World Cup 1982 - Day Eleven

DAY ELEVEN

Wednesday 23^rd June 1982

GROUP ONE, Estadio Balaidos, Vigo. (17:15)

ITALY   (0)   1   (Graziani 60)

CAMEROON   (0)   1   (M’Bida 61)

Italy: Zoff; Gentile, Scirea, Collovati, Cabrini; Conti, Tardelli, Oriali, Antognoni; Rossi, Graziani

Cameroon: N’Kono; Kaham, Onana, M’Bom, Aoudou, N’Djeya; Kunde, M’Bida, Abega; Milla, Tokoto

The final game in Group One was finely balanced.  In theory, Italy should’ve thumped Cameroon, but this Italy side had not found their touch in this World Cup up to now and had struggled in both their matches.  Cameroon knew they needed to win to get through to the second phase, and for Italy a draw would be enough to go through with Poland from this group.  Italy’s abject performance in the group phase so far was illustrated by Bruno Conti putting his shot wide from 6 yards out with only the keeper to beat.  Italy created plenty of chances, they just weren’t able to get any of them on target.  Then on the hour, Paolo Rossi crossed right-footed from the left wing and Graziani got up highest to loop his header over N’Kono.  It was the first goal Cameroon had conceded in the competition so far, but they fought back immediately as M’Bida hooked a shot in from close range barely a minute after going behind.  The Africans just couldn’t push for a winner and so Italy went through by virtue of having scored one more goal than Cameroon.  For Cameroon, they could be proud of their performance in remaining unbeaten.

GROUP THREE, Estadio Jose Rico Perez, Alicante. (21:00)

ARGENTINA   (1)   2   (Passarella 23, Bertoni 52)

EL SALVADOR   (0)   0

Argentina: Fillol; Olguin, Passarella, Tarantini, Galvan; Bertoni (Diaz), Gallego, Ardiles, Calderon (Santamaria), Maradona; Kempes

El Salvador: Mora; Jovel, Osorto (Diaz), Rodriguez, Recinos; Ventura (Alfaro), Rugamas, Huezo; Gonzalez, Rivas, Ramirez

With Belgium and Hungary drawing in Elche the day before, Argentina knew anything other than a win would see them bow out after just three matches of their first ever defence of the World Cup.  El Salvador had regained some pride by only losing 0-1 to Belgium having conceded 10 in their opening match, although this was the game they really feared.  But Argentina were still not into their stride in this tournament, evidenced by Kempes hitting the bar from 6 yards early on.  In the 19^th minute, Calderon was brought down in the box and Argentina had a penalty.  The contact had seemed minimal but Passarella blasted the kick down the middle and Argentina lead 1-0. 

Argentina should’ve added to that goal before the break but early into the second half they did when a well worked goal when Daniel Bertoni curled a lovely shot left-footed into the far corner having beaten three tackles.  Argentina were comfortable winners and went through in 2^nd place behind Belgium.  Hungary’s record score proving irrelevant.

GROUP SIX, Estadio Benito Villamarin, Seville. (21:00)

BRAZIL   (2)   4   (Zico 28, 31, Falcao 64, Serginho 70)

NEW ZEALAND   (0)   0

Brazil: Waldir; Leandro, Luizinho, Oscar (Edinho), Junior; Socrates, Cerezo, Falcao, Eder; Serginho (Paulo Isidoro), Zico

New Zealand: van Hattum; Dods, Almond, Elrick, Herbert; MacKay, Cresswell (Turner), Sumner, Boath; Rufer (Cole), Wooddin

The qualifiers from this group had already been decided after USSR draw with Scotland saw them join Brazil.  New Zealand, in their first ever World Cup appearance, were just hoping to keep the score down.  Brazil were soon into their lovely passing football and one move cut open the defence only for Cerezo to fire over.  Zico then tried a nonchalant back heel which went just wide.  But in the 28^th minute, Leandro crossed from the right and with it curling away from him, Zico acrobatically volleyed the ball in for the opening goal.  Within minutes they were at it again as Socrates again found Leandro as the overlap on the right and his cross was again turned in by Zico, although less acrobatically.

Falcao got in on the act in the second half as he was able to run far too far and beat the keeper on his near post.  Six minutes later a patient build-up saw Junior clip the ball over the defence to Zico on the left-hand side of the area and he played it inside for Serginho to score.  The Brazilian number 9 often looked out of place with this technically brilliant team, but he had at last opened his account for the tournament.  Brazil were through with 100% record.

