New Addition: International Season 1980/81, Part One

New section about the International matches in a given season. The idea is to convey the talking points of the International season. It is not a thorough analysis but a general one. The teams in question are European and South American Nations for the most part, since there are more specialized books and data for the teams of those continents than the rest.
For the matches that I had already uploaded the goals/highlights on youtube, I have included the link on the tables.

August

The 1980/81 season started after West Germany had triumphed in the UEFA European Championships held in Italy the previous June.

The focus of the nations now were the World Cup Qualifiers for the World Cup to be held in Spain in less than two years time in 1982.

The matches in August were all Friendlies with USSR mostly impressive with an away win at Hungary and Tele Santana’s Brazil defeating Uruguay at home.

Hungary’s Andras Torocsik was dropped from the Friendly vs. Sweden, because he was overweight.

Stefan Kovacs managed his last match for Romania in the win vs. Yugoslavia.

Date		Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Link
August 3, 1980	Unofficial Friendly	Mendizzoroza	Euskadi XI 1-Hungary 5	Amorrortu  40 pen / Imre Garaba 37, Tibor Nylasi 70, 82, Laszlo Kiss 77, Jozsef Pasztor 68
August 20, 1980	Friendly	Budapest, Nepstadion	Hungary 2-Sweden 0	Own Goal 73, Gyozo Burcsa 80	Hungary 2-Sweden 0
August 20, 1980	Friendly	Montevideo, Estadio Centenario	Uruguay 0-Chile 0
August 20, 1980	Friendly	Auckland, NZ- McKirley	New Zealand 4-Mexico 0	Steve Summer 4pen, Steve Woodin 25, Brian Turner 35, Grant Turner 65
August 21, 1980	Friendly	Oslo- Ullevaal Stadion	Norway 6-Finland 1	Paal Jacobsen 13, 39, 72, 84,  Arne Dokken 49 pen, Einar Jan Aas 60 / Juhani Himanka 43
August 24, 1980	Friendly	Sydney, Cricket Grounds	Australia 2-Mexico 2	Ken Boden 57pen, John Yzendoorn 73 / Ricardo Castro 39, José Luis González II 83
August 26, 1980	Friendly	Sydney, Cricket Grounds	Australia 1-Mexico 1	Gary Cole 58 / Ricardo Castro 67
August 26, 1980	Friendly / Pazo Del Chaco cup	La Paz	Bolivia 1-Paraguay 1	Carlos Aragones /
August 27, 1980	Friendly	Budapest , Nepstadion	Hungary 1-USSR 4	Jozsef Pasztor 3 / Oleg Blokhin 34, Tengiz Sulakvelidze 43, Leonid Burjak 81, Sergei Rodionov 85	Hungary 1-USSR 4
August 27, 1980	Friendly	Lausanne – Stade Olympique de la Pontaise	Switzerland 1-Denmark 1	Hans-Jorg Pfister 58 / Lars Bastrup 26
August 27, 1980	Friendly / Balkanic Cup	Bucuresti -Stadionul 23 August	Romania 4-Yugoslavia 1	Anghel Iordanescu 21, 55 pen, 84 pen, Rodion Camataru 26 / Safet Susic 73pen
August 27, 1980	Friendly	Fortaleza – Estádio Plácido Castelo (Castelão)	Brazil 1-Uruguay 0	Getúlio 75pen
August 28, 1980	Friendly / Pazo Del Chaco cup	Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Estadio Ramón "Tahuichi" Aguilera	Bolivia 1-Paraguay 3	Miguel Aguilar / Florentin, Issasi, Michelagnoli
August 30, 1980	Friendly	Suva, Nacional	Fiji 0-Mexico 2	Cristóbal Ortega 65, José Luis González II 89

September

During this month the serious business of Qualification started with the Europen nations. England started with a solid win at Wembley vs. Norway.

Scotland laid a claim for one of the qualifying spots with a key away win at Stockholm vs. Sweden with Gordon Strachan scoring his first goal for Scotland.

European Champions West Germany continued their winning ways with an away Friendly win at Switzerland with two goals by Hansi Mller.

Republic of Ireland notched a key win vs. Holland in a tough group that included Belgium and France as well.

Italy started the season with a solid win vs. Portugal towards the end of the month. World Cup hosts Spain started their preparations with new Manager Jose Santamaria with a Friendly away at Hungary, where in a rare move,  Juanito was the only Real Madrid player on Spain’s team.

Yugoslavia followed up its easy Qualification win at Luxembourg with a key win vs. Denmark to close up the month. Their first goal was scored from the penalty spot by their goalkeeper Dragan Pantelic.

Poland and Czechoslovakia played in a Friendly that served as Polish Legend Włodzimierz Lubański’s farewell. He scored Poland’s goal from the spot.

New Romania manager Valentin Stanescu was victorious in his first match in charge in an away Friendly vs. Bulgaria.

Date		Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Link
September 2, 1980	Friendly	Papeete, Tahíti	Tahiti 0-Mexico 1	Ricardo Castro 27
September 3, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Tiranë (Tirana)- Stadiumi Kombetar ‘Qemal Stafa’	Albania 2-Finland 0	Sefedin Braho 2, Milan Baci 18
September 3, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Reykjavik -Laugardalsvöllur	Iceland 1-USSR 2	Arni Sveinsson 75 / Yuri Gavrilov 35- Sergei Andreyev 80
September 3, 1980	Unofficial Friendly	Paris- Parc des Princes	France 1-Juventus (Italy) 0	Jacques Zimako 56	France 1-Juventus 0
September 10, 1980	Friendly	Varna, Cerno More	Bulgaria 1-Romania 2	Georgi Slavkov 50 / Aurel Beldeanu 34, Anghel Iordanescu 70
September 10, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	London - The Empire Stadium Wembley	England 4-Norway 0	Terry McDermott 37, 78pen, Tony Woodcock 69, Paul Mariner 85	England 4-Norway 0
September 10, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Stockholm - Råsunda -Solna Stadion	Sweden 0-Scotland 1	Gordon Strachan 72	Sweden 0-Scotland 1
September 10, 1980	Friendly	Basel -Saint Jakob Park	Switzerland 2-West Germany 3	Hans-Jorg Pfister 84- René Botteron 88pen / Hansi Müller 18, 69, Felix Magath 66	Switzerland 2-West Germany 3
September 10, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Luxembourg -Stade Municipal de Luxembourg	Luxembourg 0-Yugoslavia 5	Safet Susic 50, Zlatko Vujovic 64, 81, Vladimir Petrovic 70, Ivan Buljan 90
September 10, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Dublin - Lansdowne Road	Republic of Ireland 2-Holland 1	Gery Daly 78, Mark Lawrenson 85 / Simon Tahamata 57	Ireland 2-Holland 1
September 18, 1980	Friendly	Mendoza-Malvinas Argentinas (Mendoza)	Argentina 2-Chile 2	José Daniel Valencia 20-, Ramon Diaz 41 / Osvaldo Vargas 44, Sandrino Castec 63	Argentina 2-Chile 2
September 18, 1980	Friendly / Pazo Del Chaco cup	Asuncion –Estadio De los Defensores del Chaco	Paraguay 2-Bolivia 1	Mino, Lopez / Miguel Aguilar
September 24, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Dublin - Lansdowne Road	Finland 0-Austria 2	Kurt Jara 13, Kurt Welzl 77
September 24, 1980	Friendly	Deveti septemvri  Burgas	Bulgaria 2-Sweden 3	Chavdar Tzvetkov 32, Spas Djevizov 49 / Sten-Ove Ramberg 72, Billy Ohlsson 74, Tord Holmgren 85
September 24, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	İzmır -Kemal Atatürk Stadyumu	Turkey 1-Iceland 3	Fatih Terim 72pen / Janus Gudlaugsson 12, Albert Gudmundsson 60, Teitur Thórdarson 81
September 24, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Oslo- Ullevaal Stadion	Norway 1-Romania 1	Aage Hareide 22 / Anghel Iordanescu 10
September 24, 1980	Friendly	Genova -Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Marassi	Italy 3-Portugal 1	Alessandro Altobelli 63, 80, Francesco Graziani 88 / Rui Jordao 64	Italy 3-Portugal 1
September 24, 1980	Friendly	Chorzów- Stadion Śląski (Silesian Stadium)	Poland 1-Czechoslovakia 1	Włodzimierz Lubański 40 pen / Zdenek Nehoda 31
September 24, 1980	Friendly	Budapest -Nepstadion	Hungary 2-Spain 2	Laszlo Kiss10, Bela Bodonyi 47 / Juan ‘Juanito‘Gomez 3, Jesus Satrustegui 65	Hungary 2-Spain 2
September 25, 1980	Friendly	Asuncion –Estadio De los Defensores del Chaco	Paraguay 1-Brazil 2	Adolfo Gustavo 'Gustavo' Benitez 7 / Zé Sérgio 34, Reinaldo 85
September 27, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Ljubljana, Bezigrad Stadion	Yugoslavia 2-Denmark 1	Dragan Pantelic 18 pen,  Zoran Vujovic 37 / Frank Arnesen 6pen	Yugoslavia 2-Denmark 1

