All Time World Cup! 2nd Round...
Scarone 40, Kubala 67, Schiaffino 80
Buenos Aires
For 40 minutes this was a tight, cagey affair, with each side waiting for the other to make a mistake. The Uruguayans, playing only a few miles from home, across the River Plate in Buenos Aires, eventually brought the crowd to life with the breakthrough shortly before half time. Jose Andrade galloped down the right, and played in a cross towards Schiaffino.
The cross was too heavy for him, so he leapt out of the way, knowing Scarone was coming up behind him, to drive the ball past Plánièka.
After the break, Uruguay attempted to shut up shop, but Czechoslovakia were not going to go down without a fight. They began giving more support to Kubala, who in the first half had been isolated up front and expected to create his own chances.
Obdulio Varela had Josef Masopust well-marshalled, and Pavel Nedved never got a kick out of Victor Andrade, but eventually Nejedly escaped Gambetta long enough to pull the ball back to Kubala, who feigned to shoot, but allowed the ball to run across his body, before rolling the ball past the suddenly wrong-footed Uruguayan keeper Mazukiewicz.
Seeking to match the South Americans physically, Czechoslovakia brought on Svatopluk Pluskal, who was versatile enough to have spent part of his career as both a defender and a striker, but was most famed as a defensive midfielder with a talent for hard-but-fair sliding tackles.
One such tackle saw Francescoli left writhing on the floor, but he was on his feet as soon as play restarted. Pluskal was well-complemented by midfield partner Antonin Panenka. Despite the quality of his free kicks and passing, Panenka is most famous for a moment of incredible bravado which won Czechoslovakia the 1976 European Championship.
Faced with the pressure of the deciding kick of the penalty shoot-out in the final against West Germany, Panenka tricked Sepp Maier into diving early, and coolly chipped the ball into the centre of the goal.
This was the first time most of the world had ever seen such a penalty, and around the globe, the move is still known as a ‘Panenka’ the way a certain drag back is know as a ‘Cruyff turn’.
However, with ten minutes to play, Obdulio Varela decided to put Pluskal, Panenka and everyone else in their place with a demonstration of the complete all-round midfielder.
After harrying his team-mates into closing down the opposition, Varela slid in on Pluskal, then chased the loose ball to win it ahead of Panenka. A dynamic run into opposition territory followed, before he fed Ghiggia.
Varela continued his run, forcing Popluhar to cover him, which allowed Ghiggia to play the ball into space for centre forward Miguez. His shot was superbly saved by the out-rushing Plánièka but as the loose ball was rolling out for a corner kick, Juan Schiaffino reached it to squeeze home from the narrowest of angles.
This time the Czechs and Slovaks had no answer, although Masopust and Kubala tried their best. Kubala in particular had shown in this tournament why he is rated by many as F.C. Barcelona’s greatest ever player.
Uruguay’s potent blend of individual skill, tactical astuteness and iron will continued to garner respect, albeit grudging.
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