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67-399: The original, temporary stadium was built between 1941 and 1943 in wood, and the current facility was built in cement between 1947 and 1951. It was renovated and enlarged 26 years later in preparation for the 1978 FIFA World Cup . The stadium has a capacity of 49,540 spectators, although it does not provide seating for all of them like most Argentine stadia. The Estadio José Amalfitani is also

134-662: A French acronym for, "Committee for the Boycott of the World Cup in Argentina." It wasn't long before the COBA had established a strong base of unity and protest throughout France, with more than 200 local COBA committees created in major cities and provinces. Further accusations have surrounded the game Argentina and Peru played in the second round of the tournament. Following Brazil's 3–1 win over Poland, Argentina needed to win by

201-546: A glorious stoppage-time opportunity to win it for the Netherlands but his effort came back off the goal post. Argentina won the final 3–1 after extra time , after Daniel Bertoni scored and Kempes, who finished as the tournament's top scorer with six goals, added his second of the day. The Netherlands, because of the controversial game events, refused to attend the post-match ceremonies after the match ended. They had lost their second consecutive World Cup final, both times to

268-516: A goal from Roberto Dinamite . Brazil and Austria thus finished with the same number of points and the same goal difference, but Austria won the group by virtue of having scored more goals. Group 1 had the strongest line-up of teams in the first round, featuring Italy , the host Argentina , France and Hungary . The two places in the second round were claimed before the final round of games, with Italy and Argentina both beating France and Hungary. The match between Italy and Argentina decided who topped

335-431: A grandstand, lockers, coffee shop, personnel room and secretary. The stadium was officially opened in a friendly match v River Plate . New grandstands were built between 1926 and 1927, completing the four sides of the stadium and therefore increasing its capacity. In 1935, the first match with artificial lighting was played at Vélez Sarsfield venue. The local team defeated Platense 4–2. The end of an era came in 1940 when

402-512: A huge upset. Los Pumas began their final preparation for the 2007 World Cup with a summer two-test series against visiting Ireland , including a 16–0 win at Vélez Sarsfield. The stadium has hosted many international concerts since the 1980s. English rock band Queen was the first to perform at Vélez Sarsfield –giving three concerts in February 1981– as part of The Game Tour to support their successful homonymous album . The visit of

469-476: A land behind Villa Luro station, between Cortina and Bacacay streets. But the definitive stadium would be built in 1922, when the club rented a land to López Bancalari Brothers on Guardia Nacional street. The club started to build a grandstand while the team continued playing in Villa Luro and other fields, until the construction finished. Works were ready in 1924, when the club inaugurated its first stadium with

536-401: A large margin. However, nothing could be proved, and Argentina met the Netherlands in the final. Brazil took third place from an enterprising Italian side with Nelinho scoring a memorable goal, and were dubbed "moral champions" by coach Cláudio Coutinho , because they did not win the tournament, but did not lose a single match. The final , Argentina vs Netherlands, was also controversial, as

603-528: A margin of four goals to proceed to the final and did so by defeating Peru by 6–0. There were allegations that the authoritarian Argentine military government interfered to ensure Argentina would defeat Peru through intimidation, though these were denied by Peruvian captain Héctor Chumpitaz and several Peruvian players. Some accusations originated in the Brazilian media and pointed to the fact that

670-501: A sea of lawsuits against the country", so the military had no option but to give up their attempts and leave it. The monetary cost of preparing to host the World Cup was put at $ 700 million, including building three new stadia and redeveloping three others; building five press centres; a new communications system costing $ 100 million; and improvements to transport systems. England, Belgium, Czechoslovakia (the European champions ) and

737-552: A strong Pumas side, which took a 20–16 lead into the half-time break, before fading in the second half and losing 34–23. In the 2006 mid-year tests , the second test against Wales , saw the Pumas win 45–27, Argentina's largest win ever over Wales. The national squad next hosted the world's top team, the All Blacks . The New Zealanders survived an Argentine assault in the final minutes to hang on to win 25–19 and to deny Argentina