Photo From : Mondial, New series, issue 7, October 1980

(September 3, 1980, France 1-Juventus 0)

Photo From : Fussball Magazin, March april 1982

(Horst Hrubesch, September 10, 1980, Switzerland 2-West Germany 3)

Photo From : World Soccer , November 1980

(Tony Woodcock and Tom Jacobsen, September 10, 1980, World Cup Qualifier, England 4-Norway 0)

Photo From : Onze, Issue 69, September 1981

(Frank Stapelton, September 10, 1980, World Cup Qualifier, Republic of Ireland 2-Holland 1)

Photo From : El Grafico, Issue 3181, 1980

(September 18, 1980, Argentina 2-Chile 2)

Photo From : Bialo Czerwoni 1921-2001, Author Andrzej Gowarzewski

(Włodzimierz Lubański before his farewell match with Czechoslovakia captain Zdenek Nehoda, September 24, 1980, Poland 1-Czechoslovakia 1)

October

During this month USA made a rare tour of Europe by playing Friendlies vs. Luxembourg and Portugal.

Defending World Cup champions Argentina defeated Eastern European opponents Bulgaria, Poland and Czechoslovakia in Friendlies days apart at home.

France started out with a heavy away win at Cyprus,  which turned out to be Henri Michel’s last ever match for France.

France’s Group rivals Republic of Ireland and Belgium matchup ended as a one-one tie at Dublin, with advantage to Belgium in earning an away point.

The France and Republic of Ireland matchup at the end of the month provided many talking points.

The Irish Federation were forced to intervene through FIFA to obtain the release of their Internationals with English clubs, who had been reluctant to release them as they had English League Cup matches scheduled that day.

In addition there were questions about the eligibilty of Brighton’s Michael Robinson, whose Grandmother was from Ireland. Robinson’s mother had to obtain an Irish passport to make Robinson eligible.

During the match itself, Robinson scored a goal that was controversially called off by the referee.

Italy still without the suspended Paolo Rossi (until May 1982), started its campaign with an away win at Luxembourg. In an ill-tempred match Franco Causio and Luxembourg’s Schreiner were sent off for fighting. Later in the match, Italy’s Giancarlo Antognoni was sent off for retaliation. He claimed he was on edge due to missing a penalty.

The press described the match as one of Italy’s worst displays ever and Bearzot was heavily criticized for his use of Alessandro Altobelli as a lone striker against such a weak opposition.

Denmark lost ground by losing at home to Greece.

Wales started its campaign with at home win vs. Turkey.  They were in contention in their group with USSR and Czechsolovakia.

USSR just like the previous month defeated Iceland to already lay claim on its group.

Scotland stuttered at home by settling for a scoreless draw vs. Portugal.

Fellow Home Nation and Group rival Northern ireland scored an important 3-0 win vs. Sweden.

Romania defeated England at Bucharest to start their opponents Qualification worries from early on. England would endure a difficult campaign against group rivals Hungary, Romania, Switzerland and Norway.

Rivals Holland and West Germany played a Friendly at Eindhoven that ended as a tie. Eike Immel became at 19, the youngest ever goalkeeper selected by West Germany after replacing Harald Schuamcher in the second half.

Brazil ended the month with another brilliant dispaly in dismantling Paraguay (6-0) at home in a Friendly.

Date		Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Link
October 1, 1980	Friendly	İzmır -Kemal Atatürk Stadyumu	Turkey 1-Libya 2	Muharrem Gürbüz 24 / Abdülnaser 36, Laukha 45pen
October 3, 1980	Friendly	İzmır -Kemal Atatürk Stadyumu	Turkey 3-Saudi Arabia 0	Tuncay Mesçi 2,  Salih (own goal) 38 , Zafer Bilgitay 80
October 4, 1980	Friendly	Luxembourg -Stade Municipal de Luxembourg	Luxembourg 0-USA 2	Larry Hulcer 25, Rick Davis’82pen
October 5, 1980	Friendly	İzmır -Kemal Atatürk Stadyumu	Turkey 3-Malaysia 0	Metin Yıldız 35, Tuncay Mesçi 68, 85
October 7, 1980	Friendly	Lisbon-Estadio do Rostelo (Belenenses)	Portugal 1-USA 1	Carlos Manuel 65 / Rick Davis 67
October 8, 1980	Friendly	Lisbon-Estadio do Rostelo (Belenenses)	Austria 3-Hungary 1	Kurt Welzl 20, Christian Keglevits 30, 85 / Bela Bodonyi 80	Austria 3-Hungary 1
October 8, 1980	Friendly	Prague, Stadion Evžena Rošického (Strahov)(Slavia Praha)	Czechoslovakia 0-East Germany 1	Joachim Streich 17
October 9, 1980	Friendly	Buenos Aires -Antonio Vespuci Alberti (El Monumental) (River Plate)	Argentina 2-Bulgaria 0	Santiago Santamaria 32, Ramon Diaz 80
October 11, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Lemesós (Limassol)-Tsíreio Stádio (Tsirion Stadium)	Cyprus 0-France 7	Bernard Lacombe 4, Michel Platini 14, 23, Jean-Francois Larios 40pen, 76pen, Didier Six 82, Jacques Zimako 87	Cyprus 0-France 7
October 11, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Luxembourg -Stade Municipal de Luxembourg	Luxembourg 0-Italy 2	Fulvio Collovati 33, Roberto Bettega 71	Luxembourg 0-Italy 2
October 11, 1980	Friendly	Eindhoven- Philips Stadion	Holland 1-West Germany 1	Ernie Brandts 40 / Horst Hrubesch 35	Holland 1-West Germany 1
October 12, 1980	Friendly	Buenos Aires -Antonio Vespuci Alberti (El Monumental) (River Plate)	Argentina 2-Poland 1	Daniel Passarella15pen, Diego Maradona 59 / Włodzimierz Ciołek 51 pen	Argentina 2-Poland 1
October 14, 1980	Unofficial Friendly	Manchester, Old Trafford	England 'B' 1-USA 0	Derek Statham 53
October 15, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Cardiff, Ninian Park	Wales 4-Turkey 0	Brian Flynn 18, Leighton James 38 pen, 85’, Ian Walsh 78
October 15, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Glasgow- Hampden Park	Scotland 0-Portugal 0
October 15, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Bucuresti -Stadionul 23 August	Romania 2-England 1	Marcel Raducanu 35, Anghel Iordanescu 75pen / Tony Woodcock 64	Romania 2-England 1
October 15, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Moskva (Moscow)-Tsentral'nyj Stadion imeni Vladimira Il'yicha Lenina (The Central V.I.Lenin's Stadium)	USSR 5-Iceland 0	Sergei Andreyev 9, 78, Khoren Oganessian 39, 58, Vladimir Bessonov 84
October 15, 1980	Friendly	Buenos Aires -Antonio Vespuci Alberti (El Monumental) (River Plate)	Argentina 1-Czechoslovakia 0	Ramon Diaz 17
October 15, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Dublin Lansdowne Road	Republic of Ireland 1-Belgium 1	Anthony Grealish 42 / Albert Cluytens 13
October 15, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Copenhagen -Idrætsparken	Denmark 0-Greece 1	Constantinos Kouis 50	Denmark 0-Greece 1
October 15, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Belfast- Windsor Park	Northern Ireland 3-Sweden 0	Noel Brotherston 24, Sammy McIlroy 28, James Nicholl 37	Northern Ireland 3-Sweden 0
October 15, 1980	Friendly	Leipzig, Zentralstadion	East Germany 0-Spain 0
October 18, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Toronto, Exhibition	Canada 1-Mexico 1	Stojanovic 44 / Juan Antonio Luna 89	Canada 1-Mexico 1
October 19, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Sofia- Vassil Levski Stadion	Bulgaria 2-Albania 1	Andrei Jeliazkov 14, Georgi Slavkov 51 / Ilir Pernaska 69
October 25, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Fort Lauderdale,Florida- Lockhart Stadium	USA 0-Canada 0
October 28, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Paris- Parc des Princes	France 2-Republic of Ireland 0	Michel Platini 11, Jacques Zimako 77	France 2-Ireland 0
October 29, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Berne- Wankdorf Stadion	Switzerland 1-Norway 2	Umberto Barberis 49 / Aage Hareide 5, Svein Mathisen 79
October 30, 1980	Friendly	Goiânia - Estádio Serra Dourada	Brazil 6-Paraguay 0	Zé Sérgio 32, Tita 38, Zico 60,86, Sócrates 66, Luizinho 74	Brazil 6-Paraguay 0

