Group
5
This Group was perhaps the most difficult of all.
It featured Holland (the recent World Cup Finalist), Poland (third place at the
World Cup) along with Italy and Finland.
Holland were at their height with the Cruyff
generation as were Poland of Deyna and Lato.
Italy were in a rebuilding phase with the end of
the Ferrucio Valcareggi era following a
disappointing World Cup. Italy started its campaign with veteran Manager Fulvio Bernardini. Many
future Italy Internationals would earn their debuts in this rebuilding
campaign.
Italy
gave up in qualifying as early as their first match when they lost (1-3) in
Holland. Italy fielded an inexperienced side with many new caps including
Giancarlo Antognoni who would be a mainstay of Italy into the next decade.
Italy
continued to experiment, in its scoreless encounter with Poland in April, Italy
once again gave out four new caps (including Gentile and Graziani).
Roberto
Bettega would also earn his debut in a win over Finland (1-0) in Helsinki in
June 1975.
In
the Fall, Bernardini was installed as Technical Director with Enzo Bearzot
acting as Manager. His first qualifier would be a scoreless match with Finland,
which effectively eliminated any faint hopes they had.
Meanwhile,
Poland defeated Holland in September 1975 in a convincing (4-1) win.
Holland
reversed this loss by defeating the Poles (3-0) a month later.
Holland would have internal problems for this match, as
PSV Eindhoven duo Jan van Beveren and van der Kuylen withdrew from squad upon
hearing that Cruyff and Neeskens would be included and playing.
Italy
acted as spoilers in a scoreless tie at Warsaw with Poland. This made the last
match between Italy and Holland academic, as Holland had virtually qualified
and the Dutch loss (0-1) made no difference as they edged ahead of Poland on
goal difference in a Group that either team could have qualified from.
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Photo
From: Mondial, Old Series, Issue 3, April 1977
(November
20, 1974, EC Qualifier, Holland 3-Italy 1)
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Photo
From: Azzurri, Storia della Nazionale di calcio tre volte
campioni del Mondo, 1910-1983
(November
20, 1974, EC Qualifier, Holland 3-Italy 1)
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Photo
From: Azzurri, Storia della Nazionale di calcio tre volte campioni del Mondo,
1910-1983
(April
19, 1975, EC Qualifier, Italy 0-Poland 0)
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Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989
(Holland
squad, September 3, 1975, EC Qualifier, Holland 4-Finland 1)
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Photo
From: Bialo Czerwoni 1921-2001, Author Andrzej Gowarzewski
(September
10, 1975, EC Qualifier, Poland 4-Holland 1)
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Photo
From: Azzurri, Storia della Nazionale di calcio tre volte campioni del Mondo,
1910-1983
(September
27, 1975, EC Qualifier, Italy 0-Finland 0)
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Photo
From: World Soccer , November 1975
(Italy squad blocked by all the photographers, September 27, 1975, EC
Qualifier, Italy 0-Finland 0)
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Photo
From: Calcio 2000, Issue 24, November 1999
(Italy
squad, October 26, 1975, EC Qualifier, Poland 0-Italy 0)
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Photo
From: Guerin Sportivo, July 2016
(October
26, 1975, EC Qualifier, Poland 0-Italy 0)
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Photo
From: Azzurri, Storia della Nazionale di calcio tre volte campioni del Mondo,
1910-1983
(October
26, 1975, EC Qualifier, Poland 0-Italy 0)
|
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Photo
From: Azzurri, Storia della Nazionale di calcio tre volte campioni del Mondo,
1910-1983
(November
22, 1975, EC Qualifier, Italy 1-Holland 0)
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Photo
From: Kicker sportsmagazin
(Italy
squad, November 22, 1975, EC Qualifier, Italy 1-Holland 0)
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Group 6
This
Group featured the Soviet Union, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland and Turkey.
The
Soviets were the favorites though they were in for a shock in their opening
match vs. Ireland (0-3) from a Don Givens hat trick.
Givens
would not stop there and score four goals against Turkey in October 1975 (tying
an Irish record from 1934 set by Paddy Moore).
The
Soviets recovered and won their next four matches to win and lead the Group.
