From total football to popcorn

By Richard Pedler

1970

Approaching the ninth World Cup, Bobby Moore, captain of defending champion England, was arrested in a Bogota hotel and accused, like many celebrities before, of stealing jewelry.

After four days in jail he caught up with his colleagues in Mexico for the best tournament ever staged. No players were sent off, skill dominated, and the Brazilians triumphed over Italy in a compelling finale.

Jairzinho scored in every round, Pele bowed out in triumph, Rivelino's 'banana kick' thrilled the watching world, and Carlos Alberto held aloft the Jules Rimet Trophy for the last time as it returned with the three-time conquerors to Rio. Mario Zagalo became the only man to win the World Cup as both player ('58 & '62) and coach ('70).

Shockingly, during qualification El Salvador and Honduras took the soccer cliche of 'battle' literally and declared a very real "Football War," which raged for three days leaving 10,000 dead.

1974

Money became the talking point in West Germany as the hosts and Holland argued over bonuses before the final. Rain poured down as a computer weather forecaster got it all wrong.

Johann Cruyff turned on the artistry, scoring before any German had touched the ball - total football indeed. But captain and sweeper 'Der Kaiser' Beckenbauer, at his third attempt, inspired his team to European and world domination.

1978

After twelve years of waiting, Argentina finally became hosts in a state of siege, under a military rule that had already killed 5000.

Following the murder of World Cup Organizing Committee president Omar Actis by the left-wing "Mononeros," only their promise not to disrupt "the game of the working classes" saved the tournament.

Chain-smoking coach Menotti called up only one ex-patriot, the brilliant scorer Mario Kempes. Amid the tickertape and electric atmosphere, Rensenbrink, scorer of the 1000th World Cup goal, was a crossbar away from giving the Dutch victory on the stroke of full-time. 1982

Following a chaotic draw in which balls got broken, stuck and re-drawn again and again, Algeria repeated the performance of Tunisia, who had beaten Mexico four years before, and humbled West Germany.

The 'New World' was ready to challenge the traditional powers, but not before the Germans shamed their own supporters into burning their flags by playing out a 0-1 farce with Austria so both would qualify at Algeria's expense. Paulo Rossi, back from his bribery suspension, shone in the Spanish sun as Brazil's defense collapsed in awe.

1986

Another earthquake devastated the hosts, but the stadiums miraculously were untouched. The power of the media, in the shape of "Televisa" president Azcarraga, persuaded the Mexican ruler that the show must go on to help rebuild the shattered country, deep in debt and in economic crisis.

The Hand of God combined with the legs and body of a genius to defeat England. Maradona at his peak was unstoppable (ask the five England defenders he beat). He single-handedly won the World Cup for Argentina, and became the hero of every slum-dwelling youth in the world, where he himself had started out.

1990

Germany reached their third successive final, and finally won a embarrassingly violent and ineptly played tournament. It took 37-year-old Roger Milla coming off the bench at his President's bequest to show the rest of the world how to score and entertain.

Cameroon demonstrated that there really was no gap left to bridge. With a weakened squad, they were ten minutes from the semi-finals before cynicism gifted England two penalties. Hosts Italy had their team picked by the media, Baggio and the men-in- black hit the headlines for contrasting reasons.

Penalty shootouts dominated the later rounds, and the Final disgraced a superbly organized tournament as two players were sent off and the referee, to great relief, gave West Germany a winning penalty and so ended the torture.