Photo From: El Grafico, Issue 3184, 1980

(October 9, 1980, Argentina 2-Bulgaria 0)

Photo From: Onze, Issue 59, November 1980

(Jean Tigana, with Michel Platini in the background, October 11, 1980, World Cup Qualifier, Cyprus 0-France 7)

Photo From : Onze, Issue 59, November 1980

(October 11, 1980, Holland 1-West Germany 1)

Photo From: El Grafico, Issue 3184, 1980

(Wladyslaw Zmuda, Jose Daniel Valencia, Marek Dziuba and Diego Maradona, October 12, 1980, Argentina 2-Poland 1)

Photo From: El Grafico, Issue 3185, 1980

(Americo Gallego and Marian Masny, October 15, 1980, Argentina 1-Czechoslovakia 0)

Photo From: Onze, Issue 59, November 1980

(Chris Hughton, Albert Cluytens and Gerry Peyton, October 15, 1980, World Cup Qualifier, Republic of Ireland 1-Belgium 1)

Photo From: Mondial, new series, issue 24, March 1982

(Tony Woodcock, October 15, 1980, World Cup Qualifier, Romania 2-England 1)

Photo From: Onze, Issue 59, November 1980

(Jacques Zimako scoring France’s second goal, October 28, 1980, World Cup Qualifier, France 2-Republic of Ireland 0)

November

Italy scored an important win vs. Denmark at home with two goals by Graziani.

The win was achieved despite the absences of Causio and Antognoni (through suspension) and Gabriel Oriali (though injury).They scored yet another (2-0) win two weeks after that vs. Yugoslavia.

England won at Wembley vs. Switzerland.

Portugal defeated Northern Ireland at home to dash some of their momentum from the previous month’s important win vs. Sweden.

Sweden itself lost further ground after a scoreless tie vs. Israel.

Austria defeated Albania to lay claim as one of the qualifiers, with group rivals West Germany seemingly certain to qualify, though still not in action.

Wales defeated Czechoslovakia to still maintain hopes of qualifying.

Jeremey Charles made his debut for national team in that match. He was son of Mel and nephew of John Charles.

Belgium defeated its neighbors Holland at home with an Erwin vandenbergh penalty to increase pressure on the Finalists of the previous two World Cups.

Group rivals Republic of Ireland easily defeated Cyprus (6-0). This was their highest scoring margin in their history up to that point.

Spain continued its preparations by losing at home to Poland.

The highly anticipated Friendly between West Germany and France ended with the Germans as clear winners (4-1). France Captain Michel Platini came under heavy criticism with West German manager Jupp Derwall comparing him to a General who is surveying the action on a battlefield with a pair of binoculars.

Date		Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Link
November 1, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Vancouver, Empire Stadium	Canada 2-USA 1	Iarusci 21, Segota 42 pen / Greg Villa 90
November 1, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Roma- Lo Stadio Olimpico	Italy 2-Denmark 0	Francesco Graziani 7, 51	Italy 2-Denmark 0
November 9, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Ciudad de México (Mexico City) –Estadio Azteca	Mexico 5-USA 1	Hugo Sánchez 24, Adrián Camacho 31, 55, Mendizábal 37, José Luis González 40 / Rick Davis 76 pen	Mexico 5-USA 1
November 9, 1980	Friendly	Cochachamba, Felix capriles	Bolivia 1-Uruguay 3	Carlos Aragones / Eduardo De la Peña, Julio César Morales, Waldemar Victorino
November 11, 1980	Friendly	Athens- Leoforos Alexandras	Greece 3-Australia 3	Yannis Damanakis 25, Dimitris Domazos 67, Yorgos Delikaris 89pen / Gary Cole 24, Murray Barnes 84, Theo Selemidis 88	Greece 3-Australia 3
November 12, 1980	Friendly	Barcelona, Estadio Sarriá (Espanol)	Spain 1-Poland 2	‘Dani Ruiz’ 88pen / Andrzej Iwan 1, 89
November 12, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Tel Aviv- Ramat Gan, Natopnal Stadium	Israel 0-Sweden 0
November 12, 1980	Friendly		Uruguay 1-Peru 1	Ariel Krasouski /
November 15, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Turin (Torino) –Stadio Comunale	Italy 2-Yugoslavia 0	Antonio Cabrini 40pen, Bruno Conti 75	Italy 2-Yugoslavia 0
November 15, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Vienna-Praterstadion	Austria 5-Albania 0	Bruno Pezzey 19, Walter Schachner 26, 35, Kurt Welzl 58, Hans Krankl 86
November 16, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Ciudad de México (Mexico City) –Estadio Azteca	Mexico 1-Canada 1	Hugo Sánchez 74pen / Gray 87
November 17, 1980	Unofficial Friendly	Birmingham, St Andrew's Stadium	England 'B' 1-Australia 0	Alan Sunderland 51
November 19, 1980	Friendly	Halle, Kurt-Wabbel-Stadion	East Germany 2-Hungary 0	Martin Trocha 28, Joachim Streich 32
November 19, 1980	Friendly	Kraków, Stadion Suche Stawy (Hutnik Kraków)	Poland 5-Algeria 1	Janusz Kupcewicz 9 , Włodzimierz Ciołek 15, Andrzej Iwan 38, 73,  Marek Dziuba 69 / Ghrib 85
November 19, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	London - The Empire Stadium Wembley	England 2-Switzerland 1	Markus Tanner (own goal) 23, Paul Mariner 32 / Hans-Jorg Pfister 76	England 2-Switzerland 1
November 19, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Lisbon- Estadio da Luz (Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica)	Portugal 1-Northern Ireland 0	Rui Jordao 60
November 19, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Cardiff, Ninian Park	Wales 1-Czechoslovakia 0	David Charles Giles 9	Wales 1-Czechoslovakia 0
November 19, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Bruxelles-Stade du Heysel  (Brussels- Heizelstadion)	Belgium 1-Holland 0	Erwin Vandenbergh  48pen	Belgium 1-Holland 0
November 19, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Copenhagen -Idrætsparken	Denmark 4-Luxembourg 0	Frank Arnesen 13, 41 pen, Preben Elkjaer 57, Allan Simonsen 65
November 19, 1980	Friendly	Hanover- Niedersachsenstadion	West Germany 4-France 1	Manfred Kaltz 6pen, Hans-Peter Briegel 37, Horst Hrubesch 62, Klaus Allofs 89 / Jean-Francois Larios 39pen	West Germany 4-France 1
November 19, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Dublin -Lansdowne Road	Republic of Ireland 6-Cyprus 0	Gerry Daly 10 pen 23, Anthony Grealish 24, Michael Robinson 28, Frank Stapleton 46, Chris Hughton 65
November 19, 1980	Unofficial Friendly	Florence (Firenze)-Stadio Comunale	Fiorentina (Italy) 2-Australia 0	Giancarlo Antognoni 10, Orlandini 46
November 23, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Fort Lauderdale,Florida- Lockhart Stadium	USA 2-Mexico 1	Steve Moyers 31, 65 / Hugo Sánchez 40
November 24, 1980	Unofficial Friendly	Leicester,  Filbert Street	Leicester City (England) 1-Australia 2	Smith 73pen / Ken Boden 12, 38
November 27, 1980	Unofficial Friendly	Zagreb	Dinamo Zagreb (Yugoslavia) 4-Australia 0	Kovacevic 8, Cerin 25, Munjakovic 37, Bogdan 73
November 30, 1980	Friendly	La Paz	Bolivia 3-Finland 0	Miguel Aguilar 14, Paniagua 19, Windsor Del Llano 62

Photo From : Onze, Issue 60, December 1980

(Per Røntved and Francesco Graziani, November 1, 1980, World Cup Qualifier, Italy 2-Denmark 0)

Photo From : Mondial, New series, issue 10, January 1981

(November 12 1980, World Cup Qualifier, Israel 0-Sweden 0)

Photo From: Azzurri, Storia della Nazionale di calcio tre volte campioni del Mondo, 1910-1983

(Roberto Bettega, November 15, 1980, World Cup Qualifier, Italy 2-Yugoslavia 0)

Photo From: L'Equie de Suisse, Authors Guy Balibouse, Roger Felix, Pierre Tripod, 1993

(November 19 1980, World Cup Qualifier, England 2-Switzerland 1)

Photo From: Rode Duivels & Oranje Leeuwen., 100 jaar Derby der Lage Landen, Authors Ralf Willems, Matty Verkamman

(November 19, 1980, World Cup Qualifier , Belgium 1-Holland 0)

Photo From : Onze, Issue 61, January 1981

(November 16, 1980, World Cup Qualifier , Mexico 1-Canada 1)

Photo From : Onze, Issue 60, December 1980

(Bernd Schuster and Michel Platini, November 19, 1980, West Germany 4-France 1)

December

The European Champions West Germany made their debut in the qualifiers by convincingly defeating Bulgaria at Sofia.

