by Nick Holt
NICK HOLT has published a number of books on sport, music, film, and other aspects of popular culture. His particular passion is association football or soccer.
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The Mammoth Book of
THE WORLD CUP
NICK HOLT
Constable & Robinson Ltd
55–56 Russell Square
London WC1B 4HP
www.constablerobinson.com
First published in the UK by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2014
Copyright © Nick Holt, 2014
The right of Nick Holt to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication
Data is available from the British Library
UK ISBN: 978-1-47211-046-6 (paperback)
UK ISBN: 978-1-47211-051-0 (ebook)
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First published in the United States in 2014 by Running Press Book Publishers, A Member of the Perseus Books Group
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US ISBN: 978-0-7624-5224-8
US Library of Congress Control Number: 2013953114
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Cover by Toby Clarke
CONTENTS
Author’s Note
Bibliography
A Brief(-ish) Guide to Terms and Tactics 1
The Organisation of Football
Early Days
World Cup 1930
Football at the Olympics
World Cup 1934
Oriundi
World Cup 1938
Post-War 73
World Cup 1950
World Cup 1954
The Best Side Never to Win the World Cup
Braziiiiiil!
World Cup 1958
Age
World Cup 1962
Indiscipline
Back Home
World Cup 1966
Wingers
World Cup 1970
Golden Boots & Balls of Gold
Total Football
World Cup 1974
Referees
World Cup 1978
Heroes & Villains
World Cup 1982
Substitutes
World Cup 1986
Appearances
World Cup 1990
World Cup Movies
Globalisation
Women’s World Cup
World Cup 1994
Over-rated Players
World Cup 1998
The Bridesmaid up the Aisle
World Cup 2002
Coaches
World Cup 2006
World Cup 2010
England at the World Cup
Clubs
What the Future Holds
World Cup 2014
Best of the Best
AUTHOR’S NOTE
There have been a lot of books published about football in recent years – that man Hornby is to blame, the success of Fever Pitch prompted a generation of intelligent football fans and observers to air their views on the game’s socio-political significance. Articulate and well-conceived theories expounded how the game taught us about the nature of history’s conflicts; how football is a mirror for the economic corruption that blights the western political arena; how a nation’s way of playing the game represents a profound statement about its people; how a passion for football can lift underpaid, socially marginalised people out of a spiral of neglect and poverty. Mostly claptrap, but interesting and well written.
What takes place on the field is, however, my primary motivation. The politics and the scandals and the off-field shenanigans in Colombian jewellery shops provide the sequins and baubles, but the football is the party dress, be it the beige of 1962 and 2010 or the Vivienne Westwood-like extravagance of 1958 or 1970. A naff analogy, possibly, but this is the sporting event that is invariably hailed in the modern era as The Greatest Show on Earth – yes, the capacity of the football authorities and the compliant media to over-hype the game has reached epic proportions. The 2010 World Cup was like watching a Cecil B. DeMille movie; huge budgets, no expense spared on costume and makeup, eye-catching lead players. But like DeMille’s movies the end product was stale and uninspiring. It’s to be hoped the 2014 tournament will restore one’s faith.
Analysing football is a little like being a film critic – sorry to push the cinema theme but stay with me, I’m on a roll. The best team doesn’t always win the World Cup, just as the best directors don’t always make the best movies – winning the World Cup is often about coming to the boil at the right time, finding the right man to play the starring role (Paolo Rossi in 1982) or having the best ensemble cast (Spain in 2010). Like a film critic, a football writer reserves the right to disagree with the generally held opinion. James Cameron hasn’t made a good film since 1992 (Titanic and Avatar were appalling abuses of enormous amounts of money); England’s World Cup achievements under Sven-Göran Eriksson were actually quite impressive, not a national disgrace; Johnny Depp is a terrible actor (a Cristiano R
onaldo step-over without the rest of Ronaldo); the modern Spanish side are not the “best ever”, they’re just better than the mediocre competition, over-rated by a handful of pretentious purists. Read on – I’ll prove it. (Of course I won’t, but I will attempt to justify it – except the Johnny Depp bit; I actually rather like him and probably won’t mention him again.)
