As the quarter finals of the World Cup loom large, it’s sizing up to be a battle of epic proportions in the quest for football’s Holy Grail. While all the usual suspects are through, one of the strange quirks of the international game is that sometimes the teams that blaze a trail through a tournament but fail to go the whole way, are the ones we remember most vividly. While Chile’s run was ended by a wayward penalty last Saturday, Colombia’s serene progress could also be stopped short by a far from perfect Brazilian team when they meet tonight.
Here are a few of the best teams that never won the World Cup…
Holland (1974) – Where to start with this bright orange blur of teamwork, movement and skill? The style they brought to the competition was as free flowing as their long hair as they reinvented the game with an unrivalled brand of total football. Led by the great Johan Cruyff, a player of quite extraordinary technique and balance who roamed the pitch like a hippy commandant, this team played the football of the future.
With the likes of Cruyff, Rudy Krol, Johnny Rep and Johan Neeskens, Rinus Michels’ Holland possessed players that could rotate their field positions with seamless ease. They sauntered to the final having scored 14 goals and only conceding one (an own goal at that) and just needed to beat their West German hosts to confirm the legacy of their greatness.
A penalty in the first minute of the final, which Neeskens converted, gave the Dutch the best of starts. Unfortunately, thereafter the orange tinged fairy-tale was unravelled by a combination of over-confidence and German ruthlessness. The procession faltered and Holland went on to lose the final 2-1.
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Brazil (1982) – Just like the Dutch team of 74, this collection of Brazilian artists seemed to make their jerseys vibrate with a saturated colour, in this case a glowing golden yellow. In the summer heat of Spain, this Brazil team had the free spirit of its country embedded in its soul. Marshalled by the elegant Socrates, the disparate genius of Zico, Eder, Falcao and Junior were brought together in a carnival of speed, joy and extravagant back heels.
Whenever they played they were accompanied by a cacophony of samba music from their supporters, which became the soundtrack to a team that literally played the game in sync with the drums. A whirlwind of fantastic long range shooting, delicate chips, pacey passing and intricate combinations saw Tele Santana’s great entertainers endorsed as favourites.
Only needing a draw against a struggling Italy to get to the semi-finals, everyone expected a comfortable win for Brazil but the Gods of football had other ideas. The attacking flair was still in evidence but defensive lapses were to prove costly. Paulo Rossi’s hat-trick was a dagger in the heart of the rhythmical ball jugglers who went down 3-2 and crashed out of the competition.
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England (1990) – It may feel a far and distant memory but the England team were once a width of a post away from reaching their second World Cup Final. Chris Waddle’s left foot strike during extra-time of the semi-final had beaten German keeper Bodo Illgner all ends up before rebounding off the post just out of reaches of Gary Lineker’s big toe.
England had started slowly in Italia 90 but with a team that incorporated the finishing ability of Lineker with the flair of players such as Gascoigne, Waddle and Barnes, they almost went all the way. A defence led by Terry Butcher and ably supported by Des Walker did not concede many goals while offensively England were always dangerous.
An exquisite last minute David Platt volley saw England get past Belgium in the last 16 game. Then Lineker’s two late penalties against Roger Milla’s Cameroon in the quarter final propelled the Three Lions into dreamland and the semi-final tie against the ever efficient Germans. In a close run game England eventually lost on penalties while Germany went on to beat an ordinary Argentina in the final.
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