This was the era of the great Dynamo Kiev side of Oleg Blokhin that won the Cup
Winners Cup in 1975.
Incredibly
for USSR’s match vs. Turkey (3-0) in April 1975, the entire starting lineup was
made of Dynamo Kiev players (in addition to Leonid Burjak who came on as a
substitute).
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Photo
From: Shoot, May 17, 1975
(October 30, 1974, EC Qualifier, Republic of Ireland 3-USSR
0)
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Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей, 1975 №14---06.04
(April
2, 1975, EC Qualifier, USSR 3-Turkey 0)
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Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей, 1975№21---25.05
(May
18, 1975, EC Qualifier, USSR 2-Republic of Ireland 1)
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Photo
From: Ireland on the Ball, Author: Donal Cullen
(May
21, 1975, EC Qualifier, Switzerland 1-Republic of Ireland 0)
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Photo
From: L'Equipe de Suisse, Authors Guy Balibouse, Roger Felix, Pierre Tripod,
1993
(October
12, 1975, EC Qualifier, Switzerland 0-USSR 1)
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Photo
From: World Soccer, February 1976
(October
12, 1975, EC Qualifier, Switzerland 0-USSR 1)
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Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей, 1975 №42---19.10.75
(October
12, 1975, EC Qualifier, Switzerland 0-USSR 1)
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Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей, 1975 №46---16.11
(November
12, 1975, EC Qualifier, USSR 4-Switzerland 1)
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Photo
From: (Magazine Source unknown) / Contribution From a blog viewer (USSR squad,
November 12, 1975, EC Qualifier, USSR 4-Switzerland 1)
Group 7
This
Group featured France, Belgium, East Germany and Iceland.
This was another balanced side with only Iceland without much hope. East Germany had just participated in the World Cup and were perhaps slightly favorites.
This was another balanced side with only Iceland without much hope. East Germany had just participated in the World Cup and were perhaps slightly favorites.
In
the end dropping three out of four points against Iceland was their undoing as
Belgium edged ahead.
France
under Romanian Manager Stefan Kovacs had started badly by losing to Belgium and
tying with East Germany at home.
Prior
to the match vs. East Germany, France also had to contend with the controversy
surrounding the refusal of Lyon’s Serge Chiesa to be selected. He would be
suspended for his actions.
When
East Germany defeated Belgium at Brussels on September 27, 1975, France were
given a lifeline.
Their
last chance was the match vs. East Germany at Leipzig on October 12, 1975.
After losing their hope was lost as was Kovacs’ reign. Michel Hidalgo would be
appointed as his successor for the new year and would start a glorious tenure.
For
Belgium, this would also mark the end of the road for Paul van Himst who would
play his last match for Belgium on December 7th, 1974 vs. East
Germany.
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Photo
From: World Soccer, November 1974
(October
12, 1974, EC Qualifier, Belgium 2-France 1)
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Photo
From: World Soccer, November 1974
(October
12, 1974, EC Qualifier, Belgium 2-France 1)
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Photo
From: L’Equipe, L’Equipe de France de Football, la Belle Histoire
(November
16, 1974, EC Qualifier, France 2-East Germany 2)
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Photo
From: L’Equipe, L’Equipe de France de Football, la Belle Histoire
(May
25, 1975, EC Qualifier, Iceland 0-France 0)
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Photo
From: FUWO, Issue 23, June 10, 1975
(June
5, 1975, EC Qualifier, Iceland 2-East Germany 1)
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Photo
From: FUWO, Issue 23, June 10, 1975
(June
5, 1975, EC Qualifier, Iceland 2-East Germany 1)
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Photo
From: L'Annee du Football, 1976, Author Jacques Thibert
(September
3, 1975, EC Qualifier, France 3- Iceland 0)
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Photo
From: Miroir du Football , Issue 247, September 11, 1975
(September
3, 1975, EC Qualifier, France 3- Iceland 0)
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Photo
From: Miroir du Football , Issue 247, September 11, 1975
(September
3, 1975, EC Qualifier, France 3- Iceland 0)
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Photo
From: FUWO, Issue 39, September 30, 1975
(September
27, 1975, EC Qualifier, Belgium 1-East Germany 2)
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Photo
