World Cup 1982 - Day Eighteen

DAY EIGHTEEN

Sunday 4^th July 1982

GROUP D, Estadio Vicente Calderon, Madrid. (17:15)

FRANCE   (1)   4   (Giresse 33, 80, Rocheteau 47, 68)

NORTHERN IRELAND   (0)   1   (Armstrong 75)

France: Ettori; Amoros, Janvion, Tresor, Bossis; Genghini, Tigana, Platini, Giresse; Rocheteau (Couriol), Soler (Six)

Northern Ireland: Jennings; J. Nicholl, C. Nicholl, McClelland, Donaghy; M. O’Neill, McCreery (J. O’Neill), McIlroy; Hamilton, Armstrong, Whiteside (Brotherston)

You could call this a sort of Quarter-Final, although a draw would be enough for France.  The French were now playing some of the best football of the tournament, after losing their opening game to England.  They put the Irish under pressure from the first whistle and should’ve made more of the chances they had, but a fit again Pat Jennings was in fine form, saving from both Platini and Rocheteau.  Then some great skill on the right from Whiteside found O’Neill who played a one-two with Armstrong before firing past Ettori, only to find the linesman had his flag up.  Replays seemed to suggest the Irish captain had good reason to be disappointed with that decision.  Just after the half-hour and a wonderful run from Platini saw him beat two to the get to the bye-line and cut it back where Giresse was unmarked.  The little cultured midfielder from Bordeaux, took a touch and then shot past Jennings for the opening goal.  It was no more than the French deserved.

At the beginning of the second half, Tresor found Rocheteau on the left wing just inside his own half.  A brilliant turn took out Jimmy Nicholl and the Frenchman was away and running at Chris Nicholl.  As he reached the edge of the area he switched from his right to his left and fired a low shot which beat Jennings on his near post.  Rocheteau could’ve had a couple more before a free-kick wide on the left was passed short to curly-haired striker and he showed a delicate touch to switch from right foot to left then back to right as he shot past Jennings to effectively put the game out of reach for the Irish.  With fifteen minutes to play, Armstrong found Whiteside on the left and a great piece of wing-play saw the United forward beat Amoros and cross to the far post where Ettori flapped at the ball and Armstrong pounced for a consolation goal.

As the Irish poured forward in search of a miracle the French were able to pick them off with the counter-attack.  With ten minutes to go Giresse found Tigana wide on the right and his first time cross was met excellently by the head of Giresse and the French were through.

GROUP A, Estadio Nou Camp, Barcelona. (21:00)

USSR   (0)   0

POLAND   (0)   0 

USSR: Dasaev; Sulakvelidze, Borovsky, Baltacha, Demianenko, Chivadze; Oganesian, Gavrilov (Daraselia), Bessonov; Shengelia (Andreyev), Blokhin

Poland: Mlynarczyk; Dziuba, Janas, Zmuda, Kupcewicz (Ciolek); Matysik, Majewski, Buncol, Boniek; Lato, Smolarek

As with the earlier game, you could consider this a Quarter-Final as the winner would go through, although Poland had the added advantage of knowing a draw would be enough for them.  The Soviets had the best of the opening exchanges with Sulakvelidze firing over when arriving late to get on the end of Oganesian’s cross.  In the second half, 20 year old Waldemar Matysik produced a great run through the centre, but unfortunately as he reached the penalty area he poked his shot straight at Dasaev.  Boniek was again missing for much of the game but came into things late on, but you always felt the Poles would have more motivation to score if the USSR did.

As the game reached a conclusion, the Soviets threw everyone forward desperate to get the goal which would see them go through.  This gave Smolarek the opportunity hit them on the break but his shot went just wide and in the end, the game was drawn and Poland were through.  Much like France, they’d started the competition in poor form, but had come good when it mattered.

World Cup 1982 - Day Nine

DAY NINE

Monday 21^st June 1982

GROUP TWO, Estadio Carlos Tartiere, Oviedo. (17:15)

AUSTRIA   (0)   2   (Schachner 56 Krankl, 67)

ALGERIA   (0)   0  

Austria: Koncilia; Krauss, Degeorgi, Pezzey, Obermayer; Hattenberger, Baumeister, Prohaska, Hintermaier; Schachner, Krankl

Algeria: Cerbah; Guendouz, Merzekane, Mansouri, Kourichi; Fergani, Belloumi (Bensaoula), Dahleb (Tlemcani); Zidane, Madjer, Assad

This was a much anticipated match after both won their opening matches.  Algeria were still buzzing from their victory over the mighty Germans.  Austria had eased past Chile although the 1-0 win would suggest otherwise.  Both teams knew the winner of this match would definitely go through to the next phase.  Both sides had decent penalty shouts in the first half and Algeria found Koncilia in fine form in the Austrian goal.  10 minutes into the second half and Austria came forward and Welzl’s shot was blocked but the ball fell to Walter Schachner who swung a foot at it and his shot went in off the post.  10 minutes later Welzl, who’d only come on at half-time, was again involved as he brought the ball forward after an Algerian attack had broken down.  As the defence struggled to work out who to mark, they left the most dangerous player, Hans Krankl and he fired a left foot shot from the edge of the area in for the 2^nd goal.  Austria were 2 wins from 2 games and through to the next round.

