Sunday, March 20, 2022
Gadocha, Ayala and the Apples, Part 2
The first half of the encounter between Poland and Argentina at the 1974 World Cup was, in a word, one-sided. The Poles looked superior in almost every department, but particularly in the physical stakes. A nervous Argentina side, perhaps anxious to make a good impression after the controversies of their 1966 exit, were outmuscled by Kazimierz Gorski's men at every turn. The Polish midfield trio of Kazimierz Deyna, Henryk Kasperczak and Zygmunt Maszczyk dictated the pace of the game almost contemptuously. The first Polish goal came from a trivial goalkeeping error, but the second was a fine team effort, and Argentina never looked like reducing the deficit prior to the half-time whistle. And when it came to Grzegorz Lato's frightening pace, they appeared not to have done their homework.
The second half was a different story. Driven on from the back by the venturesome defender Enrique Wolff, soon to move to Real Madrid, Argentina now showed some of the technical excellence and crisp short passing which had long been their trademark. Ramon Heredia scored a fine goal on the hour, and although Lato restored the two-goal cushion with a smart piece of opportunism almost immediately, another Argentina goal came when Carlos Babington was left strangely alone in the box; poking his first shot against the post, he atoned a few seconds later with a more well-directed strike. 3-2.
And despite intense Argentine pressure, that was the way it stayed, although Poland got very lucky thirteen minutes from the end when Wolff's free kick cannoned off a Polish defender and flew inches wide of goal, with keeper Jan Tomaszewski stranded. It had been an exciting, well-fought match, at least in the second period.
Argentina carried their second-half momentum into their next match, against Italy. The group favourites, who had survived a fright against surprise qualifiers Haiti in their first encounter, were held to a 1-1 draw in which Argentina were probably the better side. Poland, meanwhile, went to town against the hapless Central Americans, their physical power ensuring a 7-0 win, with many of the goals coming from simple set-piece headers. The striker Andrzej Szarmach scored three, and Lato two. And no fewer than four of the assists came from Robert Gadocha - still a World Cup record.
Before the final group match, then, the points table in Group D read: Poland 4, Italy 3, Argentina 1, Haiti 0. To reach the second round, Argentina would need to beat Haiti by a handsome margin, but they would also need Poland to defeat Italy.
A measure of success in the tournament was very important to the Argentinians, for whom the failure to qualify for the previous World Cup still rankled. So an offer was made, quite publicly. If the Poles defeated the 1970 runners-up, they would receive, as a gift of gratitude, $40 a man (in U.S. dollars) and ten boxes of the finest apples. Perhaps the idea was that good fresh produce was hard to come by in Poland.
In any event, the Poles earned their fruit. They dominated the match against Italy from the outset, Deyna again controlling the midfield efficiently, scored twice shortly before half-time, and were content to sit on their lead thereafter. Fabio Capello did pull a goal back five minutes from the close, but the Italians could not summon the energy for a proper fightback as the clock ticked down.
As it transpired, there was much more than just fresh fruit on offer. But the Polish team - with one exception - didn't know that. More in Part 3.