Bernd Schuster pulled out from the squad claiming Gastric Flu. However, it was later discovered that he trained with his club Barcelona.

Italy scored won its fourth successive (2-0) win by defeating Greece away, with a rare goal from Gaetano Scirea.

The Malta-Poland qualifier was interrupted after 77 minutes amid many on and off the field incidents. (Note: This incident has been mentioned in this blog before, Poland suspended Mlynarczyk, Zmuda and Boniek for the remainder of the season and Polish Manager Ryszard Kulesza was dismissed).

For more details read:

http://soccernostalgia.blogspot.com/2011/12/trivia-and-facts-part-10.html

South Americans Brazil,  Argentina and Uruguay played Friendlies in preparation for the Mundialito in Uruguay in late December and early January.

Switzerland toured South America and played against all these three nations. After the tour Swiss manager Léo Walker was replaced.

The Mundialito was to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Uruguay’s 1930 World Cup victory. All previous World Cup winners were invited. England refused to participate, therefore Holland (as WC Finalists) took their place.

The month and the year ended with hosts Uruguay defeating Holland to start the Mundialito.

Date		Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Link
December 2, 1980	Friendly	Beer Sheva, Municipal Stadium	Israel 0-Australia 1	Gary Cole 28pen
December 3, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Sofia- Vassil Levski Stadion	Bulgaria 1-West Germany 3	Tzvetan Yonchev 66 /  Manfred Kaltz 14, 36 pen, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge 54	Bulgaria 1-West Germany 3
December 3, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Prague, Stadion Evžena Rošického (Strahov)(Slavia Praha)	Czechoslovakia 2-Turkey 0	Zdenek Nehoda 13, 15
December 4, 1980	Friendly	Santa Cruz de la Sierra	Bolivia 2-Finland 2	Paniagua 11pen, Miguel Aguilar 88 / Pasi Jaakonsaari - Ari Valvee
December 4, 1980	Friendly	Mar Del Plata-Estadio José María Minella	Argentina 1-USSR 1	Diego Maradona 19 / Khoren Oganesian 21
December 5, 1980	Unofficial Friendly	Hong Kong	Hong Kong XI 1-Australia 0	Lau Wing Yip 85
December 6, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Athens- Apostolos Nikolaidis (Leoforos Alexandras) (Panathinaikos)	Greece 0-Italy 2	Giancarlo Antognoni 10, Gaetano Scirea 81	Greece 0-Italy 2
December 6, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Tiranë (Tirana)- Stadiumi Kombetar ‘Qemal Stafa’	Albania 0-Austria 1	Kurt Welzl 38
December 7, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Gzira, Empire Stadium	Malta 0-Poland 2  (match interrupted after 77 mins, result affirmed)	Włodzimierz Smolarek 57, Leszek Lipka 77
December 7, 1980	Friendly	Jakarta, Senayan Stadium	Indonesia 1-Australia 1	Effendi 5 / Tony Henderson 13
December 8, 1980	Friendly	Montevideo- Estadio Centenario	Uruguay 6-Finland 0	Ariel José Krasouski 33, Julio César Morales 59, 60, Ernesto Vargas 76, Jorge Luis Siviero 80, Miguel Falero 86
December 11, 1980	Friendly	Maldonado, Campo Municipal	Uruguay 5-Bolivia 0	Julio César Morales (2), Waldemar Victorino, Ruben Paz, Venancio Ramos
December 16, 1980	Friendly	Cordoba-Olímpico de Córdoba (Chateau Carreras)	Argentina 5-Switzerland 0	Ramon Diaz 5, Leopoldo Luque 9, Jose Daniel Valencia 43, Diego Maradona 45, Daniel Passarella 67pen	Argentina 5-Switzerland 0
December 17, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Lisbon, Estadio da Luz (Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica)	Portugal 3-Israel 0	Humberto Coelho 33, 58, Rui Jordao 35
December 18, 1980	Friendly	Montevideo- Estadio Centenario	Uruguay 4-Switzerland 0	Walter Daniel Olivera 21, Ruben Walter Paz 66, 83, 89
December 20, 1980	Friendly	Cuiabá - Estádio Governador José Fragelli (Verdão)	Brazil 2-Switzerland 0	Sócrates10pen, Zé Sérgio 69
December 21, 1980	World Cup Qualifier	Levkosia (Nicosia)-Makarion Athlítiko Kentro (Bishop Makarios Stadium)	Cyprus 0-Belgium 2	Erwin Vandenbergh 30, Jan Ceulemans 68
December 30, 1980	Mundialito-Group A	Montevideo- Estadio Centenario	Uruguay 2-Holland 0	Venancio Ramos 31, Waldemar Victorino 45	Uruguay 2-Holland 0

Photo From: Chronik des deutschen fussballs, 2005

(Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, December 3 1980, World Cup Qualifier, Bulgaria 1-West Germany 3)

Photo From: El Grafico, Issue 3192, 1980

(December 4, 1980, Argentina 1-USSR 1)

Photo From : Mondial, new series, issue 25, April 1982

 (Włodzimierz Smolarek, December 7 1980, World Cup Qualifier, Malta 0-Poland 2)

Photo From: El Grafico, Issue 3194, 1980

(Daniel Passarella, December 16, 1980, Argentina 5-Switzerland 0)

Photo from: de Internationals, de Historie van Oranje, Authors Matty Verkamman, Henri van der Steen, John Volkers

(Hugo Hovenhkamp, , December 30, 1980, Mundialito, Uruguay 2-Holland 0)

January

The new year started with the continuation of the Mundialito. West Germany suffered its first defeat in 23 matches under Jupp Derwall. The first since the 1978 World Cup, by losing to Argentina and six days later to Brazil.

The (1-4) loss vs. Brazil was West Germany’s worst defeat since (3-6 loss) to France in the 1958 World Cup.

Brazil having tied Argentina, qualified for the Final with a better goal

difference.

Uruguay defeated an experimental Italy and qualifed for its Final.  Italy’s Marco Tardelli was sent off in that match.

Italy had opted to try out new players. Captain Dino Zoff was not selected for the Tournamant. Players such as Carlo Ancelotti, Salvatore Bagni, Roberto Pruzzo and Pietro Vierchowod were tried out.

Holland Manager Jan Zwartkruis resigned after the tournament.

Uruguay won the Mundialito by defeating Brazil that many parralled with the 1950 World Cup Final.