World Cup 1982 - Day Seven

DAY SEVEN

Saturday 19^th June 1982

GROUP ONE, Estadio Riazor, La Coruna. (17:15)

CAMEROON   (0)   0

POLAND   (0)   0

Cameroon: N’Kono; Kaham, M’Bom, Onana, N’Djeya; Aoudou, Kunde,M’Bida, Abega; Milla, N’Guea (Tokoto)

Poland: Mlynarczyk; Janas, Majewski, Palasz (Kusto), Zmuda; Jalocha, Buncol, Boniek; Iwan (Szarmach), Lato, Smolarek

After the draw between Italy and Peru yesterday, both these sides knew a win could prove their ticket to the next round.  Neither side had scored in their opening matches and things didn’t change after another 90 minutes.  Poland had the better of things in a fairly poor game with many of the shots coming from too far out to really test either keeper.  The 0-0 draw meant all four games in this group had ended level so it was well set up for two winner-takes-all clashes in the final game.  Poland had to play Peru and Cameroon needing to try and beat Italy to go through.

GROUP THREE, Estadio Nuevo, Elche. (21:00)

BELGIUM   (1)   1   (Coeck 19)

EL SALVADOR   (0)   0

Belgium: Pfaff; Gerets, Meeuws, Baecke, Millecamps; Vercauteren, Coeck, Vandersmissen (van der Elst), Cuelemans (van Moer); Vandenbergh, Czerniatynski

El Salvador: Mora; Jovel, Recinos, Fagoaga, Osorto (Diaz); Rodriguez, Ventura, Huezo; Ramirez, Rivas, Gonzalez

In Elche, Belgium were still buzzing from their opening day win over Argentina.  With Hungary losing yesterday, Belgium knew a win here would almost confirm their way to the next round.  El Salvador were just hoping to concede fewer goals than they had against Hungary.  Not a particularly good game , as El Salvador were more physical than they had been before.  19 minutes in and Ludo Coeck scored a stunning strike from probably 40 yards out and any thoughts Belgium could match Hungary’s tally were unfortunately unfounded as that proved to be the only goal of the game.  Belgium were now dominant at the top of the group needing just a draw against Hungary in their final match to go through.  Argentina now knew if Hungary lost to Belgium, they could go through with a win over El Salvador.

GROUP SIX, Estadio La Rosaleda, Malaga. (21:00)

USSR   (1)   3   (Gavrilov 24, Blokhin 48, Baltacha 69)

NEW ZEALAND   (0)   0

USSR: Dasaev; Sulakvelidze, Baltacha, Demianenko, Chivadze; Bessonov, Gavrilov, Bal, Daraselia; Shengelia, Blokhin

New Zealand: van Hattum; Dods, Elrick, Herbert; Sumner, Cole, MacKay, Cresswell, Boath; Rufer, Wooddin

The Soviets could consider themselves unlucky against Brazil as they lead for much of the match, only to lose.  New Zealand too, had shown periods of dominance over Scotland before eventually losing 2-5.  Gavrilov opened the scoring after a great run by former European Footballer of the Year, Oleg Blokhin, who got to the bye-line to cross and Gavrilov eventually bundled the ball over the line.

Three minutes into the second half Blokhin finished elegantly after Shengelia missed his kick and the Soviet Union were 2-0 up.  New Zealand had some good chances but were outclassed by the Soviets and with 20 minutes to go New Zealand try to play offside when defending a corner but Baltacha was able to convert the cross from close range.  USSR had now put themselves in with a chance of qualifying for the next round knowing their goal difference would mean a draw against Scotland would be enough.  For New Zealand they had performed well in their first ever World Cup appearance.  