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804-568: A third of all the matches played. The World Cup Stadium in Mar del Plata was heavily criticized due to its terrible pitch, which was deemed "nearly unplayable"; whereas the Amalfitani stadium in Buenos Aires, which was refurbished with the completion of press boxes and another section of upper stands but was the least used stadium for the tournament, was praised for its very good pitch. Brazil

871-412: A very late corner kick, and Zico directly headed the kick into the net; but Thomas blew for time before Zico made contact with the ball, and the goal was disallowed. The Brazilian players were not happy with the decision, but the final result remained a 1–1 draw. Heading into their final group game, Brazil needed to beat Austria to be certain of advancing to the second round and managed a 1–0 win thanks to

938-408: Is financially so important to the tournament". From Will Hersey's article "Remembering Argentina 1978: The Dirtiest World Cup of All Time": The other teams in Argentina and Hungary's group were the much-fancied France and Italy, establishing the tournament's toughest qualifying section. After the victory against Hungary, one junta official remarked to Leopoldo Luque that "this could turn out to be

1005-640: The Golden Ball in the previous 1974 FIFA World Cup , refused to take part in the 1978 World Cup, even though he earlier participated in the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification . Allegations that Cruyff refused to participate because of political convictions were denied by him 30 years later—he and his family had been the victims of a kidnapping attempt a few months before the tournament. Several criminals entered his house in Barcelona at night and tied him and his family up at gunpoint. One player, Ralf Edström ,

1072-591: The Maldonado Stream , where construction was difficult. However, the club's president José Amalfitani led the construction of the first stadium at the site, which was inaugurated on April 11, 1943. The new stadium used the same wood stands from the old Villa Luro stadium, and was inaugurated in a 2–2 draw with River Plate . Vélez striker Juan José Ferraro scored the first goal in the stadium's history (the others were scored by Ángel Fernández for Vélez and Adolfo Pedernera twice for River). The current stadium

1139-661: The national stadium for the Argentina national rugby union team ( Los Pumas ). Although the team plays test matches throughout the country, their highest-profile tests (such as against the New Zealand All Blacks) are usually held here. The Jaguares , a team that participated in the Super Rugby league from 2016 to 2020, played its home games at the stadium. During its first years of existence, Vélez Sarsfield football team played its games in vacant lands of

1206-493: The 1974 tournament. For the first time, more than 100 nations entered the competition. The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament: A controversy surrounding the 1978 World Cup was that Argentina had undergone a military coup of its democratic government only two years before the cup, which installed a dictatorship known as the National Reorganization Process . Between

1273-477: The Argentine authoritarian military junta government, who were using this tournament as an opportunity for nationalistic propaganda, and for the relatively new military junta to seek legitimacy on the world stage. During the months before the start of the World Cup, the junta was intending to dismantle those who were against them and mitigate criticism from the public on their policies. The official match ball

1340-521: The Best Player and Top Goal Scorer. The format of the competition stayed the same as in 1974 : 16 teams qualified, divided into four groups of four. Each group played a round-robin with two points for a win and one for a draw, and goal difference used to separate teams level on points. The top two teams in each group would advance to the second round, where they would be split into two groups of four. The winners of each group would play each other in

1407-520: The Dutch accused the Argentines of using stalling tactics to delay the match. The host team came out late and questioned the legality of a plaster cast on René van de Kerkhof 's wrist, which the Dutch said allowed tension to build in front of a hostile Buenos Aires crowd. Mario Kempes opened the scoring for the hosts before Dick Nanninga equalised a few minutes from the end. Rob Rensenbrink had

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1474-600: The Navy (known by its acronym ESMA ) held concentration camp prisoners of the Dirty War and those held captive reportedly could hear the roars of the crowd during matches held at River Plate's Monumental Stadium, located only a mile away; prompting echoes of Hitler's and Mussolini's alleged political manipulation of sports during the 1936 Berlin Olympics and 1934 FIFA World Cup . Also, the junta practiced censorship since it

