Day of the underdogs
Success in not always guaranteed by past performance and pedigree, and this adage has been proved right many a time in the football World Cup, when star-studded teams have been ambushed by the tenacity and collectiveness of less heralded ones. To honour such little twists in the tale, we look back and celebrate the underdogs’ many dates with destiny in the FIFA World Cup. USA 1 England 0; Group 2 league match; Belo Horizonte, Brazil — 1950
The United States of America — basking in the glory as the leader of the new world post World War II — showed its once colonial master England little mercy when it embarked on its first World Cup adventure in 1950. Team USA — with a mailman, a paint-stripper, a dish-washer and a hearse driver in its ranks — shocked England, which had an array of professional stars. Joe Gaetjens — a Haitian dishwasher in New York — scored the only goal of the game.
West Germany 3 Hungary 2: Final; Bern, Switzerland — 1954
It was the ‘Miracle of Bern’, when West
Germany — still recovering from the social and economic implications of Nazi rule and World War II — brought an end to the undefeated run of a Hungarian team that featured star players like Ferenc Puskas and Sandor Kocsis.
After conceding two goals in the first eight minutes of the game, West Germany levelled the score in the next 10 minutes, before Helmut Rahn found the winner in the 84th minute.
German historian Joachim Fest, writing eloquently, described the moment as the founding day of the German Republic: “It was a kind of liberation for the Germans from all the things that weighed down upon them after the Second World War. July 4, 1954 is in certain aspects the founding day of the German Republic.”
North Korea 1 Italy 0: Group 4, final league match, Middlesbrough, England — 1966
The diminutive North Koreans warmed the hearts of their English hosts when a strike — three minutes from half-time — from Army Corporal Park Do-ik handed the Asian nation an unlikely win over pedigreed Italy.
The Chollima (a mythical winged horse that cannot be mounted by a mortal, a symbol of the nation’s revolutionary zeal), in its quarter final against Portugal, raced to a 3-0 lead by the 25th minute, but a magical display from the tournament’s highest scorer, Eusebio, killed its dream.
East Germany 1 West Germany 0: Group Stage; Hamburg, West Germany — 1974
In the midst of the Cold War, symbolised by the divide of barbed wire and concrete wall running through the country’s erstwhile capital, the two Germanys had a “ein kampf zwischen brüdern” — “a struggle between brothers” in a group game of the 1974 edition.
It was a fight between the capitalist West and the communist East and the host, buoyed by wins over Chile and Australia, was confident of putting up a show of mastery in front of 60,000 fans — only 1,500 came from East — at the Volksparkstadion. With both teams already through to the next group phase, it was a game of tame tackles and glaring misses, before a pass
from East German goalkeeper Jurgen Croy sent Erich Hamann on a 30-yard sprint into the opposing half. Hamann made the most of libero Franz Beckenbauer’s indecisiveness to float the ball inside the penalty area.
Jurgen Sparwasser fortuitously controlled the ball with his head, shoulder and chest, before dodging past Berti Vogts and Horst-dieter Hottges to slot the ball home and seal a sensational 1-0 victory for the FIFA World Cup newcomer. It was the first goal West Germany had conceded for 481 minutes and Sparwasser’s only ever goal at a FIFA World Cup final.
Northern Ireland 1 Spain 0: Group 5, final league match; Valencia, Spain — 1982
“At the final whistle, we didn’t initially celebrate. We just looked at each other for about 10 seconds in amazement,” Northern Ireland midfielder Tommy Cassidy recalls.
The country, the smallest to ever qualify for the World Cup, shocked the host at the Mestalla. After a goalless first half, Gerry Armstrong, lurking in the box, made the most of a goalkeeping howler from Luis Arcanda.
Cameroon 1 Argentina 0: Group B, first league match; Milan, Italy — 1990
In the ‘Miracle of Milan’, defending champion Argentina was at the receiving end of a tough-tackling Cameroon side in the first match of the competition. “I got a kick from a guy against Cameroon that nearly took my head off,” Diego Maradona, Argentina’s inspirational captain, said later.
The maestro was marked closely as a 10-man Cameroon fought tenaciously and scored the all-important goal through Francois Omam-biyik in the 67th minute.
Bulgaria 2 Germany 1: Quarterfinals; New Jersey, USA — 1994
Germany — playing as a unified nation
for the first time since World War II — was ambushed by a gritty Bulgaria, which had never won a match in its earlier six World Cup appearances. Midfielder Yordan Letchkov, then plying for Hamburger SV in Germany, scored the winner from an audacious diving header after Hristo Stoichkov had restored parity for Bulgaria in the 75th minute.
Senegal 1 France 0: Group A, first league match; Seoul, South Korea — 2002
Coach Bruno Metsu, enjoying a longstanding association with the French game as a player and manager, played a 4-1-3-2 system, using the pace and physicality of his team to bully the aging France defence, marshalled by Marcel Desailly and Frank Leboeuf. The towering Papa Bouba Diop scored the first goal of the tournament at the half-hour mark, heading home a cross from fellow RC Lens teammate El Hadji Diouf.
Netherlands 5 Spain 1: Group B, first league match; Bahia, Brazil — 2014
Defending European and World champion Spain’s title defence unravelled in its opening game of the 2014 edition.
La Furia Roja suffered a humiliating 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands, then ranked No. 15 in the world. Spain took the lead in the 27th minute, but twin strikes from Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben helped the Dutch to exact revenge on its opponent, which had beaten it in the 2010 final. Spain’s annus horribilis continued as the team lost 2-0 to Chile, bringing a premature end to its campaign.
Russia 5 Spain 4 (1-1 after regulation and extra-time): Round of 16; Moscow, Russia — 2018
Russia — coached by the pragmatic Stanislav Cherchesov — gathered strength from its fans in the capital city and fought a gladiatorial battle to wrest an unbelievable win against one of the tournament favourites, Spain.
Spain’s caretaker manager Fernando Hierro’s decision to add the workmanlike qualities of Koke and Marcos Asensio over the inventive brilliance of Andres Iniesta and Thiago Alcantara in the midfield defied logic, and the team paid a heavy price for it.
Artem Dzyuba restored parity for the host in the 41st minute after an own goal from Sergei Ignashevich gave Spain the early lead.
But, in the end it was a game of Russian Roulette, and the host held its nerves, converting its first four penalties, while goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev emerged as the hero, first diving right to keep Koke’s effort out, before denying Iago Aspas with his feet.