World Cup 1982 - Day Three

DAY THREE

Tuesday 15^th June 1982

GROUP ONE, Estadio Riazor, La Coruna. (17:15)

CAMEROON   (0)   0

PERU   (0)   0

Cameroon: N’Kono; Kaham, Onana, M, Bom, Aoudou, N’Djeya; Kunde, M’Bida, Abega; Milla (Tokoto), N’Guea (Bahoken)

Peru: Quiroga; Duarte, Diaz, Olaechea, Salguero; Leguia (Barbadillo), Velasquez, Cueto, Uribe, Cubillas (La Rosa); Oblitas

After the draw between Italy and Poland, yesterday, these two teams were hopeful of gaining an advantage.  Peru, who’d impressed four years earlier, still included Scotland’s nemesis, Teofilo Cubillas and Cesar Cueto and were managed by a Brazilian, the wonderfully named Tim.  Cameroon were making their first appearance at a World Cup finals.  The stars in each team were Cubillas and Roger Milla, as both had chances to open the scoring, yet either found the respective keepers in goof form, or the woodwork got in the way.  Towards the end of the first half, Milla had the ball in the net after a good one-two with M’Bida on the edge of the area, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Both teams created chances, but lacked real conviction to make it count.  Cameroon equipped themselves very well, but as the game was nearing an end the crowd, in pre-Mexican wave days, sent on a dog to try and liven things up.  The game ended level and we were still yet to see a goal in Group One.

GROUP THREE, Estadio Nuevo, Elche. (21:00)

HUNGARY   (3)   10   (Nyilasi 3, 83, Poloskei 10, Fazekas 23, 54, Toth 50, Kiss 69, 72, 76, Szentes 71)

EL SALVADOR   (0)   1   (Ramirez 64)

Hungary: Meszaros; Martos, Toth, Garaba, Balint; Sallai, Muller (Szentes), Nyilasi; Fazekas, Torocsik (Kiss), Poloskei

El Salvador: Mora; Castillo, Recinos, Rodriguez, Jovel; Ventura (Fagoaga), Rugamas (Ramirez), Huezo; Hernandez, Gonzalez, Rivas

Hungary had competed in the 1978 tournament without winning a game, whereas El Salvador hadn’t been in the finals since 1970.  Hungary had qualified in England’s group and their playmaker was Tibor Nyilasi, with an exciting striker in Andras Torocsik.  3 minutes into the game, Hungary had a corner which Fazekas took and Nyilasi headed in, unmarked.  1-0  In the 10^th minute, Fazekas was again involved as he played Poloskei in and as he got clear of the defence the keeper covered his near post, allowing the Hungarian to fire a shot into the far corner for the 2^nd goal.  2-0.

After 23 minutes, Fazekas picked up the ball in midfield and with no challenge forthcoming, he surged towards the Salvador goal and then fired a shot into the top corner, from about 25 yards.  3-0.  That’s how things stood to half-time, with no warning of what was to come.  It took just 5 minutes after the break for Hungary to score again.  Joszef Toth ran down the left and as he cut into the area his low cross was blocked, but the ball came back to him and with the keeper committed to the cross, Toth had the simple task of rolling the ball into the empty net.  4-0.  4 minutes later, Fazekas took a corner on the left which El Salvador defended, but Nyilasi picked up the clearance and played Fazekas back in, and he fired in his 2^nd goal of the game.  5-0.

The two players who’d impressed most for the Central Americans were the captain, Huezo and Gonzalez.  These two combined to give Luis Ramirez Zapata the opportunity to get a goal back, and they were all very pleased with that.  5-1.  Just after Hungary’s 5^th goal, Laszlo Kiss came on for Torocsik, and then with 20 minutes to go he scored from another Fazekas corner.  6-1.  Three minutes later, Martos cross from the right looked to be going out on the left wing, but Poloskei kept it in and as he got to the byeline, his ball across the goal found Szentes, another substitute, completely free and he tapped it in.  7-1.  A minute later the Hungarians came forward again and Poloskei layed the ball off to Kiss on the left-hand edge of the area, and he audaciously chipped the keeper for his 2^nd goal of the game.  8-1.  4 minutes after that, Toth attacked down the left and his cross was palmed out by the keeper, but it fell to Kiss who fired past two defenders for his hat-trick.  Kiss had only been on the pitch 20 minutes, and his hat-trick had taken just 7 minutes.  9-1. 

Then into the final 10 minutes and Toth’s cross from the left was headed in by Nyilasi, to complete a kind of synergy between his first goal and the last.  10-1.  Hungary had broken the record for most goals in a World Cup finals match.  It was a stunning start for them, and with Argentina losing to Belgium, gave real them hope of getting through the first group stage.

