept up until 5am the night before the final by the sweet soul sounds of a Swiss band parping away outside their hotel, the theme tune to Hancock's Half Hour on continuous loop. Whatever could go wrong for one of the greatest collection of players the world has ever seen, went wrong: no wonder the romantics are still apopleptic about it."

Also Hungary was unbeaten for two years apart from the 1954 World Cup final. It is a little known fact that the Soviet Union - realising that they had no chance in the 1960 first European Championship unless they broke up that supremely talented Hungarian side - invaded Hungary in 1956 to make sure that they would not get their arses kicked. It wasn't just Puskas that never played for Hungary again.

Romantic idea But there really was a revolution in progress which I think was a litte bit more of a factor in the Soviet Tanks move in

That was Khrushchev's excuse, but he really was a very bad loser. Think about it. They lose in 1964 to Spain in the final and Khrushchev is deposed the same year by Leonid Brezhnev. He couldn't invade Spain in time.

The Easter Bunny wrote:EMP who was that Soviet Union player that got made to work in the coal mines in 1956?

He was supposed to be better than Pele, but because of his attitude they sent him to the mines saying he raped a young girl, which he never did.

Eduard Streltsov.

I believe this is what you were looking for.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/aug/26/theobserver

Axeslammer wrote:Nice try Otto : we're not buying.

Try this site : http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~goldkeep/Holland74/index.htm

Oi, this is supposed to be about the '74 final...

and what's it got to do with Otto? Change the fecking record, the piece was written by a Brit. An indeed wonderful and unique side was deservedly beaten by a side of comparable talent, and maybe indeed the Netherlands' mistake was, not content with mere victory, to want to humiliate Germany. An error you could say they have made on occasion since then as well...

Allez les rouges wrote:

Axeslammer wrote:Nice try Otto : we're not buying.

Try this site : http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~goldkeep/Holland74/index.htm

Oi, this is supposed to be about the '74 final...

and what's it got to do with Otto? Change the fecking record, the piece was written by a Brit. An indeed wonderful and unique side was deservedly beaten by a side of comparable talent, and maybe indeed the Netherlands' mistake was, not content with mere victory, to want to humiliate Germany. An error you could say they have made on occasion since then as well...

game over, thank you for playing

@ Axe: Why do you say they didn't deserve to win?

EMP wrote:@ Axe: Why do you say they didn't deserve to win?

A deserved win is when you're clearly better than your opponent, I didn't think that was the case and neither does 90% of all those who have an opinion about it.

Germany does indeed not get the credit they deserve.....for once, but let's not overdo it...

Uh, what is Grauniad? Just a fun anagram of Guardian?

kas wrote:Uh, what is Grauniad? Just a fun anagram of Guardian?

The Guardian is famous for mispelling and typos. I think it was Private Eye that first called it the Grauniad. The name stuck.

Axeslammer wrote:

EMP wrote:@ Axe: Why do you say they didn't deserve to win?

A deserved win is when you're clearly better than your opponent, I didn't think that was the case and neither does 90% of all those who have an opinion about it.

Germany does indeed not get the credit they deserve.....for once, but let's not overdo it...

Pffft, at this level most finals and the like are very evenly matched, as any number of immediate examples would confirm. Doesn't mean one petulantly rewrites history and claims that the side that narrowly lost was robbed... no one's claiming there was a lot in it, the whole thing is indeed an exercise in correcting a stereotypical misconception.