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The 1978 World Cup opened in
a blaze of glory in Buenos Aires for Argentina,
but in picturesque, provincial Mendoza, far to
the west of the capital, within view of the
Andes, there must have been an air of
anti-climax as Holland found themselves starting
their campaign against Iran.
The stadium, built
especially for the 1978 World Cup, was
impressive enough, but the pitch was far too
soft, and the climate in this wine-growing
region did not suit the Dutch team at all, the
southern hemisphere winter bringing about bright
sunlight, sharp shadows and a distinctive drop
in temperature when the sun went down.
Dutch line-up against Iran, not the best
picture in the world,
sorry, but the shadows don't help.
Krol, Jongbloed, Willy van de Kerkhof,
Rijsbergen,
Rep, Suurbier, Jansen, René van de
Kerkhof,
Haan, Rensenbrink, Neeskens, plus local
mascot.
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The Dutch wore a
rather unappealing all orange strip for this
game, and the subsequent match against Peru,
presumably deciding that the traditional black
shorts were no longer fashionable, or something.
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As it turned
out, the unfancied Iranian side battled hard to
exploit their few moments of fame on the world
stage, and more than once discomfited the
ponderous looking Dutch defence, most notably an
early break by Hossein Faraki which could easily
have given them a shock lead. More often,
though, they simply retreated into their half of
the field, stuck rigidly to their 4-4-2
defensive formation, and invited Holland to come
at them. Although often embarrassed by the Dutch
aerial supremacy, they looked quite comfortable
defending on the ground.
Shortly before half-time, the Iranians'
inexperience showed through when René van de
Kerkhof intercepted a loose pass in the centre
circle, and cut into the penalty area before
being clumsily and unnecessarily tripped by
Nasrullah Abdollahi. The injury which Van de
Kerkhof sustained in this incident required him
to wear a protective lightweight cast on his
wrist for the remainder of the competition, with
controversial consequences in the Final. Rob
Rensenbrink opened the scoring from the penalty
spot.
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The second half saw the Dutch gradually asserting their superiority, in
terms of fitness and organisation, as the
Iranians settled for damage limitation rather
than chase a draw and risk humiliation.
Rensenbrink's second
goal, when it duly arrived, was rather a simple
affair, meeting René van de Kerkhof's excellent
cross from the right with a firm header. The
third Dutch goal was another penalty. Rep's run
into the Iranian defence from way out was the
highlight of the game by some way, and it
inevitably ended in his being brought down by a
posse of four defenders. Andranik Eskandarian
was cautioned for knocking the ball out of the
referee's hands, but it did seem one of the
easier decisions he had given in what was in
most aspects a particularly sporting opening
game. Rensenbrink completed his hat-trick from
the spot, and the result was beyond dispute.
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Iran's route to the Finals had been long and arduous, 14 matches unbeaten
in the vast Asia/Oceania section from which only
one team qualified in those days of European and
South American domination of the world game.
They had given a creditable account of
themselves on this day, and were to do even
better against Scotland next time out, but
Holland had never really been in danger of
dropping the points.
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