1541-458: The Netherlands also scored three times against Iran, scoring all the goals as the Dutch won 3–0. Scotland drew with Iran 1–1 and the only highlight of their campaign was a 3–2 victory over the Netherlands in their final group game which was not enough to prevent elimination. Iran, the reigning Asian champions , went out of the tournament winless. Rensenbrink's goal against Scotland was the 1000th goal of World Cup history. Scotland's Willie Johnston

1608-602: The Peruvian goalkeeper, Ramón Quiroga , had been born in Argentina. There was also an alleged deal, reported by the British media as an anonymous rumour, that involved the delivery of a large grain shipment to Peru by Argentina and the unfreezing of a Peruvian bank account that was held by the Argentine Central Bank. Another alleged deal, published by a Colombian drug lord in a controversial book, involved

1675-526: The Peruvian team being bribed without any political implications. A third alleged deal, stated by a Peruvian leftist politician, encompassed sending 13 Peruvian dissidents exiled in Argentina back to Peru. Three months before the World Cup, Argentina had beaten Peru 3–1 in Lima, their head-to-head record was 15–3 in favour of the host nation, and Peru had never beaten Argentina away from home. However, Peru had conceded only six goals in their previous five games in

1742-565: The Soviet Union failed to qualify for the second World Cup in succession, losing out to Italy, the Netherlands, Scotland and Hungary respectively. Along with England's failure, Wales and Northern Ireland also failed to qualify leaving Scotland the only nation of the United Kingdom to remain in the final sixteen. 1974 quarter-finalists East Germany and Yugoslavia were eliminated by Austria and Spain and thus also failed to qualify for

1809-400: The World Cup could produce counter-sympathy for the junta, they launched a campaign that would teach journalists to write about the tournament but based on the regime, along with the slogan "Football yes, torture no." They hoped that the journalists would turn their eyes away from the matches and look at what's going on in their society to educate their readers on the reality of Argentina. Paris

1876-470: The World Cup. During the first half, Peru hit the post twice after two counters when the game was 0–0. Argentina managed to get 2–0 ahead before the end of the first 45 minutes. During the second half, Argentina was 4–0 ahead when Peru had another clear chance. Argentina kept attacking and scored twice more, making it 6–0 and surpassing the required margin. There was also some domestic controversy as well, as Argentine manager César Luis Menotti did not call up

1943-442: The assumption that state policies wouldn't interfere with the passion and enthusiasm of fans. Argentina's controversial and favorable decisions in their matches have caused many to view their eventual win as illegitimate; many cite the political climate and worldwide pressure on the Argentine government as the reason for these decisions. Desperate to prove their stability and prominence to the world after their coup two years earlier,

2010-523: The band (which was at the peak of their career by then) had huge repercussions in Argentina, being widely covered by the media, and famous personalities –such as Diego Maradona – attending to their concerts. José Amalfitani Stadium hosts events of up to 50,000 spectators. 1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup , a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among

2077-445: The beneficiaries of multiple favourable calls. After France were denied what looked to be a clear penalty in the first half, an anonymous French player said he had heard the referee tell Daniel Passarella (the player who committed the foul), "Don't do that again please, or I might have to actually give it next time." Amnesty International announced their strategy for Argentina in 1978. After their awareness that urging people away from

José Amalfitani Stadium - Misplaced Pages Continue

2144-569: The club was intimated to leave the lands where the stadium was located due to the rental contract had expired. After suffering relegation from the Argentine Primera División in 1940, Vélez was sacked from the Villa Luro ground they were renting. Three years later, in 1941, the club obtained the terrain of the current stadium, property of the Buenos Aires Western Railway . The ground was a swamp of

2211-646: The current Racing Club Stadium , along with the roof. The Tucuman venue was temporarily suspended in 1974 and was decommissioned the following year, given the intensity of the actions of the guerrillas and the Armed Forces in the province. Three new stadiums were built ( Olympic Stadium in Córdoba ; World Cup Stadium in Mar del Plata ; and Mendoza City Stadium in Mendoza ) and the other three were remodelled. Of

