3. FIFA World Cup 1978 – Mario Kempes stars for Argentina amidst controversy
Argentina were in a very, very strange situation in 1976. Just 2 years beforehand, popular president Juan Peron had been ousted via a military coup; over 5,000 people having been abducted by the new regime. However, the logo was designed around a popular salute by the man they had kicked out, and they had to accept his imprint all over the World Cup.
This would extend to the pitch,as several eerie circumstances came to the fore; first, Argentina’s first-round matches had all been scheduled at night (giving them an unfair knowledge of what resulted they would need to progress), and the Argentine manager denied budding 17-year old Diego Maradona his chance to match Pele with a first World Cup at that age.
He was already making waves, but the manager didn’t want his team to be dependent on the young superstar. Anyhow, Leopoldo Luque & Daniel Bertoni made sure the football got off to a good comeback win (2-1) against Hungary, before Michel Platini’s France were dispatched by the same score; Luque struck again. 71,000 fans packed the Estadio Monumental for the final match as Roberto Bettega edged the hosts (1-0).
In the next round, Mario Kempes got his shooting boots, on, silencing Poland with a perfect double in Rosario. Brazil were the next visitors, but they ended the match as equals in an aggressive 0-0 stalemate.
This is where it gets murky – Brazil played Poland in the first fixture, but the Argentinians delayed their final match to know the score of that game. Since the Brazilians defeated the Polish by 3-1, the Argentinians were now aware that they needed a victory by 4 clear goals to progress to the final. Eventually, the decisive fixture got underway, with Kempes and Tarantini scoring in the first-half to give the hosts some hope. However, the second half was suspiciously disastrous – Peru conceded 4 goals to finish as 6-0 losers in a crucial game, sending Argentina through as Luque grabbed a brace and Kempes hit another.
Some cried bribe, some cried threat, some cried political deals and some blamed the brilliant Ramon Quiroga (who was born in Argentina) for being especially poor on the day. With nothing proven, Argentina advanced to the final in the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.
The final itself started on the same note – the Argentinians were once again late onto the pitch, giving the crowd five good minutes to bay for some Dutch blood. When they finally came on, they protested against Dutch winger van de Kerkhof’s wrist cast, which his teammates took exception to and threatened to walk off the pitch. Eventually, the referee advised him to wear a bandage and end the whole debacle.
The 1978 World Cup final could finally get underway. Mario Kempes once again starred, scoring in the 37th minute to get the hosts underway. However, Dick Nanninga equalised with just 8 minutes to go, forcing extra-time in Buenos Aires. The Dutch had lost to the 1974 hosts West Germany, and a second consecutive final heartbreak was not what they wanted. Alas, Mario Kempes was a man inspired, and he struck again one minute before half-time to make it 2-1.
As the Dutch struggled in vain, Daniel Bertoni applied the coup de grace 5 minutes from the end of the game, and Argentina were crowned world champions for the first time ever. Mario Kempes was their top scorer with 6 goals, including the two in the final!
