Two Unreal Matchups in ‘Real World Cup’
Four hours and less than 100 miles apart, two games that would seem more appropriate for the semifinals will be played Sunday in the most intriguing matchups of the World Cup’s eight-game second round.
West Germany, runner-up in the last two World Cups, and 1988 European champion the Netherlands will meet in Milan’s Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, and their contest will be followed by three-time champion Brazil’s game against defending champion Argentina in Turin’s Communale Stadium.
This guarantees that two teams considered title contenders when the most prestigious tournament in sports began 16 days and 36 games ago will be sent home long before the July 8 final in Rome.
After only eight teams were eliminated in the first round, the World Cup becomes serious today with the beginning of the 16-team, single-elimination second round.
No ties are allowed. Teams that are even after 90 minutes of regulation continue with two 15-minute overtime periods. If the game remains tied, it is settled by penalty kicks.
“The real World Cup begins now,” Italian Coach Azeglio Vicini said.
Vicini would have difficulty convincing Italians that the first two weeks were just for practice. Only Italy and Brazil finished the first round with three victories, but neither was above criticism from its demanding fans and media.
Discouraged by Italy’s lack of offense in 1-0 victories over Austria and the United States in the first two games, the newspapers pleaded for Vicini to replace scoreless forwards Gianluca Vialli and Andrea Carnevale with crowd favorites Salvatore Schillaci and Roberto Baggio.
Although it must have pained him to do so in light of his agitation over the highly opinionated Italian press, Vicini also saw the wisdom of the changes. He was rewarded when Schillaci and Baggio scored in a 2-0 victory over Czechoslovakia that allowed Italy to remain in Rome for its second-round game Monday against Uruguay.
Through the first two games, Italy’s supporters seemed resigned to West Germany’s superiority. But the impressive victory over the Czechs combined with the West Germans’ 1-1 tie against Colombia restored the Italians’ confidence.
Still, they no doubt are happy that it is not they but the Dutch who must play the Germans Sunday. Of 82 goals scored in the first round, 10 of them were by West Germany.
Two Germans who play in the Italian League, Lothar Matthaeus of Inter Milan and Rudy Voeller of AC Roma, each have three goals. That is one behind the tournament’s leading scorer, Jose Miguel Gonzalez--better known as Michel--who plays for Spain, which meets Yugoslavia Tuesday in Verona.
The player who was expected to win the Golden Boot as the leading scorer, Holland’s Marco Van Basten, has yet to boot one into the net. Neither has Argentina’s Diego Maradona, who led his team to the championship four years ago in Mexico. Consequently, their teams have struggled.
Considered the early favorite two years ago after winning the European Championship with a victory in the final over the Soviet Union, the Netherlands’ chances have deteriorated because of dissension, injuries and bad luck. With players threatening to revolt, the Dutch fired their coach, Thijs Libregts, three months ago.
Also, their inspirational midfielder, Ruud Gullit, has not fully recovered from a knee injury that prevented him from playing for most of the past year. On one good leg, he started the first-round games, scoring a goal in the third match against Ireland.
They tied all three games to share second place in their group with Ireland. But Ireland advanced as the second-place team in a blind draw Thursday night and will play Monday in Genoa against Romania. The Netherlands was sent as the third-place team to face the Germans. The luck of the Irish.
On the bright side for the Dutch, they at least qualified for the second round. The Soviets did not, after losing two of three games. Almost as disappointing was Sweden, which lost all three games.
Gullit found another reason for optimism. “We can’t play any worse than we have,” he said. “That’s an advantage.”
Looking for a quick fix for his injured players, Holland’s new coach, Leo Beenhakker, has allowed them to import a physiotherapist-psychologist, Ted Troost, whose last name, in Dutch, means “solace.”
Not to be outdone, England’s injured captain, Bryan Robson, summoned a faith healer to assist him in getting ready for Tuesday’s game in Bologna against Belgium, which is known at home as the Red Devils.
Having begun the tournament with the flu and an ingrown toenail, Maradona now has a knee injury that he is attempting to heal by undergoing treatment, listening to lambada dance music and playing with his two daughters.
“Diego recovers his smile when he listens to music and plays with his daughters,” his doctor, Fernando Signorini, said.
Maradona lost the smile when Argentina finished 1-1-1 in the first round to place third in its group, setting up the game against South American rival Brazil.
Brazil remains a favorite, but has its critics. Among the more influential is Pele, who is appalled because Coach Sebastano Lazarono has abandoned the beautiful, free-flowing offensive attack so identified with the Brazilians, in favor of a more conservative approach.
Lazarono is frustrated because he believes Brazilians would rather lose pretty than win ugly.
Unburdened by such high expectations--and just happy to be in the second round--are Cameroon, Colombia and Costa Rica, the high C’s who have threatened to turn this tournament into the Third World Cup.
Whether the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon were brought back to reality by a 4-0 loss to the Soviet Union, after upset victories over Argentina and Romania, will be discovered today when they play Colombia in Naples.
Cameroon could have a problem if it advances to the quarterfinals. Eleven of its 22 players are amateurs. Some are supposed to be back at work in their full-time jobs next week.
No team is more surprised to be in the second round than Costa Rica, which beat Scotland and Sweden and lost by only a 1-0 score to Brazil while playing in its first World Cup. The Costa Ricans will play Czechoslovakia today in Bari.
“A dream has come true,” forward Juan Arnoldo Cayasso said. “But I fear for the people at home. I think a few of them who are very happy could have heart attacks.”
Costa Rica is one of two representatives from the Central and North American and Caribbean region. The other was the United States, which lost all three of its games against European teams.
But at least one American advanced to the second round. Referee Vincent Mauro of Arlington, Mass., was chosen as a linesman for Sunday’s West Germany-Holland game.