2278-546: The final, and the second-place finishers in the third place match. The first round produced several surprises. Poland won Group 2 ahead of world champions West Germany , after holding the Germans to a goalless draw and then beating Tunisia and Mexico . The Germans then beat Mexico 6–0, and finally played out a second goalless draw against Tunisia. Although they failed to qualify for the second round, Tunisia made history by beating Mexico 3–1 while trailing 0–1 at half time. It

2345-399: The finals, along with Bulgaria which failed to qualify for the first time since 1958 after losing to France. Bolivia's win meant Uruguay also failed to qualify for the first time since 1958. Newcomers to the finals were Iran and Tunisia; Austria qualified for the first time since 1958, while France, Spain and Hungary were back for the first time since 1966. Peru and Mexico returned after missing

2412-461: The first World Cup in 1930 , only 15 teams (plus the host, who automatically qualified) had been allowed to qualify (the reigning title holders also received automatic qualification from 1934 through 2002); but for the next World Cup, in Spain , FIFA expanded that tournament to 24 teams. This tournament was marred by flagrant controversy, domestic politics, and alleged interference and match-fixing by

2479-480: The government used whatever means necessary to ensure that the team would progress far in the tournament. Suspicions of match fixing arose even before the tournament began; Lajos Baróti , the head coach of Argentina's first opponents, Hungary , said that "everything, even the air, is in favor of Argentina". He also talked about the financial imperative to have Argentina win the World Cup: "The success of Argentina

2546-528: The group of death as far as you are concerned." It was delivered with a smile. "Uppermost in my mind was that earlier that day, the brother of a close friend of mine had disappeared", recalled Luque. "His body was later found by villagers on the banks of the River Plate with concrete attached to his legs. At that time, opponents of the regime were sometimes thrown out of aeroplanes into the sea." In their second group stage game against France , Argentina were

2613-542: The group stages. The José Amalfitani Stadium is the current home ground for the Jaguares , an Argentine Super Rugby franchise. The ground has also hosted the Argentina national team ( Los Pumas ) since 1986, when the side left to play at Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium (their home venue by then) searching for higher capacity stadiums. When South Africa played Argentina in November 2005 at Vélez Sarsfield, they faced

2680-461: The group, and a goal from Roberto Bettega midway through the second half was enough to give that honour to Italy. It also forced Argentina to move out of Buenos Aires and play in Rosario . The 1978 World Cup marked the fourth and last occasion during which a national team did not wear its own kit to play a match (the first being in the 1934 World Cup third place match between Germany and Austria;

2747-441: The host nation, after losing to West Germany in 1974. Argentina won 5 games but became the first team to win the World Cup after failing to win two matches, where they had lost to Italy in the first round and drawn with Brazil in the second round. Four years later, Italy would win the next World Cup despite failing to win three games. The official mascot of this World Cup was Gauchito , a boy wearing an Argentina kit. His hat (with

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2814-514: The idea of bring the lighting system used in baseball stadiums in the US that had impressed him. Nevertheless, the club later would sign an agreement with Germany-based company Siemens to be is supplier. José Amalfitani Stadium inaugurated its lighting system in 1969 in a match vs Brazilian Santos FC The stadium was refurbished for the 1978 FIFA World Cup with the completion of press boxes and another section of upper stands, and hosted three games in

2881-444: The jerseys had vertical green and white stripes and were worn by France. In the all-European Group A, the Netherlands got off to a flying start by thrashing Austria 5–1, Johnny Rep scoring two of their goals. In a rematch of the 1974 final, the Dutch then drew 2–2 with West Germany, who had previously shared a goalless game with Italy. The Italians beat Austria 1–0, and so the Netherlands faced Italy in their last group game knowing that

2948-556: The men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by the host nation, Argentina , who defeated the Netherlands 3–1 in the final, after extra time . The final was held at River Plate 's home stadium, Estadio Monumental , in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires . This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth team (after Uruguay , Italy , England , and West Germany ) to be both hosts and world champions and

3015-561: The neighborhood, with removable goal posts. In 1913 the Argentine Football Association ordered the club to host its home games at a bigger stadium so the club moved to the Juan Martín Figallo's (a neighbor) country house on Rodó and Escalada streets. Figallo rented the club part of his land. In 1914, the club called an assembly to discuss the possibility to rent lands on better places. The club got