There are technical observations to be made and facts to be adhered to. Germany won 1–0, blah blah blah, the referee missed a clear handball, blah blah blah. But behind the facts there are stories; mysterious sins of omission, injuries to key players, coaching volte faces, they all contribute to the ongoing saga. Why did Brazil not contribute in 1966, despite winning the two previous tournaments and the next one? Why did Alf Ramsey take off Bobby Charlton in 1970? Why did Johann Cruyff not go to the 1978 World Cup? Why did one of Germany’s greatest players never play in the World Cup? They are all questions that affected the destiny of the trophy. There are titbits, too; I love a titbit; small facts or incidents that didn’t change the course of anything much, but give one a little frisson of excitement on discovery. The rubbing of the hands with glee when we discover that Wayne Rooney’s grandmother played in the first ladies’ match at Anfield or Andrei Shevchenko was born in a Soviet Gulag to a dissident journalist. Both of these are untrue, by the way, but there are dozens like them, no less startling, that are true.
Football fans like their stats, so there are lots of tables, some with obvious stuff, some with more quirky observations. The need for “Best ofs” and “Teams of” are satisfied, to spark the popular pre-match pub game of “Right, what’s your best-ever Holland team . . .” No? Never played that? Oh dear, I appear to have misjudged my audience . . .
There are accounts of epic games and mini biographies of favourite World Cup heroes. And not just the Finals and the great players, but games that you probably didn’t bother watching at 4 o’clock on a Sunday afternoon in 1986, and balding playmakers from unfashionable German clubs in the 1990s. The great players didn’t always shine in the World Cup – George Best and Alfredo Di Stéfano never even made it to the Finals, while the modern Messi(ah) has been a shadow of his Barca self playing for Argentina.
Here we go then – a chronological (why any other way?) history of the world’s second greatest sporting event. Only second? Unless you slept through last year’s Olympics you couldn’t make an opposing case. That’s not disrespectful to football, just the bigger picture.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the extensive bibliography, to David for the copyedit, and to Duncan, Becca and everyone at Constable & Robinson for allowing me to indulge myself. And thanks to my adorable wife Nicole for pretending to be vaguely interested when I shared yet another meaningless titbit of World Cup trivia.
Naming
In the text, footballers’ surnames are used for the most part, as is the convention and unless a first name is required to distinguish between, say, two Charltons or van der Kerkhofs. The principal exception to this rule are the Brazilians who have that engaging habit of adopting a “football name” to be known by. Part of the reason is the repetition of names, and the complexity and length of some of the family names; the other part is explained only by the suggestion that it is just a very Brazilian thing to do. Read Alex Bellos’ book if you want a more detailed explanation, otherwise just accept it and love them for it. One thing I did learn is that Ronaldinho means “Little Ronaldo” and was first used so he wasn’t confused with the existing Ronaldo. Bless.
The Portuguese have adopted the same methodology, but less consistently, and – don’t ask me why – somehow, especially in recent years when footballers have social media to feed, it smacks more of affectation. Turkey also used to list players by their first names, and occasionally still do.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Here is a list of my source books; rather than just list them I have given some indication as to whether they are worth follow-up reading or of merely academic interest to the researcher / addict like me. If a book isn’t here, it doesn’t mean I didn’t read it, it just means it added less to my notes.
Ball, Phil, Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football (WSC – When Saturday Comes – Publications, 2001 & various revisions)
This is a really excellent history of the Spanish game at club and international level, with interesting cultural and historical background. I have the 2003 edition, but the new one has a happier ending!
Foot, John, Calcio: A History of Italian Football (4th Estate, 2006) Superb history of Italian football, but the international section is limited as the book concentrates largely on the domestic game.
Freddi, Cris, Complete Book of the World Cup (HarperCollins, 2006 edition)
Until now the best history of the World Cup on the market with exemplary stats and a host of fabulous where are they now-type fillers. A mini masterpiece that has been wrongly ignored when discussing great football books simply because it doesn’t have a straight narrative format.
Galeano, Eduardo, Football in Sun and Shadow (4th Estate, 1997) A venerable journalist and novelist in his country (Uruguay),
Galeano gives us his own take on the beautiful game. Often more concerned with wordplay and poetry than fact, this is a whimsical experience, but a pleasurable one. Mark Fried’s translation is entertaining if a little too fanciful for my taste.