Date		Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Link
January 1, 1981	Mundialito-Group B	Montevideo- Estadio Centenario, Uruguay	Argentina 2-West Germany 1	Manfred Kaltz (own goal) 84, Ramon Díaz 88 / Horst Hrubesch 41	Argentina 2-West Germany 1
January 3, 1981	Mundialito-Group A	Montevideo- Estadio Centenario	Uruguay 2-Italy 0	Julio César Morales 67pen, Waldemar Victorino 81	Uruguay 2-Italy 0
January 4, 1981	Mundialito-Group B	Montevideo- Estadio Centenario, Uruguay	Brazil 1-Argentina 1	Edevaldo 47 / Diego Maradona 30	Brazil 1-Argentina 1
January 6, 1981	Mundialito-Group A	Montevideo- Estadio Centenario, Uruguay	Italy 1-Holland 1	Carlo Ancelotti 7 / Jan Peters 15	Italy 1-Holland 1
January 7, 1981	Mundialito-Group B	Montevideo- Estadio Centenario, Uruguay	Brazil 4-West Germany 1	Júnior 56, Toninho Cerezo 61, Serginho 76, Zé Sérgio 82 / Klaus Allofs 54	Brazil 4-West Germnay 1
January 10, 1981	Mundialito-Final	Montevideo- Estadio Centenario	Uruguay 2-Brazil 1	Jorge Barrios 50, Waldemar Victorino 80 / Sócrates 62pen	Uruguay 2-Brazil 1
January 14, 1981	Friendly		Venezuela 1-Dutch West Indies 0	Hernandez
January 20, 1981	Friendly	Ciudad de México (Mexico City) –Estadio Azteca	Mexico 1-Bulgaria 1	Hugo Sanchez 75 / Kostadin Kostadinov or Chavdar Tzvetkov 88pen
January 25, 1981	Friendly	Tokyo, National Stadium	Japan 0-Poland 2	Kazimierz Buda 9, Jarosław Nowicki 29	Japan 0-Poland 2
January 25, 1981	Friendly	La paz	Bolivia 2-Czechoslovakia 1	Carlos Aragones 7-Erwin Romero or Gaston Taborga 19 / Petr Janecka 39
January 27, 1981	Friendly	Tokushima, city stadium	Japan 2-Poland 4	Hasegawa 14, Kashiraya 35 / Krzysztof Kajrys 17, Henryk Janikowski 32, 81, Krzysztof Baran 87
January 27 or 28, 1981	Friendly	Quito -Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa	Ecuador 1-Bulgaria 3	Ernesto Mesias 34 / Georgi Slavkov Slavkov 30, 32, Kostadin Kostadinov 78 Note: Bulgaria's second goal may have been scored by Chavdar Tsvetkov
January 28, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Thessaloniki-Charilaou (Aris)	Greece 2-Luxembourg 0	Constantinos Kouis 8, Georgios Kostikos 38	Greece 2-Luxembourg 0
January 29, 1981	Friendly	Santa Cruz de la Sierra	Bolivia 2-Czechoslovakia 5	Carlos Aragones15, Silvio Rojas 57 / Danek 7, Petr Janecka 57, Ladislav Jurkemik 59, Ladislav Vizek 77pen, Zdenek Nehoda 88
January 30, 1981	Friendly	Nagoya, Mizuho Stadium	Japan 1-Poland 4	Maeda 11pen / Adam Walczak 3, Kazimierz Buda 5, Krzysztof Baran 44, Piotr Rzepka 68
January 31, 1981	Unofficial Friendly	Canberra	Australia 3-Dinamo Zagreb (Yugoslavia) 3	Alan Davidson 6, Peter Sharne 29, John Spanos 75 / Bracun 51, 64, Bosnjak 57

Photo From : Mondial, new series, Issue 18, September 1981

(Diego Maradona and Hans-Peter Briegel, January 1, 1981, Mundialito, Argentina 2-West Germany 1)

Photo From : Mondial, New series, issue 11, February 1981

(Claudio Gentile and Waldemar Victorino, January 3, 1981, Mundialito, Uruguay 2-Italy 0)

Photo From: Onze, Issue 67, July 1981

(Oscar and Osvaldo Ardiles, January 4, 1981, Mundialito, Brazil 1-Argentina 1)

Photo From:  Onze, Issue 75, March 1982

(Ernie Brandts and Roberto Pruzzo, January 6, 1981, Mundialito, Italy 1-Holland1)

Photo From: Onze, Issue 65, May 1981

(Junior, January 7, 1981, Mundialito, Brazil 4-West Germany 1)

Photo From: Onze, Issue 62, February 1981

(Victorino’s winner, January 10, 1981, Mundialito, Uruguay 2-Brazil 1)

February

Brazil started its World Cup Qualification campaign by playing and winning its away matches vs. Venezuela and Bolivia.

Spain defeated France in a high profile Friendly with a penalty by Juanito.

Belgium and Holland (with Rob Baan in temporary charge) both defeated Cyprus in World Cup Qualifiers.

Scotland won an away World Cup qualifier at Israel with a goal by Dalglish.

The talking point of Republic of Ireland’s Friendly vs. Wales was the fact that Ireland fielded two players who may have been ineligible.

Eammon O’Keefe had represented England at semi-professional non-league level. He was banned from earning further caps.

While, The goalkeeper James McDonagh had once played as a substitute on an England youth team.

The month ended with Italy losing heavily a Friendly for victims of Irpinia earthquake against a European Selection.

Date		Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Link
February 1, 1981	Friendly	Tokyo, National Stadium	Japan 0-Poland 3	Mirosław Pękała 39, Sugamato (own goal) 83, Mirosław Okoński 88
February 1, 1981	Friendly	Bogotá, Estadio Nemesio Camacho 'El Campín'	Colombia 1-Brazil 1	Eduardo Emilio Vilarete 69 / Serginho 65
February 1, 1981	Friendly	La Paz- Municipal	Bolivia 1-Bulgaria 3	Carlos Aragones 8 / Georgi Slavkov 2, Kostadin Kostadinov 30,  Chavdar Tsvetkov 76
February 4, 1981	Unofficial Friendly	Lima	Peru 1-Czechoslovakia 3	Ladislav Vizek 21, 62, Frantisek Jakubec 49
February 4, 1981	Unofficial Friendly	Tel Aviv	Israel 1-Austria 0	Nissim Cohen 86
February 8, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Caracas -Estadio Olímpico de la Universidad Central de Venezuela	Venezuela 0-Brazil 1	Zico 82pen	Venezuela 0-Brazil 1
February 10, 1981	Friendly	Ciudad de México (Mexico City) –Estadio Azteca	Mexico 4-South Korea 0	Concepción Rodríguez 14, Ricardo Castro 23, Sergio Lira 80, Sergio Orduña 88
February 12, 1981	Friendly	Lima	Peru 1-Bulgaria 2	Correa / Petar Zehtinski 40, Chavdar Tsvetkov 83
February 13, 1981	Friendly	Lathi (Indoors), Finland	Sweden 4-Norway 2	Torbjörn Nilsson 35, Mikael Rönnberg 64, Lennart Larsson 71, Thomas Nilsson 79 / Aage Hareide 10, Vidar Davidsen 32
February 14, 1981	Friendly	Quito -Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa	Ecuador 0-Brazil 6	Reinaldo I 24, 35, Sócrates 28, 81, John Landeta (own goal 48), Zico 65
February 15, 1981	Friendly	Lathi (Indoors)	Finland 2-Sweden 1	Hannu Rajaniemi 5, Jukka Ikalainen 7 / Torbjörn Nilsson 21
February 15, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	La Paz – Estadio Hernán Siles Zuazo	Bolivia 3-Venezuela 0	Miguel Aguilar 37, Carlos Aragones 67, Jesus Reynaldo 83
February 18, 1981	Friendly	Madrid-Estadio Vicente Calderon (Club Atlético de Madrid)	Spain 1-France 0	Juan Gomez 'Juanito' 86pen	Spain 1-France 0
February 18, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Bruxelles-Stade du Heysel  (Brussels- Heizelstadion)	Belgium 3-Cyprus 2	Gerard Plessers 13, Erwin Vandenbergh 18, Jan Ceulemans 67 / Stefanos Lysandrou 42, Fivos Vrachimis 60
February 22, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Groningen - Oosterpark	Holland 3-Cyprus 0	Hugo Hovenkamp 14, Cornelis Schapendonk 47, Dirk Nanninga 57	Holland 3-Cyprus 0
February 22, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	La Paz - Hernán Siles Zuazo	Bolivia 1-Brazil 2	Carlos Aragonés 36 / Sócrates 6, Reinaldo 61	Bolivia 1-Brazil 2
February 24, 1981	Friendly	Dublin, Tolka Park	Republic of Ireland 1-Wales 3	Anthony Grealish 25 / Paul Price 33, Terry Boyle 37, Terry Yorath 89
February 25, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Tel Aviv- Ramat Gan, National Stadium	Israel 0-Scotland 1	Kenny Dalglish 54
February 25, 1981	Friendly for victims of Irpinia earthquake	Roma-Lo Stadio Olimpico	Italy 0-European All-Stars XI 3	Allan Simonsen 32, Vahid Halilhodzic 56, Tony Woodcock 79	Italy 0-European All Stars 3

Photo From : L’Annee Du Football, 1981

(Jean-Francois Larios, February 18, 1981, Spain 1-France 0)

Photo From : Mondial, New series, issue 13, April 1981

(February 18, 1981, World Cup Qualifier , Belgium 3-Cyprus 2)

Photo From: Voetbal Revue, Nummer 14, February 27-March 12, 1981

 (Frans Thijssen, February 22, 1981, World Cup Qualifier , Holland 3-Cyprus 0)

Photo From : Mondial, New series, issue 13, April 1981

(John Wark, February 25, 1981, World Cup Qualifier , Israel 0-Scotland 1)

Photo From: La Nazionale Italiana, 3a dispensa d'aggiornamento

(Dino Zoff making a save, February 25, 1981, Friendly for victims of Irpinia earthquake, Italy 0-European All-Stars XI 3)

March

Brazil finished its World Cup Qualifiers and predictably qualified by winning its home matches vs. Venezuela and Bolivia.

