Denis Law

by Alex Gordon

  Willie Ormond travelled to watch Zaire in action in Egypt in the African Nations’ Cup. One member of the travelling press corps admitted, ‘Willie watched them for about 15 minutes or so. He then turned to several members of the press who had made the trip with him. He casually announced, “This lot cannae play, let’s go for a wee wet.” That was his euphemistic term for a drink.’

  If that was the case, then it was a blunder of monumental proportions. If Ormond had hung around he would have seen Zaire beat Zambia 2-0 to win the trophy in Cairo. Four years later, Ally MacLeod refused to watch Peru live and preferred to rely on videos of recent internationals. By his own admission, he thought they were ‘told old and too slow’. The history books now show that the South Americans decimated Scotland 3-1 in the opening group game of the 1978 World Cup Finals in Argentina and the dream was over before it had barely started. Will we never learn?

  The draw for the group had been far from kind to the Scots. For the first time, goal difference would come into play and, as expected, Zaire would be crucial to Scotland, as well as Yugoslavia and holders Brazil, making progress to the next stage. Willie Ormond’s team had to play them first and that would allow the qualifying rivals a chance to see what to expect from the mysterious Africans. Their veil of anonymity would be stripped away, their secrets exposed and the Slavs and Brazilians could plot how to produce goal deluges against them. There is absolutely no doubt the ballot handicapped the Scots.

  John Blackley, Hibs’ smooth-operating sweeper, was chosen ahead of Martin Buchan for the Zaire fixture. He said, ‘The tension before that game was as intense as anything I have ever experienced. It was practically tangible. It was unreal and we all sensed it. This, after all, was a massive game for Scotland, a nation that had never triumphed in a World Cup Finals before. We realised, though, we had to win this one. A draw would have been unacceptable.’

  Billy Bremner, the confident skipper, said, ‘We won’t make the mistake of underestimating Zaire because we have been caught that way before. We won’t relax, either, because goals are important all the time. It’s only against the English that we like to show our superiority in terms of flashiness. Against the Africans we will play the British way, hustling and bustling. One thing you can count on is the fact we are afraid of no-one.’

  Denis Law, wearing the No. 19 shirt for the first and last time in his career, trotted onto the immaculate playing surface of the Westfalen Stadium to play against the Africans, memorably nicknamed the Leopards, which was emblazoned across their lemon shirts. If Denis was supposed to be intimidated, he didn’t show it. You can only wonder at what was going through his mind at the time. He must have known this would be his last international competition, literally his last kick of the ball at this level. All sorts of things must have been bombarding his brain, but, as usual, it didn’t prevent him from going about his business with a fair degree of verve and gusto and his usual professionalism. The famous long sleeves had vanished with Law favouring short sleeves as temperatures soared in Dortmund.

  Ormond went with this line-up: Harvey; Jardine, Holton, Blackley, McGrain; Lorimer, Bremner (captain), Hay; Jordan, Dalglish and Law. Hutchison would replace Dalglish in the second-half.

  Referee Gerhard Schulenburg, the match official who took charge of Scotland’s historic triumph at Wembley in 1967, put the whistle to his lips, the shrill sound signalling the 7.30 p.m. kick-off and, 90 minutes of football later, he blew the same whistle to bring down the curtain on the extraordinary career of a genuine legend. Despite the sweltering conditions, Law, who, by his own admission, had a relatively successful season with Manchester City, set about playing with a combination of contained energy and cunning. Zaire, rewarded with cash bonuses, houses and cars by their grateful government for qualifying, clearly weren’t there to make up the numbers. Their back four must have had an average height of six foot-plus and, although they lacked nous at this level, they were solid, powerful and surprisingly mobile.

  Reports at the time, and video evidence backs it up, tell of the Scots being a little hesitant and slightly tentative at the start, not knowing quite what to expect from their opponents. One observer pointed out, ‘Scotland received the first shock. The Africans were a lot nippier than expected. Efforts to soften up Zaire were not appreciated by the watching West Germans fans. Immediately, Scotland had not endeared themselves to the neutrals. Jordan went in heavily on their acrobatic keeper, Kazadi. The goalkeeper recovered from one early collision to save from Law. But it was Zaire who could, and really should, have scored first. The Scottish defence fell asleep as their opponents ambled forward. Danger suddenly threatened when Kakoko slipped inside Jardine. He was left with a clear shot at goal, but, thankfully for the Scots, he missed completely with a rushed swing of his left foot. He still had time to regain his composure and this time squeeze a shot under Harvey that struck the outside of the post and flashed into the safety of the side-netting. It could have been so easily 1-0 to the underdogs.’