GROUP FOUR, Estadio Jose Zorrilla, Valladolid. (17:15)

FRANCE   (2)   4   (Genghini 31, Platini 43, Six 48, Bossis 90)

KUWAIT   (0)   1   (Al-Buloushi 75)

France: Ettori; Amoros, Janvion (Lopez), Tresor, Bossis; Genghini, Platini (Girard), Giresse; Lacombe, Soler, Six

Kuwait: Al-Tarabulsi; N. Mubarak, Al-Mubarak (Al-Shemmari), Mayouf, M. Mubarak; Al-Houti, Al-Buloushi, Al-Anbari, Karam (Marzouq); Sultan Al-Dakheel

France had been beaten by England in their opening game whereas Kuwait had earned a creditable draw against the Czechs in their first ever World Cup match.  This game became infamous for what happened towards the end of the match, but for the first half France were the more dominant.  Just after the half-hour France had a free-kick just outside the area just right of centre and Genghini curled a beautiful shot over the wall and into the top corner for the opening goal.  Six had the ball in the net earlier, but it was ruled offside when Giresse played a one-two and had run too far ahead of the ball for the return.  Then just before the break, Giresse played Platini in and he calmly passed the ball into the net, past Al-Tarabulsi.  It was as simple as they come but underlined the sheer quality of this French midfield.

France began for the second half, where they left off in the first as Platini played a lovely ball over the defence for Six to take it on the chest and then meet it on the half-volley to put France 3-0 up.

Maxime Bossis then surged forward, played a one-two with Giresse and was put clear of the defence to round the keeper and score, but the flag went up for offside and the goal was ruled out.  Kuwait then got a goal back when a quickly taken free-kick gave Al-Buloushi the chance to score.  France then had the ball in the net again, but Amoros was adjudged offside after he’d come forward from the back looking to get in on the act.  Then the fun and games began.  Another good passing move saw Platini play Giresse in and the Kuwait defence stopped because they heard the whistle.  However, the referee hadn’t blown his whistle and Giresse was most definitely not offside, but when Giresse went onto score the Kuwait players were incensed.  Not only the players but the management and even the President of Kuwait FA in the stands, and he ordered the players off in protest.  The game was held up for about 15 minutes and unbelievably the referee ordered a drop-ball to resolve the issue.  Had the French been losing at the time it is hard to see them agree to this solution, but they got on with it and eventually scored their 4^th goal.  But not before the 5^th disallowed goal of the game when Kuwait had the ball in the net.  A header looked to be going in when inexplicably, Al-Dakheel, who was in an offside position, helped it over the line.  Had he left the ball he may not have been flagged for offside.  Then in the 90^th minute, Bossis forced his way forward and then fired the ball in from a tight angle.  4-1 was a good response to their defeat to England and with the Czechs also losing to England, the French knew a draw against the Czechs may be all they need to progress.

GROUP FIVE, Estadio La Romareda, Zaragoza. (21:00)

NORTHERN IRELAND   (1)   1   (Armstrong 9)

HONDURAS   (1)   1   (Laing 60)

Northern Ireland: Jennings; J. Nicholl, C. Nicholl, McClelland, Donaghy; M. O’Neill (Healy), McCreery, McIlroy; Hamilton, Armstrong, Whiteside (Brotherston)

Honduras: Arzu; Gutierrez, Costly, Cruz, Villegas; Maradiaga, Zelaya, Yearwood; Betancourt, Figueroa, Norales (Laing)

Both countries had drawn their opening game and with Spain winning the night before, they knew a win here would go a long way towards securing a place in the next round.  The Irish were soon on the attack and a left-foot cross from Norman Whiteside into the area found Martin O’Neill free, but his header went over when he really should’ve done better.  10 minutes in and Ireland had a free-kick over on the left wing.  McIlroy curled it in right-footed, it hit the bar, bounced down for Chris Nicholl to head it against the bar again, where Gerry Armstrong was on hand to head the ball over the line and the Irish were in front.  Many were expecting an avalanche of goals but the Hondurans were made of sterner stuff.  Not long after, Betancourt saw his shot hit the bar of Jennings goal and bounced back out again.  Towards the end of the half, Armstrong hit the post with a shot as the Irish tried to force a 2^nd goal. 

Early in the second half, Whiteside thought he’d scored his first international goal but it was disallowed for Hamilton’s push on a defender as he headed the ball down for Whiteside.  On the hour, Honduras had a corner on the right and it was met by Betancourt whose bullet header was superbly pushed over the bar by Jennings.  The resultant corner was then headed in by Laing on the near post.  Both teams had chances to add to their tally, but it ended 1-1.  Northern Ireland would now need to get a result from their last match against the hosts.