In a high profile Friendly, England lost at Wembley vs. Spain. This was their first defeat at Wembley since losing to Holland in 1977. It was England manager Ron Greenwood’s first loss at Wembley.

At the beginning of that month, Spain had to contend with the kidnapping of International striker Quini, though thankfully he was released unharmed.

Scotland and Northern Ireland tied each other in a WC qualifier at Glasgow.

Holland, under new Manager Kees Rijvers, defeated France in a World Cup qualifier at Rotterdam. The winning goal was scored after Arnold Muhren’s free kick struck the horizontal bar, dropped on France goalkeeper Dominique Dropsy’s shoulder and into the net.

Michel Platini’s absence through injury, paved the way for Alain Giresse to be selected and stay in the team for the coming years.

In the same group Belgium took a closer step to the World Cup by defeating Republic of Ireland by the slimmest of margins.

The match was marred by refereeing decisions that went against Ireland, and at the conclusion of the match Irish Manager Eion Hand shouted at the referee.

Poland lost its first match under new manager Antoni Piechniczek in a Friendly vs. Romania.

Paul Wolfisberg managed his first match as Switzerland Manager by defeating Czechoslovakia in an away Friendly.

Date		Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Link
March 10, 1981	Friendly	Santiago -Estadio Nacional de Santiago	Chile 1-Colombia 0	Oscar Herrera 28
March 11, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Luxembourg -Stade Municipal de Luxembourg	Luxembourg 0-Greece 2	Constantinos Kouis 38, Thomas Mavros 55pen	Luxembourg 0-Greece 2
March 11, 1981	Unofficial Friendly	Braila	Romania 2-East Germany 1	Ilie Balaci 34, Aurel Beldeanu 88 pen /  Rudiger Schnuphase 55pen
March 14, 1981	Friendly	Ribeirão Preto – Estadio Santa Cruz	Brazil 2-Chile 1	Zico 30, Reinaldo 46 / Carlos Caszely 50	Brazil 2-Chile 1
March 15, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Caracas -Estadio Olímpico de la Universidad Central de Venezuela	Venezuela 1-Bolivia 0	Acosta 24
March 19, 1981	Friendly	Bogotá, Estadio Nemesio Camacho 'El Campín'	Colombia 1-Chile 2	Willington Ortíz 36pen  / Carlos Caszely 15,19
March 22, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Rio de Janeiro- Maracana	Brazil 3-Bolivia 1	Zico 24pen,53, 85 / Carlos Aragonés 68	Brazil 3-Bolivia 1
March 24, 1981	Friendly	Bratislava -Tehelne Pole Stadion (Slovan Bratislava)	Czechoslovakia 0-Switzerland 1	René Botteron 66
March 25, 1981	Friendly	Bucuresti, Stadionul Republica	Romania 2-Poland 0	Rodion Camataru 8- Anghel Iordanescu 31
March 25, 1981	Friendly	London - The Empire Stadium Wembley	England 1-Spain 2	Glenn Hoddle 27 / Jesus Satrustegui 4, Jesus Zamora 32	England 1-Spain 2
March 25, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Ankara -19 Mayıs Stadyumu (19th May Stadium)	Turkey 0-Wales 1	Carl Harris 66
March 25, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Glasgow- Hampden Park	Scotland 1-Northern Ireland 1	John Wark 75 / Billy Hamilton 70	Scotland 1-Northern Ireland 1
March 25, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Rotterdam-De Kuip-Feyenoord Stadion	Holland 1-France 0	Arnold Muhren 47	Holland 1-France 0
March 25, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Bruxelles-Stade du Heysel  (Brussels- Heizelstadion)	Belgium 1-Republic of Ireland 0	Jan Ceulemans 87	Belgium 1-Ireland 0
March 25, 1981	Friendly	Subotica, Stadion Spartaka	Yugoslavia 2-Bulgaria 1	Vahid Halilhodzic 2, Blaz Sliskovic 26 / Georgi Slavkov 25
March 29, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Goiânia- Estádio Serra Dourada	Brazil 5-Venezuela 0	Tita 36, 59,  Socrates 56- Zico 75pen, Junior 84	Brazil 5-Venezuela 0

Photo From : World Soccer , May 1981

(March 25, 1981, England 1-Spain 2)

Photo From : Mondial, New series, issue 14, May 1981

(Rene vandereycken and Liam Brady, March 25, 1981, World Cup Qualifier , Belgium 1-Republic of Ireland 0)

Photo From : Mondial, New series, issue 13, April 1981

(Dominique Rocheteau, Ruud Krol and Didier Six, March 25, 1981, World Cup Qualifier , Holland 1-France 0)

April

West Germany continued its campaign by defeating Albania away (in the beginning of the month) and Austria (at the end of the month) by two (2-0) wins.

The Austria match served as Paul Breitner’s recall to the national team, back for West Germany for the first time since 1975.

West Germany’s captain Bernard Dietz was dropped for this match. The match vs. Albania was his last ever match for his country.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge became the new West German captain.

Spain lost to Hungary in a Friendly at home by a heavy score (0-3).

Scotland defeated Israel in a Qualifier at home, while in the same group Northern Ireland defeated Portugal.

In the Northern Ireland-Portugal matchup, with about twenty minutes from time, a bottle was thrown from the stands towards Portugal’s goal area. The referee briefly stopped play and warned the Irish officials.

Yugoslavia edged closer to qualification by defeating Greece (5-1), where goalkeeper Dragan Pantelic once again scored from the penalty spot..

England was unable to defeat Romania at home and had to settle for a scoreless tie, while in the same Group Hungary tied with Switzerland away (2-2).

France (still without Platini and also Larios) managed to win its key qualifier with Belgium at Paris (3-2).

In the other matchup in the group, Cornelis Van Kooten made his debut at age 32 for Holland and scored the winning goal vs. Cyprus.

Italy played a Friendly vs. East Germany (scoreless tie) in a match that no Internazionale Milano players were selected, as they were preparing their Champions Cup semifinal clash vs. Real Madrid.

Date		Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Link
April 1, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Tiranë (Tirana)- Stadiumi Kombetar ‘Qemal Stafa’	Albania 0-West Germany 2	Bernd Schuster 9, 71	Albania 0-West Germany 2
April 4, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	La Valetta, Gzira-Stadium	Malta 1-East Germany 2	Emmanuel ‘Leli’ Fabri  11 / Rudiger Schnuphase 20pen,  Reinhard Häfner 44
April 8, 1981	Friendly	Tel Aviv-Yafo- Bloomfield Yafo Stadium	Israel 2-Romania 1	Beni Tabak 2, Shlomo Mizrahi 78 / Mircea Sandu 4
April 15, 1981	Friendly	Copenhagen -Idrætsparken	Denmark 2-Romania 1	Allan Simonsen 51pen, Lars Bastrup 80 / Rodion Camataru 46
April 15, 1981	Friendly	Valencia -Estadio Luis Casanova	Spain 0-Hungary 3	Laszlo Kiss 31, Bela Bodonyi 83, Tibor Nylasi 89	Spain 0-Hungary 3
April 15, 1981	Friendly	Levkosia (Nicosia)-Makarion Athlítiko Kentro (Bishop Makarios Stadium)	Cyprus 0-Greece 1	Kostas Iosifidis 32
April 15, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Ístanbul -Ali Sami Yen Stadyumu (Galatasaray)	Turkey 0-Czechoslovakia 3	Petr Janecka 58, Jan Kozak 70, Ladislav Vizek 80
April 15, 1981	Friendly	Porto- Estadio das Antas	Portugal 1-Bulgaria 1	Antonio Luis Alves Ribeiro Oliveira 65 / Chavdar Tzvetkov 61
April 19, 1981	Friendly	Udine, Stadio del Friuli	Italy 0-East Germany 0		Italy 0-East Germany 0
April 19, 1981	Friendly	Santiago -Estadio Nacional de Santiago	Chile 3-Peru 0	Gustavo Moscoso 30, 75, Carlos Caszely 65pen
April 25, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Auckland, Mount Smart Stadium	New Zealand 3-Australia 3	G Turner 25, Wooddin 34, Sumner 80 / Eddie Krncevic 15, 42, Ken Boden 31	New Zeland 3-Asutralia 3
April 28, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Glasgow- Hampden Park	Scotland 3-Israel 1	John Robertson 20 pen, 30pen, David Provan 52 / Moshe Sinai 56
April 28, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Luzern- Stadion Allmend	Switzerland 2-Hungary 2	Claudio Sulser  31, 47 / Laszlo Balint 45, Sándor Müller 64pen	Switzerland 2-Hungary 2
April 29, 1981	Friendly	Pleven-Sl. Aleksiev	Bulgaria 1-Norway 0	Plamen Tzvetkov 7
April 29, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Split, Stadion Poljud	Yugoslavia 5-Greece 1	Edhem Sljivo 7, Vahid Halilhodzic 21, Dragan Pantelic 43pen, Zlatko Vujovic 50, 56 / Georgios Kostikos 76pen	Yugoslavia 5-Greece 1
April 29, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	London - The Empire Stadium Wembley	England 0-Romania 0		England 0-Romania 0
April 29, 1981	Friendly	Dublin -Lansdowne Road	Republic of Ireland 3-Czechoslovakia 1	Kevin Moran 18, 69, Frank Stapleton 75 / Marian Masny 55
April 29, 1981	Friendly / Copa Juan Pinto Durán	Santiago -Estadio Nacional de Santiago	Chile 1-Uruguay 2	Manuel Rojas 57 / Julio César Núñez 67pen,  Nelson Agresta 73
April 29, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Levkosia (Nicosia)-Makarion Athlítiko Kentro (Bishop Makarios Stadium)	Cyprus 0-Holland 1	Cornelis van Kooten 29
April 29, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Hamburg-Volkspark Stadion	West Germany 2-Austria 0	Bernd Krauss (Own Goal) 30, Klaus Fischer 36	West Germany 2-Austria 0
April 29, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Belfast -Windsor Park	Northern Ireland 1-Portugal 0	Gerry Armstrong 74	Northern Ireland 1-Portugal 0
April 29, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Paris- Parc des Princes	France 3-Belgium 2	Gerard Soler 14, 31, Didier Six 26 / Erwin Vandenbergh 5, Jan Ceulemans 52	France 3-Belgium 2