3082-470: The result of the Brazil-Poland encounter. Brazil won by a 3–1 score, meaning Argentina had to beat Peru by four clear goals to reach the final but they managed to do it. Trailing 2–0 at half-time, Peru simply collapsed in the second half, and Argentina eventually won 6–0. As previously noted, rumors suggested that Peru might have been bribed or threatened into allowing Argentina to win the match by such

3149-460: The rules so that the final two group games in subsequent World Cups (as well as in every other international tournament, starting with the UEFA Euro 1984 ) would be played simultaneously. The military forces that had control over Argentina at the time wanted to hold that power for as long as they could, but with a different perspective. The use of repression, torture, kidnapping, and assassination

3216-449: The second in the 1950 World Cup first round match between Switzerland and Mexico and the third in the 1958 World Cup first round match between West Germany and Argentina). The incident happened during the game between France and Hungary. Both teams arrived at the venue with only their white change kits, resulting in a delayed kickoff while officials went in search of the jerseys of a local team from Mar del Plata, Club Atlético Kimberley ;

3283-593: The six venues used, the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires was the largest and most used venue, hosting nine total matches, including the final. The Olympic Stadium in Cordoba hosted eight matches, the stadiums in Mendoza, Rosario and Mar del Plata each hosted six matches and José Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires hosted three matches — bringing the Argentine capital and largest city's total to 12 — nearly

3350-495: The then-17-year-old Argentinos Juniors local star Diego Maradona , for Menotti felt Maradona was too young to handle the pressures of such an important tournament on home soil and that the expectations of the team's performance would probably revolve around the Buenos Aires-born youngster. In addition, Maradona's usual position of number 10 (play-making attacking midfielder) was taken by Mario Kempes , who ended up as

3417-415: The third South American team to win a World Cup. Argentina, the Netherlands, and Brazil were the gold, silver, and bronze medalists, respectively. Iran and Tunisia made their first appearances in the tournament. The defending champions, West Germany were eliminated in the second round (finishing third in their group). This was also the last World Cup tournament to use the original inclusion of 16 teams. Since

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3484-626: The time that the military junta took over the government and the time the World Cup started, foreign journalists were concerned about how Argentinian newspaper reporters and editors were being treated by the regime, in attempting to get leftist members out of the picture. The new government targeted any parts of society that they saw were trying to undermine them. Less than a year before the World Cup, in September 1977, Interior Minister General Albano Harguindeguy , stated that 5,618 people had recently disappeared. The infamous Higher School of Mechanics of

3551-427: The tournament. In total, 102 goals were scored by 62 players, with three of them credited as own goals. In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition. The rankings for the 1978 tournament were as follows: Jaguares (Super Rugby) Too Many Requests If you report this error to

3618-503: The winners would reach the final. Ernie Brandts scored an 18th-minute own goal to put Italy ahead at half-time, but he made up for his mistake by scoring at the right end in the fifth minute of the second half. Arie Haan got the winner for the Dutch with 15 minutes remaining, and the Netherlands had reached their second successive World Cup Final. In the game known as the miracle of Cordoba , West Germany were surprisingly beaten by Austria 2–3 which marked their end as World Champions. Group B

3685-528: The words ARGENTINA '78), neckerchief , and whip are typical of gauchos . In 1972, eight venues were preselected; six that were used for the finals, plus La Plata and Tucuman . La Plata, the city of the diagonals, promised a "one-of-a-kind stadium" but by 1974 it was scrapped by internal bids. The La Plata Stadium was finally completed in 2003. In the case of Tucuman, an ambitious stadium of 70,000 spectators had been promised in Horco Molle, similar to

3752-424: The world, but international newspapers and human rights organizations have already criticized Argentina as host for the next World Cup. Because of the political turmoil, some countries, most notably the Netherlands and Sweden , considered publicly whether they should participate in the event. Despite this, all teams eventually took part without restrictions. However, most notably, Dutch star Johan Cruyff , who won