  The mantle of being favourites never did sit comfortably on Scotland. It was the wake-up call Willie Ormond’s side required, though. The report continued, ‘Scotland’s superior strength began to tell. The obvious tactic of projecting high crosses towards Jordan and Law increasingly menaced Kazadi. The opening goal came in the 26th minute and was worth the wait. Jordan, at the far post, headed back Hay’s left-wing cross for Lorimer to fire a ferocious right-foot volley past their keeper. It was a well-worked goal delivered with the combination of precision and Lorimer’s frightening prowess for striking the ball unerringly first time from range.’

  The report went on, ‘Scotland’s fortunes seemed yet rosier six minutes later when they scored again, this time with a goal of less quality, but no-one was complaining. It was comic cuts stuff from the defence and Kazadi. Bremner clipped in an inviting right-wing free-kick and Jordan timed his run forward to absolute perfection. The Zaire back lot stood transfixed as the action unfolded around them. They were rooted to the spot. Jordan looked miles offside when he made contact with his head, but, in fact, it was a legitimate effort. He glanced the ball forward, but there was little power in the header. Kazadi’s attempt to hold the ball as it came to him were that of someone who might have wandered onto the football pitch for the first time in his life. He fumbled the header and the ball barely made it over the line. Jordan and Law celebrated as though it was the World Cup winner. They could so easily have been cringing in embarrassment.

  ‘Zaire, though, were far from crestfallen. Before the break Kidumi clobbered Bremner and became the latest in a growing list of players cautioned for their dislike of the Scottish captain. Kidumi then collected N’daye’s pass in front of Harvey, only to dally and allow the keeper to block. In the second-half, Scotland ground forward in the hope or expectation that the Africans would tire. They did not. Kazadi and Lobilo, their able centre-half, repelled all assaults. When Jordan felled Kilasu he found himself threatened with an angry black circle. Mayanga nearly punished the Scots, climaxing a diagonal run with a 20-yard drive that Harvey turned aside. The floodlights were then extinguished, providing everyone with a four-minute breather. For a while it continued as if by candlelight, but as Zaire substituted Mayanga for a fresh forward, Kembo, the lights were restored to full power.

  ‘It was as if the darkness had fallen from the Africans’ eyes. For the last 20 minutes they carried the game to Scotland, much to the delight of the neutrals in the crowd, desperate to witness a shock result. Bremner, foolishly, seemed content on Scotland preserving, rather than seeking to increase, their lead. Long before the end he was urging caution among the players, looking to slow down the pace. Zaire brought on a fresh forward and Scotland gave the long legs of Hutchison a run out. Dalglish made way. Chances fell at both ends. Lorimer’s piledriver was turned onto the bar by Kazadi, but then N’daye screwed wide with one chance and obliged Harvey to touch over a second. The final score might have been 6-3 for Scotland. They had managed their first win in the World Cu
p Finals. Zaire had been beaten, but not slaughtered and that might prove painful.’

  Prophetic words, indeed. Davie Hay looked back more in dismay than anger and said, ‘There was the remarkable sight of Denis Law racing deep into his own half after the turnaround to take the ball off Billy Bremner, who was indulging in a bit of keepy-uppy. The Lawman, displaying all his experience, instinctively realised that we would need more goals. Unfortunately, that urgency didn’t get through to all of us. We took our foot off the gas, no doubt about it. Possibly we also had an eye on our next game that was coming up four days later against Brazil in Frankfurt. It’s all conjecture now. We had gone into the match against Zaire with one thought on our mind – to win. A draw was no use and a defeat was unthinkable. I’m not making excuses, but it was bloody hot out there that evening. We had a wee kickabout before the game and the sweat was rolling off all of us. That makes Denis’s action all the more laudable and praiseworthy. He was the oldest man in our squad and he still had the appetite to try to get us moving forward. He demanded that we attack. I suppose you could say he ended his career the same way he started – on the front foot.’

  Willie Ormond hinted at changes for the match against Brazil and was convinced Scotland could beat the South Americans for the first time in history. ‘Why not?’ he asked the press corps. ‘I happen to believe we can be successful in this one. My players believe in each other, individually and collectively. We’re confident.’

  Denis Law was desperate to be involved and, certainly, he had done enough against Zaire to show he wouldn’t be out of place on a pitch alongside Jairzinho, Rivelino etc. Yet when Ormond finally unveiled his starting 11, Denis’s name was missing and in came his Manchester United pal Willie Morgan. The only other change was Martin Buchan taking over from John Blackley alongside his Old Trafford colleague Jim Holton in central defence.