Glanville, Brian, The Story of the World Cup (Faber, 2010 edition)
For Club and Country (Guardian Books, 2008)
Brian Glanville was once the man for football on Fleet Street and his word still carries much weight. Much of his analysis feels a bit dated now, and some find his writing style ponderous, but his Story of the World Cup is still an important and authoritative history from a journalist who was around for every post-war competition. For Club and Country is an anthology of Glanville’s obituaries for the Guardian; a dip-in book, with occasional gems.
Goldblatt, David, The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football (Penguin Viking, 2006)
Goldblatt undertakes an immense (c900pp) and scholarly history of the game from its roots to modern times. There are lengthy notes at the end and the way the book is edited gives it the feel of a text book, which I suspect is the fault of the publisher not the author. For the committed.
Hayes, Dean, England – The Football Facts (Michael O’Mara, 2006) Good layout, good presentation, but the two halves of the book duplicate each other to an extent, and the book could have used more context for the stats and more detail.
Hamilton, Ian (editor), The Faber Book of Soccer (Faber and Faber, 1992)
A bit disappointing, given the breadth of the subject and quality of publisher.
Hesse-Lichtenberger, Ulrich, Tor! The Story of German Football (WSC publication, 2002 edition)
Read this wonderfully humorous and engaging history of the game from a German perspective, and learn to respect and understand the national team. Brilliant book.
Hunt, Chris, World Cup Stories (Interact/BBC 2006)
This takes an interesting approach to an illustrated book, using photos and memorabilia alongside memories from former stars and participants. Unfortunately the revelations of the participants are not always as interesting as they might be.
Imlach, Gary, My Father and Other Working Class Football Heroes (Yellow Jersey, 2005)
The book looks at the lot of the professional footballer before the abolition of the maximum wage as Gary looks at that era of football history through the experiences of his father, Stewart, a Scottish international winger. A worthy project and an interesting period piece.
Kuper, Simon, Football Against the Enemy (Orion, 1994)
Soccernomics (with Stefan Szymanski, HarperCollins, 2009)
The Football Men (Simon & Schuster, 2011)
Simon Kuper is undoubtedly a great journalist with access to great sources, but he sometimes strains to make his point. Football Against the Enemy is the best of the three, Soccernomics is a good idea that begins to feel a bit limited after a hundred page
s and The Football Men is a series of interviews, many of them with modern footballers who all too often do not have that much to say.
Ludden, John (editor), Fields of Fire – The Greatest Football Matches Ever (Mainstream, 2001)
A good anthology of match reports from fans of the various games, which could have been improved by the inclusion of some stats and introductory context to each article.
McColl, Graham, ’78 – How a Nation Lost the World Cup (Headline, 2006)
An interesting and not overly long-winded account of Scotland’s hubristic and ill-fated 1978 World Cup campaign.
Mortimer, Gavin, A History of Football in 100 Objects (Serpent’s Tail, 2012)
Quirky approach, but the format too often forces the content into a box it doesn’t naturally fit.
Pawson, Tony (editor), The Observer on Soccer (Unwin Hyman, 1989)
Some great content, as there should be from the archives of a quality newspaper. A different design approach would have served the idea better.
Pougatch, Mark, Three Lions versus the World (Mainstream, 2010)
The FiveLive sports’ presenter is really well connected and his wide access lends some interesting revelations, and Pougatch’s personal observations give some nice colour. Analysis of the team’s foibles and limitations, and more statistics would have improved the book.
Seddon, Peter, The World Cup’s Strangest Moments (Robson, 2005)
Not a continuous narrative but a series of articles about controversial or odd matches and incidents in the competition’s history. It has a rather gasp! shock! horror! tabloid feel.
Spurling, Jon, Death or Glory – The Dark History of the World Cup (Vision Sports, 2010)
Spurling’s book tries to convince us that dark deeds and political shame lie beneath the surface of every World Cup, and that much of what we watch is sanitised and covered by a patina of respectability. But we knew that already, surely.
Wilson, Jonathan, Inverting the Pyramid (Orion, 2008)
The Anatomy of England (Orion, 2010)
These are both interesting books. Inverting the Pyramid is a detailed and informative history of tactics, and The Anatomy of England traces England’s fortunes through detailed analysis of ten games. My only issue with either is that the author takes his subject a little too seriously – football is a game, whatever Bill Shankly may have claimed to the contrary.