GROUP SIX, Estadio La Rosaleda. (21:00)

SCOTLAND   (3)   5   (Dalglish 18, Wark 29, 32, Robertson 73, Archibald 80)

NEW ZEALAND   (0)   2   (Sumner 54, Wooddin 64)

Scotland: Rough; McGrain, Hansen, Evans, Gray; Strachan (Narey), Wark, Souness; Brazil (Archibald), Dalglish, Robertson

New Zealand: van Hattum; Almond (Herbert), Hill, Sumner, Elrick; Malcolmson (Cole), MacKay, Cresswell, Boath; Rufer, Wooddin

Scotland opened their account in their third successive finals appearance, and were up against New Zealand, who were making their debut.  A potential banana-skin reminiscent of Peru, four years earlier, the Scots were in determined mood.  A great run from Gordon Strachan saw him find Kenny Dalglish in the area and the Liverpool striker opened the scoring.  Strachan was again involved when Scotland doubled their lead, as his ball into the area found Brazil whose shot was parried by the keeper and Wark was on hand to turn the ball in.  3 minutes later Strachan crossed from the right and found the head of John Wark and Scotland were 3-0 up.

In the second half, New Zealand seemed to grow in confidence and Wynton Rufer produced a good run down the right and his ball into the area looked to be easily cut-out by Danny McGrain, but his weak touch allowed Steve Sumner the opportunity to bundle the ball past Alan Rough.  It was New Zealand’s first ever goal in a World Cup finals and then 10 minutes later they had their 2^nd.  A long ball from the back put Wooddin away and he finished well to reduce the deficit to just 1 goal.  Scotland appeared increasingly nervous as they were desperate to avoid a humiliation.  The had a free-kick in a central position just outside the area.  They looked like they’d messed things up, then John Robertson floated the ball over the wall to give Scotland a 4-2 lead.  Gordon Strachan then took a corner on the right and Steve Archibald back-headed it in and the Scots could now relax, as they were off and running. 

After the goalless draw in the first match, the evening’s entertainment had seen 18 goals.

World Cup 1982 - Qualification (CONCACAF)

15 countries entered the qualifying competition and were split into three groups based on geographical regions.

NORTH AMERICAN ZONE: 3 teams who played against each other home and away.  The first and second teams progress to the next round.

CENTRAL AMERICAN ZONE: 5 teams who played against each other home and away. The first and second teams progress to the next round.

CARIBBEAN ZONE: 7 teams divided into 2 groups.  Group A had 4 teams and Group B had 3 teams.  2 teams in Group A played in the Preliminary Round against each other home and away with the winner going through to Group A.  The 3 teams in each group then play against each other on a home and away basis, with the group winners going through to the next round.

The final round is then a league system for the 6 qualifiers who play each other once with the top two in the table qualifying for the finals in Spain.  All matches were played at Tegucigalpa in Honduras in November 1981.

NORTH AMERICAN ZONE

Canada, Mexico, USA

Three of the strongest nations in CONCACAF competed in the same group to eliminate just one of them.  Firstly, Canada and Mexico drew 1-1 in Toronto on their astroturf pitch.  Stojanovic put the home side in front but Luna equalised for Mexico.

A week later in Fort Lauderdale USA and Canada played out a 0-0 draw.  It was clear a side losing a match would make their chances of progressing really difficult.  At the beginning of November 1980, Canada then beat USA, 2-1 to give them 4pts and be in a great position to qualify for the next round.  USA’s hopes of qualifying were then ruined completely when they travelled to Azteca Stadium in Mexico and were beaten 1-5.  This was a great win for Mexico and they then drew again with Canada to make it impossible for USA to go through.  USA finally got a win when they beat Mexico, 2-1 but it was too late.

QUALIFIERS: Canada, Mexico

CENTRAL AMERICAN ZONE

Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama

El Salvador was the only country from this group to have qualified for the finals when they appeared in Mexico in 1970.  Panama began by playing all their home matches between July and August 1980.  They failed to win any of them.  Guatemala won 2-0 and so did Honduras, with goals from Salvador Bernardez and Anthony Costly.  Costa Rica drew 1-1 and then El Salvador won 3-1.

In October 1980, Honduras then won in Costa Rica, 3-2 before El Salvador then beat Panama, 4-1.  It was clear Honduras and El Salvador were going to be the two best teams in this group, although Guatemala were battling.  They had two 0-0 draws against Costa Rica and Honduras.  They were then able to hold El Salvador to a goalless draw.  The first meeting between El Salvador and Honduras came in November 1980 in San Salvador.  El Salvador won 2-1 to put them in the driving seat.  A week later in the return fixture, Honduras got their own back when they won 2-0 in Tegucigalpa.  These were the only defeats either country suffered as Honduras won the group with El Salvador 2^nd.