  Law admitted, ‘I was extremely disappointed not to get a 56th cap against Brazil. I didn’t think my exclusion was merited as I felt I had played well enough against the Africans to keep my place or, at least, to play part of the Brazil game. But I accepted the decision even though I would have loved to have played against the world champions.’

  Davie Hay said, ‘You had to feel for Denis. It was obvious he was coming to the end of his career and who wouldn’t have wanted to go out after a match against the reigning World Cup holders? Denis was always style personified, a flamboyant personality who captured everyone’s imagination. Personally, I thought he was one of our best players against Zaire. As I said, he realised the importance of running up a big score against them. It would have been interesting to see how he fared against Brazil. They had a giant centre-back called Luis Pereira and he was one of the hardest defenders I have ever faced. He clattered into everything in sight and got away with it. Maybe it’s a Brazilian thing. Possibly the referees are brainwashed into believing they are all about slick passing and so on. Believe me, that lot back in 1974 could put the welly in with the best of them.

  ‘Denis would have loved it! He had come up against those sort of centre-backs all his life and was rarely found wanting. Anyone looking at his slight frame and thinking they were going to coast through a game soon found out differently to their cost. Denis was frightened of no-one. Luis Pereira would have had his work cut out for him if Denis had got the nod. He didn’t and I have to say he was the perfect professional when it came to accepting the manager’s decision, although inside he must have been more than a little upset. He never betrayed those feelings, I can tell you that. Not once, not even privately. To me, that is the sign of a real man. He would have known his international boots were getting hung up following this tournament. After Zaire, there were two more games, at least, to go. He would have been desperate to be involved; that had been his style from day one. He was a terrible spectator. If he wasn’t playing he was, mainly, not interested. There was a lot of dignity involved at the time.’

  Scotland’s preparations were disrupted when it was discovered that someone had alerted local police that a bomb had been planted at the team’s base. The West German authorities took the threat very seriously. It was said to be from the IRA and, apparently, two unnamed Protestants in the squad had been targeted. Sandy Jardine later revealed, ‘It was me and Willie Ormond.’ It turned out to be a hoax and Tommy Hutchison can afford a smile at the memory when he looks back. ‘There was Wee Jimmy Johnstone leaving our HQ to get on the coach and he was holding up his bag, covering his face while shouting, “I’m Jimmy Johnstone and I play for Celtic!” Obviously, he believed no-one from the Irish Republican Army would harm a Celtic player.’ Davie Hay added, ‘Yes, the players knew the two guys in question were Sandy Jardine and Willie Ormond. I just made sure I wasn’t sitting beside Sandy at any time when we were having meals!’

  Law missed the game against Brazil in the Wald Stadion, Frankfurt, on 18 June. It ended scoreless and the nearest to a goal from either country came midway through the second-half when goalkeeper Emerson Leao pushed out a close-range header from Joe Jordan straight to Billy Bremner. Before the skipper could react, the ball struck him on the shin and, luckily for the three-times World Cup winners, bounced wide of the upright. It was the sort of opportunity that Law had snapped up on countless occasions. Leao was also forced to make two splendid saves as the Brazilian drums were drowned out by the singing, chanting members of the boisterous Tartan Army, some 12,000 in the ground. Hay, enjoying the game of his life, stormed forward in the second period to unleash a 25-yard drive of awesome power. Leao took no chances as he nudged it over the bar. He did likewise again when Peter Lorimer sent in a typically thunderous free-kick. And that was that; Scotland sitting on three points, the Brazilians on two after two successive goalless draws. Lorimer reflected, ‘They didn’t play like Brazil at all. This lot were brutal.’

  Both teams had been told Yugoslavia were leading Zaire 6-0 at the interval. They would add another three in the second-half. It left a huge question mark over Scotland’s continued interest in the competition. Brazil believed a three-goal winning margin over the African nation would see them qualify for the next stage. Scotland realised they had to beat an impressive Yugoslavia. Davie Hay said, ‘We were all stunned to hear the Slavs had won by such a margin. We thought they would win, but not by nine. No team should lose to that extent in the World Cup Finals. A steward’s enquiry might have been demanded. We checked with the Scottish reporters and they confirmed that it had taken eight minutes for the Slavs to score first and then they added five in just over 20 minutes. We also wondered why the Yugoslav coach of the Africans took off his No. 1 goalkeeper Kazadi after he had conceded the third and replaced him with the inexperienced Tubilandu. It looked to us like an invite for the Slavs to pile on the goals. Skulduggery? Who knows? At the end of the day we realised what we had to do and that was to beat Yugoslavia. It was impossible to believe the Brazilians wouldn’t beat Zaire. There was no way they would drop points in that fixture, but could they score three and not concede any? We had to hope.’