3819-623: Was a center of unanimity for the victims of the Argentinian dictatorship, which launched a campaign to boycott the 1978 World Cup. In the city, they made posters, publications or any kind of information that expressed opposition to the World Cup under a dictatorship. The first calls to boycott were published in the daily Le Monde in October 1977. Later, a boycott committee was organized, which brought together human-rights militants and left-wing activists. This organization came to be known as COBA,

3886-498: Was arrested for speaking to someone in Buenos Aires ; however, the Argentine military released him upon recognizing that he was a Swedish footballer, not an ordinary person. More controversy surrounded the host, Argentina, as all of their games in the first round kicked off at night, giving the Argentines the advantage of knowing where they stood in the group. This issue would arise again in Spain 1982, which prompted FIFA to change

3953-441: Was becoming an everyday reality, with 30,000 people murdered between 1976 and 1983, the end of the dictatorship. People wondered why FIFA would allow the World Cup to go on under these circumstances and that 15 other countries, most of which are old democracies, would participate in the tournament. However, it is simply because of the dominant notion that football or soccer, or any sport for that matter, belong to civil society, giving

4020-411: Was essentially a battle between Argentina and Brazil, and it was resolved in controversial circumstances. In the first round of group games, Brazil beat Peru 3–0 while Argentina saw Poland off by a score of 2–0. Brazil and Argentina then played out a tense and violent goalless draw, so both teams went into the last round of matches with three points. Argentina delayed the kick-off of its last match to await

4087-460: Was established, which encouraged less reports on the real situation in Argentina. This was done as an attempt to change the character of the Argentinian people. Just months before the World Cup, the Argentinian regime launched a campaign to silence any disapproval of the government from the people. However, over the course of the tournament, the regime ceased the operation to avoid giving off their authoritarianism and receiving criticism from all over

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4154-471: Was expelled from the World Cup after he was found to have taken a banned stimulant during the opening game against Peru . The biggest surprise of all came in Group 3, where Austria finished ahead of Brazil . The Austrians beat Spain and Sweden , while Brazil were held to draws by the same two teams. The draw between Brazil and Sweden was especially controversial; Welsh referee Clive Thomas awarded Brazil

4221-455: Was forced by tournament organizers to play all three of its first group matches in Mar del Plata; there had been rumors and allegations of the organizers deliberately sabotaging the Minella stadium's pitch to weaken Brazil's chances of success. For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1978 FIFA World Cup squads . With six goals, Mario Kempes was the top scorer in

4288-595: Was inaugurated on April 22, 1951. The stadium was renamed in honor of José Amalfitani on December 7, 1968. The following year, a modern lighting system by Siemens was installed, and the first of the upper stand sections was completed. José Amalfitani Stadium was the first venue in South America with a lighting system, inaugurated in 1928. After the stadium was inaugurated, one of the members of Vélez Sarsfield executive committee, Raùl D'Onofrio (father of then president of River Plate Rodolfo D'Onofrio), came up with

4355-412: Was one of the most famous, populist images of Perón. The design was created in 1974, two years prior to the military coup in 1976 . The military leadership were aware that the World Cup's logo symbolized Perón's gesture, and they tried to change the competition's logo. At this point, the design was already broadly commercialized and the merchandise had already been made: a forced modification "would trigger

4422-524: Was the Adidas Tango . Argentina was chosen as the host nation by FIFA on 6 July 1966 in London, England when the hosts for 1974 , 1978 and 1982 editions were chosen. Mexico withdrew from the bidding process after having been awarded the 1970 event two years earlier. The logo is based on President Juan Perón 's signature gesture: a salute to the crowd with both arms extended above his head. This

4489-464: Was the first time that any African team had won a match at the World Cup finals. Peru pushed the Netherlands into second place in Group 4, where Scotland missed out on goal difference for the second successive tournament. Teófilo Cubillas was outstanding for Peru, scoring twice against Scotland in Peru's 3–1 win and hitting a hat-trick in their 4–1 victory over newcomers Iran . Rob Rensenbrink of

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