QUALIFIERS: Honduras, El Salvador

CARIBBEAN ZONE

PRELIMINARY ROUND

Guyana and Grenada played out a Preliminary Round over 2-legs.  Guyana won both matches, 5-2 & 3-2 to go through 8-4 on aggregate.

GROUP A

Cuba, Guyana, Surinam

Cuba was the fancied team in this group and outlined their superiority by beating Surinam, 3-0 in Havana and then drawing 0-0 in the away fixture.  Surinam then beat Guyana in both their meetings but if Cuba could pick up at least 3pts from their two matches against Guyana, they would be through.  A 1-0 win in Havana secured Cuba’s progression and they confirmed things when they then won 3-0 in Guyana.

QUALIFIER: Cuba

GROUP B

Haiti, Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago

Haiti qualified for the finals in 1974, yet was a much changed team by now.  They began in August 1980 by beating Trinidad 2-0 in Port-au-Prince.  A fortnight later, Trinidad got their own back by beating Haiti, 1-0 in San Fernando.  Haiti then bounced back with a 1-0 win over Netherlands Antilles at home.  Trinidad and Netherlands Antilles played out two 0-0 draws, to leave Trinidad and Haiti level on 4pts with the Antilles on 2pts.  The last match of the group was the Antilles at home to Haiti.  The game ended 1-1 which was all Haiti required to progress to the next round.

QUALIFIER: Haiti

FINAL ROUND

Canada, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico

In this group were the last three representatives in World Cups from this region, El Salvador (1970), Haiti (1974) and Mexico (1970 & 1978).  All the games were played at Tegucigalpa in Honduras during November 1981.

Mexican legend, Hugo Sanchez scored two goals to help his side beat Cuba, 4-0.  The next day, Canada pulled off a shock when they beat El Salvador, 1-0 thanks to a 90^th minute goal from Stojanovic.  Honduras first outing saw them easily beat Haiti, 4-0.  Canada then lost their early advantage when they were held 1-1 by Haiti, with Stojanovic again scoring.  The big meeting between Mexico and El Salvador ended in a 1-0 win for El Salvador with Hernandez scoring the only goal in the last 10 minutes.  Two days later Honduras went to the top of the group as they beat Cuba, 2-0 with goals from David Buezo and Anthony Costly.

El Salvador then were surprisingly held 0-0 by Cuba.  Mexico were then almost beaten by Haiti but Hugo Sanchez saved their skin 3 minutes from time.  Honduras then continued their 100% record when they beat Canada, 2-1, with Caballero and Figueroa scoring.  With just two games to go, Honduras were going to be difficult to shift from top spot but all the other countries were still very much in the hunt.

Cuba, who’d yet to score in their 3 matches, finally got a goal, although it came courtesy of an own goal from Haitian defender, Frantz Mathieu.  Nunez then added a 2^nd and Cuba had their first win.  Mexico then continued their frustrating campaign by only drawing 1-1 with Canada.  Honduras and El Salvador then played out a goalless draw, ending Honduras winning record.  Honduras had now qualified for the World Cup Finals for the first time in their history.  The second place was going to be a real battle between Mexico, Canada, El Salvador and Cuba.  El Salvador were up against the weakest side, Haiti.  Cuba were to play Canada and Mexico, previously one of the favourites, probably had to beat Honduras to qualify.

First up, El Salvador beat Haiti, 1-0 with a goal from Huezo.  El Salvador had only scored 2 goals in the 5 matches in this round but had now put themselves in with a great chance of going through, although their goal difference may not be enough.

Next up was Cuba v Canada.  El Salvador’s win over Haiti meant Cuba couldn’t qualify, but a win for Canada would send them through as they’d scored more goals than El Salvador.  Cuba scored first through Nunez but then Wes McLeod equalised just into the second half.  Rodriguez then put Cuba back in front only for Bob Iarusci to bring the Canadians level again.  But the game ended 2-2 and for Canada, the heartbreak of knowing just one more goal may have got them to the finals.

So to the final match of the qualifying round, Honduras v Mexico.  Honduras was already through and any victory for Mexico would be enough to join them, as their goal difference was already superior to El Salvador.  But the Mexicans just couldn’t break through and the game ended 0-0.  Mexico only had themselves to blame by drawing too many matches.

QUALIFIERS: Honduras and El Salvador