  The Brazilian press were very kind to Scotland while making scathing comments about their own country, bereft of the talents of the incomparable Pele, who had retired from the international scene after the memorable 1970 World Cup Finals. Only Roberto Rivelino, Jairzinho and Wilson Piazza remained from that successful team. The South American reporters labelled Bremner ‘a small giant’. Hay was ‘one of the best midfield players in the world’. Scotland returned to Frankfurt four days later to take on Miljan Miljanic’s team. It was almost a home game for Miljanic’s men with some 40,000 Yugoslavs working and living in the city. A crowd of 54,000 was in place in time for kick-off. Willie Ormond went with the side that had drawn against Brazil; there was still no place for Denis Law.

  And there would be no place for Scotland in the next round. The game ended 1-1 while, agonisingly, the Brazilians were wrapping up a 3-0 victory over Zaire with an extremely fortuitous third goal, gifted to them by the blundering Kazadi. Joe Jordan’s heading abili
ty had been noticed in the previous games and Slav strongman Josip Katalinski rarely left his side. Branko Oblak and Vladislav Bogicevic were never far away, either. Neither David Harvey nor Enver Maric, the respective goalkeepers, had too much to do in sweltering conditions. The game was being dictated by the opposing defences and midfields. Once again, Bremner and Hay were the pick of the bunch as Scotland tried to break down their stubborn opponents. The Scots were caught out in the 81st minute when substitute Stanislav Karasi, on the pitch only nine minutes after replacing Dusan Bajevic, launched himself at a cross from the ever-dangerous Dragan Dzajic and Harvey, totally exposed, was beaten for the first – and last – time in the finals. Scotland’s own substitute Tommy Hutchison, on for Kenny Dalglish in the 65th minute, also made an impact. A minute remained when he twisted and turned on the left wing before hammering over a low cross. Peter Lorimer swung at it and missed. The ball dropped perfectly for Jordan, for once free of his markers, and the Leeds United striker fired in at the far post.

  All eyes were now on Gelsenkirchen. The Scottish players discovered their fate when the huge electronic scoreboards at the Wald Stadion flashed up: BRAZIL 3 ZAIRE 0. The adventure was over. Brazil were 1-0 ahead at half-time with a goal from Jairzinho and had doubled their advantage in the 66th minute with a sizzling effort from moustachioed midfielder Rivelino. Would it be enough? The South Americans were aware they required a third to make absolutely certain of a place in the second phase. Valdomiro mis-hit a cross from the right wing. It was straight at Kazadi and looked an easy save. Somehow the clumsy custodian flapped hopelessly at the ball as it squeezed past him at his near post and squirmed over the line. Brazil were through; Scotland were out.

  The final Group Two table read: Yugoslavia Played 3, Won 1, D 2. Goals For: 10. Goals against: 1. Brazil’s stats showed they had won one and drawn two while scoring three and conceding none. Scotland were third with one win and two draws with three goals scored and one conceded. All three nations had amassed four points. Zaire were anchored at the bottom without a win, three defeats and 14 goals lost while failing to register even one. It was of little consolation that Scotland, who had earned universal sympathy, had become the first country in history to be knocked out of the World Cup on goal difference. In fact, they were the only country not to lose a game in those finals. Even eventual winners West Germany were defeated when they went down 1-0 in a Group One game against East Germany. Yugoslavia weren’t far behind Scotland in seeking their passports to return home. They were in a four-nation Group B in the next stage and lost all three games: 2-0 to West Germany, 2-1 to Poland and 2-1 to Sweden, their only victory in the tournament being the mind-boggling nine-goal rout of Zaire. Brazil? They had seen their worldwide appeal to neutral football fans swept into the Rhine with a series of thuggish displays that eventually saw their coarse and merciless centre-half Luis Pereira dismissed after an assault on Holland’s Johan Neeskens. Goals from Neeskens and Johan Cruyff secured a 2-0 triumph for the Dutch. An unloved Brazil played Poland in the third-placed play-off and lost 1-0; Grzegorz Lato scoring in the 76th minute of a miserable encounter.