Last time I talked about Germany in 1990, today I talk about germany in 1974 (West Germany)
The 1974 World Cup can be said to be a dividing line between modern football and classical football, the past style of play that slowly fell in midfield and had a dedicated person in charge of attack and defense no longer existed, the Dutch "all attack and full defense" and West Germany's "free man" tactics had a profound impact on later generations of football, and Cruyff and Beckenbauer also became the superstars of football.
West Germany has not won the World Cup for the first time in 1954 and has not won the award for 20 years. In the 1974 World Cup, West Germany hosted the tournament, and it was precisely because of this that they were eager for the highest honor in world football.
The rules of that year's World Cup were as follows: the 16 teams that passed the qualifiers were divided into four groups for a round robin, after which the top two teams from each group advanced to the second round. The eight teams were divided into two groups, each of which played another round-robin tournament, with the two teams at the top of the points making it to the finals, and the second place in the two groups playing the three or four finals.
As the host of the World Cup, West Germany is highly expected by the countrymen, and center Geid Muller, midfielder Opherat, defender Breitner, "freeman" Beckenbauer and goalkeeper Meier form a complete all-star central axis. In the first two games of the first group stage, West Germany defeated Chile and Australia 1:0 and 3:0 respectively, ensuring that they could qualify, and they lost to East Germany 0:1 in the third game.
In the second stage of the group stage, West Germany was divided into a group with Yugoslavia, Sweden and Poland, and they continued their good form, winning three consecutive games and reaching the final. On the other hand, the Dutch team's performance is even more glorious, they have boldly pioneered the "all attack, all defend" style of play, which is called the tactical revolution in the history of football. At that time, the Dutch team had the capital to beat any team opponent, and the Dutch golden generation led by Cruyff, Neskens, Rensemblinck and Kroll conquered countless fans with their talents. 2: 0 win over Uruguay, 0:0 draw with Sweden and 4:1 against Bulgaria. The Netherlands qualified from the group with an unbeaten record of 3 wins, 2 wins and 1 draw. In the second stage of the group stage, the Netherlands team can be said to be in a death group, including South American duo Brazil and Argentina, and one is East Germany. But the Dutch team still played well, 4:0 plus two 2:0, which was the score given by the Netherlands to Argentina, East Germany and Brazil respectively, they actually reached the final with a score of not conceding a goal in the second stage of the group stage, and in all the games of the group stage, they also conceded only one goal, and the all-attack and all-defensive play was played to the extreme.
The Dutch team standing at the door of the final face the hosts West Germany, and a fierce battle is about to begin. "The revolution is immortal", this is the motto of Che Guevara, and Dutch football is looking forward to a complete orange revolution in the final.
On 7 July 1974, the World Cup final was held at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, and the tension of the match even made the staff forget to plant the horn flag. Just 56 seconds into the opening, the Dutch advanced the formation to the West German penalty area with an uninterrupted 14-foot pass, Cruyff lightning burst into the box and was brought down by Hoeness, the referee awarded a penalty, and Neskens hit it. However, the premature goal did not disrupt West Germany's position, and in the 25th minute their penalty was still in color, and Breitner scored in one fell swoop, and the score became 1:1. In the 43rd minute, bomber Gedmuller turned around and fired inside the penalty area to cut the lead to 2:1. After that, Cruyff was limited by Vogts, the Dutch attack was greatly contained, and the 2:1 score was finally maintained until the end of the game, with West Germany winning the World Cup for the second time.
Overall, the core players of both sides played well in this game, and the Dutch team Cruyff chose to retreat strategically, acting as a dispatcher in the midfield, and facing his presence made the Dutch team always in a state of excitement: as the spiritual pillar of West Germany, Beckenbauer infected his teammates with a calm and calm style. In the unfavorable situation of conceding the ball less than 1 minute after the opening, Beckenbauer called on his teammates not to panic, stabilize the defense while effectively controlling the rhythm of the game, and lay a good foundation for the team's final victory. In the second half in particular, the backline he led withstood wave after wave of attacking frenzy from the Netherlands, and finally saved the score of 2:1. Arguably, the victory of the 1974 World Cup set the tone for West German football and later German football, and they began to become one of the top teams in international football.