Football World Cup 1978 / Argentina

This article covers the Argentina national soccer team at the 1978 World Cup .

qualification

Argentina was already automatically qualified as host.

Argentine contingent

No.	Surname	Club before the start of the World Cup	birthday	Games	Gates
goalkeeper
3	Hector Baley	Club Atlético Huracán	11/16/1950	0	0	0	0
5	Ubaldo Fillol	CA River Plate	07/21/1950	7th	0	0	0
13	Ricardo La Volpe	CA San Lorenzo	02/06/1952	0	0	0	0
Defender
7th	Luis Galvan	CA Talleres	02/24/1948	7th	0	0	0
11	Daniel Killer	Racing Club	December 21, 1949	0	0	0	0
15th	Jorge Olguín	CA San Lorenzo	05/17/1952	7th	0	0	0
18th	Rubén Pagnanini	CA Independiente	January 31, 1949	0	0	0	0
19th	Daniel Passarella	CA River Plate	05/25/1953	7th	1	1	0
20th	Alberto Tarantini	CA Boca Juniors	December 3rd, 1955	7th	1	0	0
midfield player
1	Norberto Alonso	CA River Plate	04/01/1953	3	0	0	0
2	Osvaldo Ardiles	Club Atlético Huracán	08/03/1952	6th	0	1	0
4th	Daniel Bertoni	CA Independiente	03/14/1955	6th	2	0	0
6th	Américo Gallego	Newell's Old Boys	04/25/1955	7th	0	1	0
8th	Rubén Galván	CA Independiente	04/07/1952	0	0	0	0
12	Omar Larrosa	CA Independiente	11/18/1947	2	0	1	0
17th	Miguel Oviedo	CA Talleres	October 12, 1950	1	0	0	0
22nd	Ricardo Villa	Racing Club	08/18/1952	2	0	1	0
striker
9	René Houseman	Club Atlético Huracán	07/19/1953	6th	1	0	0
10	Mario Kempes	Valencia CF	07/15/1954	7th	6th	0	0
14th	Leopoldo Luque	CA River Plate	05/03/1949	5	4th	0	0
16	Oscar Ortiz	CA River Plate	04/08/1953	6th	0	0	0
21st	José Daniel Valencia	CA Talleres	10/03/1955	4th	0	0	0
Trainer
	César Luis Menotti		05/11/1938

Argentina team matches

First round

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	Italy	6: 2	6th
2	Argentina	4: 3	4th
3	France	5: 5	2
4th	Hungary	3: 8	0

• Argentina - Hungary 2: 1 (1: 1)

Stadium: El Monumental ( Buenos Aires )

Spectators: 71,615

Referee: Garrido ( Spain )

Goals: 0: 1 Csapó (10th), 1: 1 Luque (15th), 2: 1 Bertoni (83rd)

• Argentina - France 2: 1 (1: 0)

Stadium: El Monumental ( Buenos Aires )

Spectators: 71,666

Referee: Dubach ( Switzerland )

Goals: 1-0 Passarella (45th) 11 m , 1: 1 Platini (60th), 2: 1 Luque (73rd)

• Argentina - Italy 0: 1 (0: 0)

Stadium: El Monumental ( Buenos Aires )

Spectators: 71,712

Referee: Klein ( Israel )

Goals: 0: 1 Bettega (73rd)

Bargaining in the run-up to the final group draw ensured that Group 1 became a veritable 'death group' with four strong teams, as the French were 'thrown into the same pot' with Tunisia, Iran and Austria. The Italians (outstanding: the midfield with Benetti, Causio, Tardelli and Antognoni) turned out to be the strongest team thanks to surprisingly offensive qualities. Only the very optimistic Tifosi would have expected them to have three wins beforehand . Two narrow defeats caused the strong French to be eliminated (with Platini, Tresor, Six and others). Argentina made it through mainly thanks to Luques 2-1 goals against the French, while the Hungarians did not disappoint, but had nothing to order in this group.

Second round

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	Argentina	8-0	5
2	Brazil	6: 1	5
3	Poland	2: 5	2
4th	Peru	0:10	0

• Argentina - Poland 2: 0 (1: 0)

Stadium: Estadio Gigante de Arroyito ( Rosario )

Spectators: 37.091

Referee: Eriksson ( Sweden )

Goals: 1: 0 Kempes (16.), 2: 0 Kempes (71.)

• Argentina - Brazil 0: 0 (0: 0)

Stadium: Estadio Gigante de Arroyito ( Rosario )

Spectators: 37,326

Referee: Palotai ( Hungary )

Goals: none

• Argentina - Peru 6: 0 (2: 0)

Stadium: Estadio Gigante de Arroyito ( Rosario )

Spectators: 37,315

Referee: Robert Wurtz ( France )

Goals: 1-0 Kempes (21st), 2-0 Tarantini (43rd), 3-0 Kempes (46th), 4-0 Luque (50th), 5-0 Houseman (67th), 6-0 Luque (72nd)

In contrast to the first final round, Peru in Group B was, incomprehensibly, only cannon fodder for many observers. 0: 3 against Brazil, 0: 1 against Poland and even 0: 6 against Argentina was the sobering final for the kicker from the Andes. Poland could not match the performance of four years ago and lost in the decisive games against Argentina (0: 2) and Brazil (1: 3). The two favorites of the group parted goalless and the goal difference had to decide. The Peruvians' weak performance against Argentina really took off and the Brazilians didn't just talk internally about a 'bought' game, as the Seleção's last game was over at the time of the game and Argentina knew what result would be needed. Years later, a Peruvian senator mentioned that they had deliberately lost in the air, but the Brazilian protests did not help them. Argentina were in the final and Brazil had to make do with the game for third place.

final

71,483

El Monumental ( Buenos Aires )

Argentina

Netherlands

Gonella ( Italy )

3: 1 n.V. (1: 1, 1: 0)

1: 0 Kempes (38th) 1: 1 Nanninga (82nd) 2: 1 Kempes (105th) 3: 1 Bertoni (116th)

Of course, the orange fans of the Netherlands were clearly outnumbered by the Argentinians in the final in Buenos Aires. The final kicked off seven minutes late, as Rene van de Kerkhof had to tie the cuff of his broken hand with gauze due to Argentine protests. After an extremely hard initial phase, there was an open exchange of blows, but only a few real scoring chances. The Dutch repeatedly gained advantages through the van de Kerkhoff brothers, Johan Neeskens and Arie Haan in midfield, but Mario Kempes scored the 1-0 for the gauchos when he was able to prevail in the penalty area and shot flat (38.) . Bertoni, who caused the greatest danger on the right, almost scored the 2-0 for Argentina before the break (43rd). According to the course of the game, it would have been fairer if Rep and Rensenbrink had used their chances to equalize on the other side. After the break, the Dutch stormed on, with their coach Ernst Happel setting new accents with the substitution of Nanninga for Rep and Suurbier for Jansen. Nanninga, brought in by Happel because of his strength in the ball, was also able to head the equalizer. Rensenbrink almost made it 2-1 in regular time, but the post saved the South Americans. At the beginning of extra time, the game got harder again and playful accents were neglected. But an individual performance by Valencia striker Mario Kempes, who left Willi van de Kerkhof and scored 2-1 (105th), turned the game in favor of Argentina, who knew how to improve again. Bertonis 3: 1, finished flat over the right, set the end of a tough but exciting game, the final whistle of which was drowned in the indescribable jubilation of the Argentine fans.

World Champion 1978
Argentina first title

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.11freunde.de/artikel/1978-wm-argentinien
2. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2098970/Argentina-cheated-World-Cup-1978-says-Peru-senator.html