I saw extended highlights of the 1974 World Cup final yesterday. It was entertaining enough although I thought there were plenty of controversial decisions:
- I think that the foul by Uli Hoeness on Cruyff for the opening Dutch penalty took place outside the box.
- For the equalising German penalty, I thought that Bernd Holzebein dived over Wim Jansen's leg.
- In the 2nd half Gerd Muller had a second goal ludicrously disallowed for offside, one of the worst decisions I've seen in a World Cup final. That would have made it 3-1 to West Germany.
- About 5 minutes from the end, I thought that this time Wim Jansen definitely fouled Bernd Holzebein in the box, but no penalty was given. I guess we can say that cancelled out the incorrect decision to award a penalty in the 1st half.
Had Muller's second goal not been incorrectly disallowed, he would have scored braces in World Cup, European Championship, European Cup and DFB-Pokal finals and semi-finals. Scoring the winning goal in a World Cup final on home soil, in his last ever match for West Germany, would have been special enough though.