Monday, July 28, 2025
The White One, Part 1
Johan Cruyff's Holland charmed the world at the 1974 World Cup, and very nearly claimed the title. The '74 Oranje have gone down in history as perhaps the greatest side not to win the event, the standard-bearers of the beautiful game during a period of sterility, the long-haired revolutionaries who brought joy, creativity and improvisation back to European football.
This has always been a rather simplistic view of the 1974 Dutch. Rinus Michels' charges relied on speed and strength just as much as skill, and resorted to some very rough play at times (notably in their "semi-final" against an equally over-physical Brazil). But it also tells only part of the story. Qualifying for the tournament in the first place was a messy business for the Dutch, and between the qualification and those memorable few summer weeks in Germany, there were a fair few squabbles - and a fair few changes in personnel.
It is often forgotten now, but Michels, the donnish figure who was hailed as the mastermind behind the Dutch brand of totaalvoetbal, was a very late addition to the piece. The man who steered the Dutch through their qualification group was an unassuming veteran Czech coach by the name of Frantisek Fadrhonc, who had previously managed some minor Dutch clubs with a measure of success. His ousting in favour of Michels was thought by many to be at the behest of Cruyff, who had come to wield enormous influence within the national team setup.
Not that Fadrhonc and the Dutch made easy work of qualifying. Their only real rivals in an otherwise undemanding group were the Belgians, Nations Cup semi-finalists in 1972 and an experienced, tough unit. But given the extraordinary success of Dutch clubs in European competition in recent years, and the emergence of Cruyff as probably the world's best player, the Oranje were firm favourites.
The short version of the story is that both the matches between Holland and Belgium ended 0-0, and since Holland had scored a truckload of goals against the group's two makeweights Norway and Iceland, they advanced to the World Cup on goal difference. The longer, more interesting version of the tale will have to wait until Parts 2 and 3 of this series.
Fadrhonc was not the only man who was present during qualification but absent in Germany. Some of these other changes were, admittedly, enforced. Perhaps the most telling was the absence through injury of the mighty Barrie Hulshoff, a giant at the back for Ajax during their European Cup successes of the early seventies. A defender of great power and endurance and no little skill, and - as we shall see - the scorer of a priceless goal during the qualifying campaign, Hulshoff was sorely missed at the big event.
But club politics played a major role in the choice of players for the final squad as well. Ajax and Feyenoord, Holland's big two from the west of the country, accounted for 13 of the final 22 chosen (14, if you include former Ajax legend Cruyff). Although PSV Eindhoven were rapidly becoming an important third force in the local game, and would win the next two national championships, the only PSV players to make the cut were the beefy van de Kerkhof twins, plus a veteran utility defender. Jan van Beveren, PSV's outstanding keeper, plus the celebrated attacker Willy van der Kuijlen, had both previously clashed with Cruyff. Perhaps inevitably, they stayed behind.
But there was another unexpected absentee, who is the subject of this series of posts. A player whose contribution to Holland's qualification was very significant, and who was also from outside the charmed Ajax-Feyenoord circle. A little further outside it, in fact.
Consult the Dutch scoring charts for the qualification series. At the top of the list, not surprisingly, sits Cruyff, then at the peak of his powers. Just behind him, however, there is a surprise. "5 goals: Willy Brokamp."
Who?!? I hear you cry.
This is the story of one of the great mavericks of the 1970s, a player who many of his contemporaries considered every bit as talented as Cruyff, but who much preferred to have a good time than commit himself seriously to the game. A player whose laddish, Jimmy Greaves-esque antics became legendary in his native Limburg region, and who is still having a good time today.
Welcome to the world of De Witte - "The White One". The irrepressible Willy Brokamp. More in Part 2.
