22 June 1974 - One Won The Battle, The Other Won The War

On 22 June 1974, East and West Germany met in the first round of the World Cup, with the top spot of their group at stake. East Germany won, 1-0, but it proved to be a hollow victory.

The teams had met three times previously, all of which came in Olympic competition. They played a two-legged tie during qualification for the 1964 Olympics, with each side winning at home (East Germany advanced on goal differential). In the 1972 Olympics, they met in the second round, with East Germany again advancing. Those three matches involved amateurs, however, making the World Cup meeting the first one with full professionals.

Playing before a crowd of 60,350 at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, both teams had already qualified for the second-round group stage. West Germany were one point ahead of East Germany and needed only a draw to take the group's top spot.

The match's early stages contained little drama, as most of the action occurred in the midfield, with hardly any action in front of either goal. Both sides had chances, though, with West Germany's Gerd Müller hitting the crossbar and East Germany's Hans-Jürgen Kreische firing over it. Then, in the 77th minute, East Germany's second-half substitute midfielder Erich Hamann raced down the right side and floated a cross into the West German box, where his fellow midfielder Jürgen Sparwasser (pictured) was there to meet it. Sparwasser controlled the ball, then slotted it into the net for the 1-0 win.

East Germany advanced as group winners into the second round group stage, where they were joined by Brazil, the Netherlands, and Argentina. They managed only a single point--drawing with Argentina--and were eliminated. The West Germans, meanwhile, won their second round group over Poland, Sweden, and Yugoslavia, then proceeded to win the Final over the Netherlands.

6 July 1974 - After 36 Years, Poland Gets Its Revenge

On 6 July 1974, Poland achieved their best finish in a World Cup, beating Brazil 0-1 in the third-place match. The match-winning goal was provided by speedy right-winger Grzegorz Lato (pictured), the tournament's highest scorer.

Poland were playing in only their second World Cup ever, with the first ending after one match in 1938 - a 6-5 loss to Brazil at the end of extra time. They had won the gold at the 1972 Olympics, however, thus establishing themselves as World Cup contenders. And indeed, they breezed through the first round with wins over Argentina (3-2), Haiti (0-7), and Italy (2-1). In the second-round group stage, they beat Sweden (0-1) and Yugoslavia (2-1) to set up the final match of the round against West Germany, with the winner advancing to the Final. It was the only match of the tournament in which the Poles could not score, losing 0-1 to a 76th-minute goal from Gerd Müller.

Playing before a crowd of 74,100 at the Olympiastadion in Munich, both sides played an open attacking style that created a handful of chances each. But it was Lato who turned one of those chances into the match's only goal, as he received the ball in his own half and sprinted down the right side past the Brazilian defense to knock the ball past the keeper in the 76th minute. It was his seventh goal of the tournament, making him the only Polish player to win a World Cup golden boot.

Poland repeated their success with another third-place finish in 1982, but have since gone into decline, failing to qualify for four out of the last six World Cups.

3 July 1974 - The Dutch Out-Brazil Brazil

On 3 July 1974, the Netherlands secured their spot in the World Cup Final by beating defending champions Brazil 2-0 in the second round.

The Netherlands and Brazil were the last to meet in their second-round group, both having already beaten fellow group members Argentina and East Germany, meaning that the winner would reach the Final. The Dutch were led by captain and reigning European Footballer of the Year, Johan Cruyff. Ostensibly a center forward, Cruyff had the freedom to roam the pitch in the Oranje's Total Football system, which abandoned positional rigidity for a free-flowing dynamic style. Brazil, meanwhile, relied on veteran midfielder Jairzinho, who had scored seven goals in the previous World Cup, second only to West Germany's Gerd Müller.

As befitting their shared attacking style, the two sides exchanged close chances in an attacking first half, but neither team was able to find the back of the net. That changed shortly after the break, as Dutch midfielder Johan Neeskens stormed into the box to latch onto the end of a Cruyff cross and chip it over the Brazilian keeper in the 50th minute. Cruyff doubled the lead fifteen minutes later with a leaping right-foot volley.

Brazil's efforts to mount a comeback were undone by the 84th-minute ejection of defender Luis Pereira for an uncharacteristically clumsy tackle.

The Netherlands advanced to the Final, where they lost 2-1 to West Germany.

14 June 1974 - West Germany Cooks With A Red Chile

On 14 June 1974, hosts West Germany opened that year's World Cup with a 1-0 win over Chile before a crowd of 83,168 at the Olympiastadion in West Berlin. In addition to kicking off West Germany's second World Cup-winning campaign, the match also delivered the Cup's first-ever red card.

Even before it began, the tournament took on a political aspect, as several Eastern European nations qualified at the expense of higher-profile Western European sides such as England, France, and Spain. West Germany, who had won the Cup in 1954 and had recently finished in second place (1966) and third place (1970), became the standard-bearers for the West. That role was emphasized by the first match, hosted by West Germany in the enclave of West Berlin, surrounded on all sides by fellow qualifiers East Germany.

The West Germans quickly established their intentions, placing the South Americans under constant pressure. In the 18th minute, defender Paul Breitner gave the hosts the lead, blasting a shot into the top left corner of the net from over thirty yards away. Only some excellent work from Chilean keeper Leopoldo Vallejos prevented the scoreline from getting worse for his side.

In the 67th minute, Chilean midfielder Carlos Caszely, frustrated by challenge moments earlier by West German defender Berti Vogts, retaliated with a violent lunge from behind that sent Vogts to the ground and earned Caszely a straight red - the first red card issued in the history of the World Cup (red and yellow cards were introduced for the first time in the 1970 tournament, but nobody earned a red that year).

The West Germans held on for the 1-0 win on the way to their second World Cup title.

31 December 1973 - Cruyff Returns To The Top

On 31 December 1973, Dutch international Johan Cruyff won the European footballer of the year award, the Ballon d'Or. It was the second such award for Cruyff, who first won it it 1971.

Cruyff began the year in his ninth season with Ajax and, by the end of the 1972-73 season, had led the Amsterdam side to a treble consisting of the 1973 European Super Cup, their sixth Eredivisie title, and their third consecutive European Cup. In the summer of 1973, he moved to Barcelona.

Internationally, Cruyff's Netherlands team had qualified for the 1974 World Cup, edging Belgium out at the top of the group on goal differential.

The award catapulted Cruyff into another successsful year in 1974, with Barcelona winning their first La Liga title in 14 seasons and the Dutch advancing to the World Cup Final, eliminating Brazil, East Germany, and Argentina along the way. Although the Oranje lost to West Germany in the Final, Cruyff was named Player of the Tournament and went on the win his third Ballon d'Or, the first player in history to win the award three times.