Photo From: Chronik des deutschen fussballs, 2005

(Horst Hrubesch, April 1, 1981, World Cup Qualifier , Albania 0-West Germany 2)

Photo From: World Soccer, June 1981

(April 19, 1981, Chile 3-Peru 0)

Photo From : Mondial, new series, issue 19, October 1981

(Vahid Halilhodzic, April 29, 1981, World Cup Qualifier , Yugoslavia 5-Greece 1)

Photo From : Mondial, new series, issue 15, June 1981

(Aurel Beldeanu and Tony Woodcock, April 29, 1981, World Cup Qualifier , England 0-Romania 0)

Photo From: Chronik des deutschen fussballs, 2005

(Friedel Koncilia, April 29, 1981, World Cup Qualifier , West Germany 2-Asutria 0)

Photo From: Onze, Issue 65, May 1981

(Didier Six and Eric Gerets, April 29, 1981, World Cup Qualfiier, France 3-Belgium2 )

May

Poland managed to win its important qualifier at home vs. rivals East Germany to edge ahead in the group.

Brazil toured Europe and played three high profile Friendlies and won all three vs. England, France and West Germany.

France’s loss vs. Brazil was its first on home soil, since Michel Hidalgo had taken over as manager in 1976. The match was watched by Pele who prior to the match received an award as the ‘Athlete of the Century’.

The loss vs. Brazil was West Germany’s first home defeat since April 4, 1978, when they also lost to Brazil. In this matchup, Paul Breitner failed to score from a twice taken penalty kick in the 80^th minute.

Bernd Schuster was asked to play only 45 minutes by his club Barcelona.

Following the match, Schuster got into trouble with Jupp Derwall, for not attending a party thrown by Hansi Muller for the whole squad.

Schuster had not informed Derwall that he would miss the party.

He claimed he had informed Schumacher that he had to take an early flight back to Barcelona therefore could not attend.

Derwall was so incensed that he dropped Schuster from West Germany’s next match.

Hungary defeated Romania and Norway in its qualifiers to get closer to qualification.

For its part, England lost to Switzerland away to slip further and make their qualification hopes bleak.

As usual May was the month for the Home Championship of the British Isles.

England and Wales refused to play in Belfast vs. Northern Ireland, therefore that year’s tournament was inconclusive.

England did not win a single match during that month. Their scoreless tie vs. Wales at Wembley was the first time EVER that they had gone three games without scoring and also the fourth game since they had last won at Wembley.

West Germany won its away qualifier at Finland, while its closest rival and neighbors Austria defeated Bulgaria.

Czechoslovaki’s large win vs. Iceland , coupled with USSR’s away tie at Wales, edged both Eastern European nations closer to qualification.

Chile started its qualification campaign in a group containing Ecuador and Paraguay.

Date		Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Link
May 1, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Luxembourg -Stade Municipal de Luxembourg	Luxembourg 1-Denmark 2	Alain Nurenburg 36 / Preben Elkjaer 46, Frank Arnesen 62	Luxembourg 1-Denmark 2
May 1, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Chorzów- Stadion Śląski (Silesian Stadium)	Poland 1-East Germany 0	Andrzej Buncol 55	Poland 1-East Germany 0
May 12, 1981	Friendly	London - The Empire Stadium Wembley	England 0-Brazil 1	Zico 11	England 0-Brazil 1
May 13, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Budapest -Nepstadion	Hungary 1-Romania 0	Laszlo Fazekas 18	Hungary 1-Romania 0
May 13, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Sofia- Vassil Levski Stadion	Bulgaria 4-Finland 0	Georgi Slavkov 10, 53, Kostadin Kostadinov 55, Chavdar Tzvetkov 90
May 14, 1981	Nordic Cup	Malmö -Malmö Stadion	Sweden 1-Denmark 2	Bo Börjesson 74 / Lars Bastrup 63, Preben Elkjær 71
May 15, 1981	Pirri Testimonial	Madrid –Estadio Santiago Bernabéu	Real Madrid (Spain) 1-Spain 1	Laurie Cunningham 60 / ‘Joaquin’ Alonso Gonzalez 55	Real Madrid (Spain) 1-Spain 1
May 15, 1981	Friendly	Paris - Parc des Princes	France 1-Brazil 3	Didier Six 81 / Zico 21, Reinaldo 27, Sócrates 52	France 1-Brazil 3
May 16, 1981	Home Championship	Swansea-  Vetch Field	Wales 2-Scotland 0	Ian Walsh 17, 20	\Wales 2-Scotland 0
May 16, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Sydney-Sydney Cricket Ground	Australia 0-New Zealand 2	Wooddin 29, G Turner 81	Australia 0-New Zealand 2
May 17, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Guayaquil- Estadio Modelo	Ecuador 1-Paraguay 0	Fausto Klinger 49
May 19, 1981	Friendly	Senftenberg, Stadion der Bergarbeiter (Stadium of the Miners)	East Germany 5-Cuba 0	Jurgen Heun 11, 82, Rudiger Schnuphase 45, Joachim Streich 60, Hernandez (own goal) 72
May 19, 1981	Friendly	Stuttgart  - Neckarstadion	West Germany 1-Brazil 2	Klaus Fischer 30 / Toninho Cerezo 61, Júnior 74	West Germany 1-Brazil 2
May 19, 1981	Home Championship	Glasgow- Hampden Park	Scotland 2-Northern ireland 0	Ray Stewart 5, Steve Archibald 50
May 20, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Oslo- Ullevaal Stadion	Norway 1-Hungary 2	Hallvar Thoresen 57 / Laszlo Kiss 77, 79	Norway 1-Hungary 2
May 20, 1981	Home Championship	London - The Empire Stadium Wembley	England 0-Wales 0
May 20, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Melbourne, Olympic Park	Australia 2-Indonesia 0	John Kosmina 29, Alan Davidson 33
May 21, 1981	Unofficial Friendly	Bremen-Weser Stadion	West Germany 'B' 3-Republic of Ireland 0	Karl Del'Haye, Funkel, Schroder
May 23, 1981	Home Championship	London - The Empire Stadium Wembley	England 0-Scotland 1	John Robertson 84pen	England 0-Scotland 1
May 24, 1981	Friendly	Bydgoszcz- Zopisya -Stadion imeni Zdzisława Krzyszkówiaka	Poland 3-Republic of Ireland 0	Andrzej Iwan 2, David O'Leary (own goal) 38, Roman Ogaza 66
May 24, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Lahti- Keskusurheilu	Finland 0-West Germany 4	Hans-Peter Briegel 25, Klaus Fischer 36, 80, Manfred Kaltz 40	Finland 0-West Germany 4
May 24, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Guayaquil- Estadio Modelo	Ecuador 0-Chile 0	Hans-Peter Briegel 25, Klaus Fischer 36, 80, Manfred Kaltz 40
May 27, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Bratislava -Tehelne Pole Stadion (Slovan Bratislava)	Czechoslovakia 6-Iceland 1	Ladislav Vizek 35, Antonin Panenka 42pen, Zdenek Nehoda 72, Edvaldsson (own goal) 78, Jan Kozak 80, Petr Janecka 86 / Magnus Helgi Bergs 60
May 28, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Vienna-Praterstadion	Austria 2-Bulgaria 0	Hans Krankl 30pen, Kurt Jara 88
May 30, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Wrexham- Racecourse Ground Stadium	Wales 0-USSR 0	Hans Krankl 30pen, Kurt Jara 88
May 30, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Basel -Saint Jakob Park	Switzerland 2-England 1	Alfred Scheiwiler 27, Claudio Sulser 29 / Terry McDermott 54	Switzerland 2-England 1
May 31, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Asuncion- Estadio Los Defensores Del Chaco	Paraguay 3-Ecuador 1	Miguel Michelagnoli 47, Morel 63, Julio César Romero 81 / Nieves Wilson "Edu" 89