From: FUWO, Issue 39, September 30, 1975
(September
27, 1975, EC Qualifier, Belgium 1-East Germany 2)
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Photo
From: Miroir du Football , Issue 249, October 8, 1975
(September
27, 1975, EC Qualifier, Belgium 1-East Germany 2)
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Photo
From: FUWO, Issue 39, September 30, 1975
(East Germany squad, September 27, 1975, EC
Qualifier, Belgium 1-East Germany 2) |
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Photo
From: L’Equipe, L’Equipe de France de Football, la Belle Histoire
(October
12, 1975, EC Qualifier, East Germany 2-France 1)
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Photo
From: Miroir du Football , Issue 250, October 23, 1975
(October
12, 1975, EC Qualifier, East Germany 2-France 1)
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Photo
From: Miroir du Football , Issue 250, October 23, 1975
(October
12, 1975, EC Qualifier, East Germany 2-France 1)
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Photo
From: Miroir du Football , Issue 250, October 23, 1975
(October
12, 1975, EC Qualifier, East Germany 2-France 1)
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Photo
From: L’Equipe, L’Equipe de France de Football, la Belle Histoire
(November
15, 1975, EC Qualifier, France 0-Belgium 0)
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Photo
From: Miroir du Football , Issue 252, November 27, 1975
(November
15, 1975, EC Qualifier, France 0-Belgium 0)
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Photo
From: Miroir du Football , Issue 252, November 27, 1975
(November
15, 1975, EC Qualifier, France 0-Belgium 0)
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Photo
From: Miroir du Football , Issue 252, November 27, 1975
(November
15, 1975, EC Qualifier, France 0-Belgium 0)
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Photo
From: Miroir du Football , Issue 252, November 27, 1975
(November
15, 1975, EC Qualifier, France 0-Belgium 0)
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Group 8
This
Group featured West Germany, along with Bulgaria, Greece and Malta.
West
Germany had just won the World Cup, but had lost three key players as Gerd
Muller, Wolfgang Overath and Jurgen Grabowski had announced their international
retirements.
There
could only be one outcome with the Germans qualifying however, they dropped
silly points along the way most notably in both matches with Greece.
After
the first match vs. Greece (2-2), a furious Beckenbauer said, “I cannot
remember such a bad display from our national team as the one we gave today”.
The
West Germans’ main concerns were off the field as Paul Breitner and Gunter
Netzer’s transfer to Real Madrid made their availability scarce. They lined up
twice in April 1975 vs. Bulgaria and in October 1975 vs. Greece.
However,
after not being called up for the qualifier vs. Bulgaria in November 1975, they
vowed to never play for the National Team.
Helmut
Schoen claimed he had received a letter from Real Madrid informing him that
Breitner was injured; as a result he decided not to call up both.
Breitner
would only return to the National Team in 1981 with Schoen’s successor Jupp
Derwall.
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Photo
From: Fussball Woche, Issue 9, February
23, 1976
(December
22, 1974, EC Qualifier, Malta 0-West Germany 1)
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Photo
From: Fussball Woche, Issue 9, February
23, 1976
(December
22, 1974, EC Qualifier, Malta 0-West Germany 1)
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(April
27, 1975, EC Qualifier, Bulgaria 1-West Germany 1)
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Photo
From: Chronik des deutschen fussballs, 2005
(October
11, 1975, EC Qualifier, -West Germany 1-Greece 1)
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Photo
From: Kicker Sportsmagazin, Issue 82, October 13, 1975
(October
11, 1975, EC Qualifier, -West Germany 1-Greece 1)
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Photo
From: Kicker Sportsmagazin, Issue 82, October 13, 1975
(October
11, 1975, EC Qualifier, -West Germany 1-Greece 1)
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Photo
From: Kicker Sportsmagazin, Issue 82, October 13, 1975
(October
11, 1975, EC Qualifier, -West Germany 1-Greece 1)
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Photo
From: Chronik des deutschen fussballs, 2005
(November
19, 1975, EC Qualifier, West Germany 1-Bulgaria 0)
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Photo
From: Chronik des deutschen fussballs, 2005
(February
28, 1976, EC Qualifier, West Germany 8-Malta 0)
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First time Italy finished a qualifying group in the third position.
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