Italy World Cup Rewind: The Match of the Century, 1970

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at Internationaled.org

Published: April 11, 2014

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Welcome back to Bleacher Report's continuing series of Italian World Cup Rewinds.  We've been through a fairly bleak period in Azzurri history in our last few editions, but today's edition brings a look at the moment when things turned around and Italy once again rose toward the top of the international game.  

The game would become known to history as The Match of the Century—and it's still regarded as the finest soccer match ever played.

 

The Tournament

The 1970 World Cup was the first one not staged in Europe or South America.  Mexico was given the bid over its only competition, Argentina.  Advances in communications technology saw the games broadcast live around the world for the first time, as well as the first color broadcasts.

Mexico and defending champions England qualified automatically.  The remaining 14 spots were divided thusly: eight for Europe, three for South America, one for Africa, one for CONCACAF and one between Asia and Oceania.  Africa was guaranteed a spot in the finals for the first time after the Confederation of African Football boycotted the entire 1966 qualifying process, a protest against their being forced into a playoff with Asia and Oceania for a single spot.



Even with Africa now guaranteed a spot in the tournament, political intrigue continued to show its face during qualifying.  

North Korea, 1966 quarter-finalists and conquerors of Italy, withdrew from qualification after refusing to play Israel.  The Israelis qualified for their only World Cup after overcoming Australia in the final round of qualification.  It was the last major tournament Israel would qualify for before their move to UEFA for political reasons.

CONCACAF qualification required several playoffs on neutral ground.  The three games between Honduras and El Salvador saw massive amounts of fan violence ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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