Photo From : Mondial, new series, issue 25, April 1982

(Włodzimierz Smolarek, May1, 1981, World Cup Qualifier, Poland 1-East Germany 0)

Photo From : Mondial, new series, issue 16, July 1981

(Reinaldo, May 12, 1981, England 0-Brazil 1)

Photo From : Mondial, New Series, Hors Serie 13, 1982

(Tibor Nylasi, May 13, 1981, World cup Qualifier, Hungary 1-Romania 0)

Photo From : Onze, Issue 66, June 1981

(May 15, 1981, France 1-Brazil 3)

Photo From: Onze, Hors Serie 12, 1982

 (May 16, 1981, Home Championship , Wales 2-Scotland 0)

Photo From : Mondial, new series, issue 19, October 1981

(Joe Jordan, May 23, 1981, Home Championship , England 0-Scotland 1)

Photo From : Mondial, new series, issue 16, July 1981

(Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, May 24, 1981, World Cup Qualifier, Finland 0-West Germany 4)

Photo From : Mondial, new series, issue 16, July 1981

(Tengiz Sulakvelidze and Mickey Thomas, May 30, 1981, World Cup Qualifier, Wales 0-USSR 0)

Photo From : Mondial, new series, issue 16, July 1981

(Kevin Keegan and Gianpietro Zappa, May 30, 1981, World Cup Qualifier, Switzerland 2-England 1)

June

Sweden picked up two important qualification wins vs. Northern Ireland and Portugal.

Romania defeated Norway, while England won a very important qualifier at Budapest vs. Hungary with its one of its best displays in years.

Trevor Brooking scored a rare double and Keegan scored from the spot.

Despite the victory, England had endured a very difficult season.

On the flight home, England Manager Ron Greenwood notified his squad that he would resign, however, Senior squad members convinced him to carry on.

Italy lost its first qualifier vs. Denmark (1-3) after four straight wins.

Chile qualified for the World Cup by winning its group.

Spain continued its run of Friendlies by touring South America after a Friendly at Portugal.

It won its last friendlies of the month by defeating Mexico and Venezuela.

Date		Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Link
June 3, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Stockholm - Råsunda -Solna Stadion	Sweden 1-Northern Ireland 0	Hasse Borg 49pen
June 3, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Bucuresti -Stadionul 23 August	Romania 1-Norway 0	Aurel Ticleanu 67	Romania 1-Norway 0
June 3, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Copenhagen -Idrætsparken	Denmark 3-Italy 1	Per Røntved 58, Frank Arnesen 60, Lars Bastrup 86 / Francesco Graziani 68	Denmark 3-Italy 1
June 6, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Budapest -Nepstadion	Hungary 1-England 3	Imre Garaba 44 / Trevor Brooking 18, 59, Kevin Keegan 72pen	Hungary 1-England 3
June 7, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Asuncion –Estadio De los Defensores del Chaco	Paraguay 0-Chile 1	Patricio Yanez 71	Paraguay 0-Chile 1
June 10, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Adelaide, Hindmarsh Stadium	Australia 3-Taiwan 2	Tony Henderson 18, John Kosmina 56, Gary Byrne 68pen / Deng-Sheng Duh 82, 90
June 14, 1981	Presidents Cup	DAE-JON-JEUN-JOO STADIUM	Liechtenstein 1-Malta 1	L. Sklarski 29 / Norman Buttigieg 80
June 14, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Santiago -Estadio Nacional de Santiago	Chile 2-Ecuador 0	Carlos Rivas 9, Carlos Caszely 85	Chile 2-Ecuador 0
June 17, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Oslo- Ullevaal Stadion	Norway 1-Switzerland 1	Vidar Davidsen 88 / Umberto Barberis 62
June 17, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Linz -Linzerstadion	Austria 5-Finland 1	Herbert Prohaska 16,18, Hans Krankl 49, Kurt Welzl 56, Gernot Jurtin 65 / Ari Valvee 71
June 18, 1981	Presidents Cup	DAE-JON-JEUN-JOO STADIUM	Indonesia 0-Malta 1	George Xuereb 27
June 20, 1981	Friendly	Porto- Estadio das Antas	Portugal 2-Spain 0	Tamagnini Gomes Baptista Nené 80, Antonio Manuel Costa ‘Nogueira 86
June 21, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Santiago -Estadio Nacional de Santiago	Chile 3-Paraguay 0	Carlos Caszely 11, Patricio Yanez 12, Miguel Angel Neira 28	Chile 3-Paraguay 0
June 22, 1981	Presidents Cup	Seoul-Seoul Stadium	Thailand 0-Malta 2	Michael Degiorgio 9, George Xuereb 80
June 23, 1981	Friendly	Ciudad de México (Mexico City) –Estadio Azteca	Mexico 1-Spain 3	Hugo Sanchez 64 / Juan Gomez 'Juanito' 28, 60, Jesus Zamora 83
June 24, 1981	World Cup Qualifier	Stockholm - Råsunda -Solna Stadion	Sweden 3-Portugal 0	Bo Börjesson 39, Glenn Hysén 58, Jan Svensson 73
June 28, 1981	Friendly	Caracas -Estadio Olímpico de la Universidad Central de Venezuela	Venezuela 0-Spain 2	Juan Gomez 'Juanito' 5, Jesus Satrustegui 73pen

Photo From : Mondial, new series, issue 16, July 1981

(Billy Hamilton, June 3, 1981, World Cup Qualifier, Sweden 1-Northern Ireland 0)

Photo From : Fussball Magazin, March april 1982

(Soren Lerby and Claudio Gentile, June 3, 1981, World Cup Qualifier, Denmark 3-Italy 1)

Photo From :Onze, Hors Serie 12, 1982

(June 6, 1981, World Cup Qualifier, Hungary 1-England 3)

Photo From : Onze, Hors Serie 12, 1982

(June 14, 1981, World Cup Qualifier, Chile 2-Ecuador 0)

Photo From: Österreichs Fußball Länderspiele Chronik 1902 – 1993, Author: Anton Egger

(June 17, 1981, World Cup Qualifier, Austria 5-Finland 1)

Photo From: Mondial, new series, issue 25, April 1982

(Jesus satrustegui, June 28, 1981, Venezuela 0-Spain 2)

July

Spain finished off the season with its tour of South America. After two ties with Colombia and Chile, Spain ended the season with a loss to Brazil.

Spain’s tour of Summer 1981 comprised of 7 matches in 22 days.

In the match vs. Brazil, goalkeeper Luis Arconada played in his 26 straight match. A feat not achieved since Ricardo Zamora in 1935.

Date		Venue	Result	Goalscorers	Link
July 2, 1981	Friendly	Bogotá, Estadio Nemesio Camacho 'El Campín'	Colombia 1-Spain 1	Hernan Dario Herrera 77 / Jose Ramon Alesanco 86
July 2, 1981	Nordic Cup	Helsinki -Olympiastadion	Finland 3-Norway 1	Keijo Kousa 31, Hannu Rajaniemi 59, Hannu Turunen 60 / Vidar Davidsen 46
July 5, 1981	Friendly	Santiago -Estadio Nacional de Santiago	Chile 1-Spain 1	Carlos Caszely 9 / Jesus Satrustegui 16	Chile 1-Spain 1
July 8, 1981	Friendly	Salvador - Estádio da Fonte Nova	Brazil 1-Spain 0	Baltazar 48	Brazil 1-Spain 0