Script Fails, Cup Favorites to Meet Early : Soccer: Brazil to play Argentina and West Germany to meet The Netherlands this weekend as best-laid plans go awry.
Tournament organizers tried to keep the favorites apart until the latter stages of the World Cup. Despite their best-laid plans, Brazil will play Argentina and West Germany will meet The Netherlands in the second round this weekend.
If some matchups have the look of a possible championship final, others have the appearance of belated first-round games for fans who might have missed the initial 36 games of the 52-game tournament.
Cameroon plays Colombia, Costa Rica meets Czechoslovakia and Romania faces Ireland in some surprising second-round matchups. (Complete schedule, C8.)
“It is simply another result of the closing of the gap between big teams and the smaller nations,” Colombia Coach Francisco Maturana said.
FIFA, the world soccer federation, went through an intricate procedure to keep the top nations separated as long as possible. But sub-par performances by some highly rated teams upset that scheme.
That’s particularly true with the Germans and Dutch, considered among the four strongest teams in Europe. Some had projected them to meet in the final. Instead, they play Sunday at Milan.
“Brazil and Italy are likely finalists, too,” German midfielder Pierre Littbarski said. “They are the best teams in the championship and we hope to avoid them before the final.”
They have done that, but find The Netherlands, the 1988 European champions, immediately in their path.
The Dutch and West Germans, who are bitter soccer rivals, met in the 1974 World Cup final, with the Germans winning at Munich. The teams played two ties in prequalifying matches. In 1988, The Netherlands beat West Germany in the semifinals of the European championships.
West Germany has played smooth, creative soccer during the World Cup, while the Dutch scraped through the first round mainly on experience.
The rivalry between Argentina and Brazil is as strong as that between West Germany and The Netherlands.
Brazil has won three matches so far, but with cool, calculated play, not flair. Argentina finished only third in its group and Diego Maradona has done little.
