Football World Cup 1974 / Scotland

The Scottish national football team at the 1974 World Cup :

Scottish contingent

No.	Surname	Club before the start of the World Cup	birthday	Games	Gates
goalkeeper
1	David Harvey	Leeds United	February 7, 1948	3	0	0	0
12	Thomson Allan	Dundee United	October 5, 1946	0	0	0	0
13	Jim Stewart	FC Kilmarnock	March 9, 1954	0	0	0	0
Defender
2	Sandy Jardine	Glasgow Rangers	December 31, 1948	3	0	0	0
3	Danny McGrain	Celtic Glasgow	May 1, 1950	3	0	0	0
5	Jim Holton	Manchester United	April 11, 1951	3	0	1	0
6th	John Blackley	Hibernian Edinburgh	May 12, 1948	1	0	0	0
14th	Martin Buchan	Manchester United	March 6, 1949	2	0	0	0
16	Willie Donachie	Manchester City	5th October 1951	0	0	0	0
21st	Gordon McQueen	Leeds United	June 26, 1952	0	0	0	0
22nd	Erich Schaedler	Hibernian Edinburgh	August 6, 1949	0	0	0	0
midfield player
4th	Billy Bremner	Leeds United	December 9, 1942	3	0	0	0
7th	Jimmy Johnstone	Celtic Glasgow	September 30, 1944	0	0	0	0
10	David Hay	Celtic Glasgow	January 29, 1948	3	0	1	0
15th	Peter Cormack	Liverpool FC	July 17, 1946	0	0	0	0
17th	Donald Ford	Heart of Midlothian	October 25, 1944	0	0	0	0
18th	Tommy Hutchison	Coventry City	September 22, 1947	2	0	0	0
20th	Willie Morgan	Manchester United	October 2, 1944	2	0	0	0
striker
8th	Kenny Dalglish	Celtic Glasgow	March 4th 1951	3	0	0	0
9	Joe Jordan	Leeds United	December 15, 1951	3	2	1	0
11	Peter Lorimer	Leeds United	December 14, 1946	3	1	0	0
19th	Denis Law	Manchester City	February 24, 1940	1	0	0	0
Trainer
	Willie Ormond		February 23, 1927

Scottish Games at the 1974 World Cup

The Scottish team drove to the first soccer World Cup in Germany with great expectations, where they moved into the Sporthotel Erbismühle in Weilrod in the foothills of the Taunus .

Scottish trainer Willie Ormond was optimistic before the tournament: “I think we can go further than ever. We have talented players and my job is to find the right mix. We can certainly keep up with all teams in the world. "

Scotland 2-0 Zaire

Goals: 1-0 Lorimer (24th min.), 2-0 Jordan (34th min.)

Although the Scots had emphasized several times in the run-up to the World Cup that it would be advantageous to win the opening game against Zaire as high as possible (original sound from Bremner: “We won't rest, because goals are always important”), they failed to do so in the second Half-time to extend their 2-0 lead. Their tactics were geared towards possession rather than attacking football and were heavily criticized in Scotland many years later and seen as the main reason for the early elimination. Davie Hay later stated: “If we had had more World Cup experience, we might have exerted more pressure and tried to achieve a better result.” Storm colleague Joe Jordan was also annoyed afterwards: “I think it would have been better if it hadn't would have been our first game. If it had been the third and we had known that we had to score at least three goals, we would certainly have made it too. ”And Peter Lorimer added:“ Having Zaire as an opening opponent was the worst that could have happened to us. That was their best game, they ran and ran and it made me feel like they wouldn't be able to do that in the next few games. In addition, we didn't have a specific goal. "

Scotland 0-0 Brazil

In their second World Cup match, the Bravehearts faced defending champions Brazil, against whom Scotland has never won. The first comparison ended 1: 1 (1966) and the last two matches (1972 and 1973) were each lost 0: 1.

The Brazilians dominated the game in the early stages and even scored a crossbar shot. But before the break, the Bravehearts got the game under control and were the more agile team, especially in the second half. After a corner from Lorimer, the Brazilian goalkeeper Leão could only clap a header from Jordan forward. The rushing Bremner had no time to bring the ball under control, so he pushed the ball just past the goal. This scene was followed by the well-known photo in which a stunned man from Bremen throws his hands over his face, surrounded by several Brazilian defenders and goalkeeper Leão lying on the ground.

After the Yugoslavs won the parallel game against Zaire 9-0, they had to be beaten in the last group game to avoid an early elimination.

Scotland 1-1 Yugoslavia

Goals: 0: 1 Karasi (81st min.), 1: 1 Jordan (88th min.)

Additional excitement arose on the day before the crucial group game against Yugoslavia when death threats against Scottish players Sandy Jardine and Jimmy Johnstone, allegedly from the IRA , emerged. Shortly afterwards it became known that both wings of the IRA in Dublin denied any involvement in this threat, so that the situation in the Scottish camp eased a little.

The Yugoslav attacks initially posed significant problems for the Scottish backcourt, but it was not long before the Scots took over. Joe Jordan had the greatest chance of the first half after a stopping error by an opposing defender. Suddenly Jordan was completely free in front of Enver Marić , but finished so hastily that the goalkeeper, who was already on the ground, was able to fend off. Peter Lorimer had the greatest chance of the second half. He lifted the ball over the falling Marić, but Vladislav Bogićević was able to knock the ball away just before the goal line.

The 0: 1 fell out of the blue. After a cross from Dragan Džajić , Stanislav Karasi headed from a few meters from the goal and left Scottish goalkeeper David Harvey no chance with his only goal in the tournament. Jordan equalized with a courageous shot into the near corner, but the game was soon over, as was Scotland's World Cup hopes. Because the Brazilians won the parallel game against Zaire 3-0, Scotland was eliminated due to the goal difference against Brazil that was one goal worse.

Despite the elimination (Davie Hay: "The fact that we played so well and remained unbeaten makes it damn hard to understand that we were eliminated.") The team was celebrated frenetically by the fans, who then were so cheerful and peaceful celebrated in Frankfurt that the British consul general John Fearnley praised: "The behavior of the Scottish fans was first class."

When they returned home, the Scottish World Cup delegation was greeted frenetically by around ten thousand fans at Glasgow Airport . Nobody expected such an exuberant reception.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Website of the Sporthotel Erbismühle
2. ^ Richard Gordon: Scotland '74 - A World Cup History , Black & White Publishing, Edinburgh 2014, p. 115 / ISBN 978-1-84502-749-0
3. ^ Richard Gordon: Scotland '74 - A World Cup History , p. 37
4. ^ Richard Gordon: Scotland '74 - A World Cup History , p. 123
5. ^ Richard Gordon: Scotland '74 - A World Cup History , p. 137
6. ^ Richard Gordon: Scotland '74 - A World Cup History , p. 138
7. ^ Richard Gordon: Scotland '74 - A World Cup History , pp. 182f
8. ^ Richard Gordon: Scotland '74 - A World Cup History , p. 150
9. ^ Richard Gordon: Scotland '74 - A World Cup History , pp. 168ff
10. ^ Richard Gordon: Scotland '74 - A World Cup History , p. 180
11. ^ Richard Gordon: Scotland '74 - A World Cup History , p. 179
12. ^ Richard Gordon: Scotland '74 - A World Cup History , p. 184