1979 FIFA World Youth Championship Final

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1979 FIFA World Youth Championship Final
National Stadium of Japan Kasumigaoka.jpg
National Stadium of Tokyo, venue of the match
Event1979 FIFA World Youth Championship
Argentina Soviet Union
Argentina Soviet Union
3 1
Date7 September 1979
19:00
VenueNational Stadium, Tokyo
RefereeJosé Roberto Wright (Brazil)
Attendance52,000
← 1977
1981 →

The 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship Final was a football match that was played on at the National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan on 7 September 1979 to determine the champions of the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship. The final was contested by Argentina and the Soviet Union. Argentina won the match 3–1, winning the title for the first time.[1]

Argentine raising superstar Diego Maradona, who scored a goal, was named the best player of the competition.

Background[]

Ernesto Duchini (left) chose the players that were then coached by César Menotti (right)

Argentina had won its first FIFA World Cup just one year before. César Luis Menotti, who had managed the senior squad that crowned champion in Argentina, coached the team. Ernesto Duchini –who was part of the coaching staff to discover new talents around the country– had selected the players that were then under the guidance of Menotti to win the title.[2]

Duchini had been in charge of Argentine youth teams since 1954, and was a cornerstone of the coaching staff that led that group of players to achieve their first title. Some of the players discovered by Duchini were Roberto Perfumo, Carlos García Cambón, Oscar Más, Rubén Ayala, Oscar Ortíz, Jorge Olguín, Raúl Savoy, among others.[3]

Duchini worked side-by-side with Miguel Gitano Juárez, former player of Rosario Central and very close to Menotti. Juárez suggested some players for the youth team, such as Juan Simón, Rubén Rossi, Rafael Seria and Daniel Sperandío, all of them playing in Rosario-based clubs.

The players selected to play the tournament were goalkeepers Sergio García (Flandria) and Rafael Seria (Central Córdoba); defenders Juan Simón (Newell's), Rubén Rossi (Colón), Abelardo Carabelli (Argentinos Juniors), Hugo Alves (Boca Juniors), Marcelo Bachino (Boca Juniors), Jorge Piaggio (Atlanta); midfielders Daniel Sperandío (Rosario Central), Juan Barbas (Racing), Osvaldo Rinaldi (San Lorenzo), Juan José Meza (Central Norte de Tucumán); Diego Maradona (Argentinos Juniors); forwards Osvaldo Escudero (Chacarita), Alfredo Torres (Atlanta), Ramón Díaz (River Plate), Gabriel Calderón (Racing), José Luis Lanao (Vélez).[4]

Diego Maradona was the playmaker and leader of that team. His performance in the competition was so stunning that was awarded the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament. He also won the Silver Boot as the second topscorer behind teammate Ramón Díaz.[2]

Road to the final[]

Argentina Round Soviet Union
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
 Indonesia 5–0 Match 1  Hungary 5–1
 Yugoslavia 1–0 Match 2  Guinea 3–0
 Poland 4–1 Match 3  Uruguay 0–1
Group B winners
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD Status
 Argentina 6 3 3 0 0 10 1 +9 Advanced to the quarter-finals
 Poland 4 3 2 0 1 9 4 +5
 Yugoslavia 2 3 1 0 2 5 3 +2
 Indonesia 0 3 0 0 3 0 16 −16
Final standings Group D runners-up
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD Status
 Uruguay 6 3 3 0 0 8 0 +8 Advanced to the quarter-finals
 Soviet Union 4 3 2 0 1 8 2 +6
 Hungary 2 3 1 0 2 3 7 –4
 Guinea 0 3 0 0 3 0 10 −10
Opponent Result Knockout stage Opponent Result
 Algeria 5–0 Quarter finals  Paraguay 2–2 (aet) (6–5 pen.)
 Uruguay 2–0 Semi-finals  Poland 1–0

Match details[]

Argentina 3–1 Soviet Union
Alves Goal 68'
Díaz Goal 71'
Maradona Goal 76'		 Report Ponomaryov Goal 52'
National Stadium, Tokyo
Attendance: 52,000
Argentina
Soviet Union
GK 1 Sergio García
DF 4 Abelardo Carabelli
DF 2 Juan Simón
DF 6 Rubén Rossi
DF 3 Hugo Alves
MF 8 Juan Barbas
MF 13 Osvaldo Rinaldi Substituted off
MF 10 Diego Maradona
FW 7 Osvaldo Escudero
FW 9 Ramón Díaz
FW 11 Gabriel Calderón
Substitutions:
MF 17 Juan J. Meza Substituted in
GK 12 Rafael Seria
DF 13 Jorge Piaggio
MF 5 Daniel Sperandío
DF 15 Marcelo Bachino
FW 16 Alfredo Torres
FW 18 José Lanao
Coach:
Argentina César Menotti
GK 1 Victor Chanov
DF 14 Sergei Ovchinnikov
DF 2 Victor Yanushevsky Substituted off
DF 4 Ashot Khachatrian
DF 5 Aleksandr Polukarov
MF 15 Anatoli Radenko
MF 6 Jaroslav Dumansky Substituted off
MF 8 Igor Ponomarev
FW 13 Sergei Stukashev
FW 10 Oleg Taran
FW 11 Igor Gurinovich
Substitutions:
MF 7 Mikhail Olefirenko Substituted in
16 Vladimir Mikhalevsky Substituted in
DF 3 Alexander Golovnia
9 Valeri Zubenko
12 Gennadi Zalov
MF 17 Aleksandr Zavarov
18 Sergei Krakovsky
Coach:
Soviet Union Sergei Korshunov

Match rules:

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
  • Five named eligible substitutes
  • Maximum of two substitutions

Sources:

Aftermath[]

The Argentine players celebrating after the match

The second world title within two years were widely celebrated by people throughout the country, as they had done the previous year after the win against the Netherlands.[2]

The media also praised the team's style of play, attributed to Menotti's philosophy toward the game.[3]

Sirs, you are already champions, I don't mind the result of this game because you have shown that you are the best in the world. Nothing to hit kicks or to do crazy things; let's go, play and amuse the 35,000 Japanese at the grandstands

— Manager César Menotti's talk to the players before the final match.

Beyond the great performance of the team in general, media focused on the performances of Argentinos Juniors' star Diego Maradona (highlighting his control of the ball, passing and dribbling) and Ramón Díaz's scoring prowess at the tournament.[4]

At their returning from Japan, the players were carried in helicopter to the Atlanta stadium, where the flagship landed on the field as part of the celebrations for the championship won in Tokyo.[5]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ World Youth Cup (U-20) 1979 (Japan) by Pablo Ciullini, Erik Garin and Héctor V. Martínez on the RSSSF
  2. ^ a b c Argentina Sub-20 1979 on El Gráfico
  3. ^ a b Argentina ganaba su primer mundial juvenil on Diario Jornada, 6 Sep 2014
  4. ^ a b Hace 37 años, Argentina ganaba su primer Mundial Juvenil by Gustavo Lenti, Telam, 7 Sep 2016
  5. ^ La delirante llegada del campeón sub 20 (video), El Gráfico
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