Ever mysterious Paraguay – hardly any news, hardly any famous players, yet, appreciated by foreign clubs from Spain to all South America for years. Staying largely outside international spotlights nevertheless. The second half of the 1970s is particularly dark – even final tables are difficult to find. Olimpia (Asuncion) won the title in 1978. Sol de America (Asuncion) finished second.

Old club, nice logo, no information... Sol de America is one of the many clubs in the Paraguayan capital. Typical for South America, where football is largely dominated by the clubs of the capital cities, but Paraguay is almost unique – with the exception of Uruguay, there is no other country with almost no rival city. The best Paraguayan clubs are concentrated in Asuncion, the rivalries are there, and the rest of the country has only one really strong club opposing Asuncion's domination – Sportivo Luqueno (Luque). It was not their year, though. It was not the year of the usual contestant Cerro Porteno either – Sol de America played evidently well. Well enough for silver medals.

As for the title – the best known Paraguayan club won it.

Olimpia – the oldest club of the country, the best known, and the most successful. They won their 24th title. Hard to best such record, yet, it was no business as usual: in retrospect the 1975-86 period is called 'the golden years' of the club. In real time it was not so – the club won the championship in 1975 and now in 1978. Not bad, but nothing special – but the title in 1978 was the first of the record 6 consequtive titles. Plus international success. All that was unknown in 1978, of course, and good or bad the champions left no trace of themselves.

This is a photo from the great 1979 Copa Libertadores winners, but it will suffice here: the team was almost the same, the key players were already shaping Olimpia for some time. Apparently, two players are creditted as instrumental for the 1978 title – the 26-years old Paraguayan Osvaldo Aquino and the Uruguayan import Migel Angel Piazza. But they were not alone – the young Jorge Guasch was in the team. He became regular national team player later, tottaling 47 caps for Paraguay between 1985 and 1991. Another player was already established Paraguayan star – the 29-years old Hugo Talavera.

Talavera, pictured here with the national team kit, was part of both Olimpia and Team Paraguay successes coming shortly after 1978.

Yet, the player perhaps deserving most praise was the goalkeeper Ever Hugo Almeida. He was already 30-years old in 1978, with good 13 years of professional football to his credit. He debuted in 1967 for Cerro (Montevideo) – rightly so, for he was born Uruguayan. Moved to Paraguay in 1972 and joined Olimpia in 1973, becoming Paraguayan citizen eventually and starting playing for the national team of his new country. For Paraguay the 'oriundo' played 22 matches. For Olimpia he became a legend – he stayed with the club to the end of his career. Which happened in 1991!

Hugo Almeida in his last playing years – by the time the world learned about a Paraguayan goallie or two... Chilavert, Mondragon, Almeida was still playing. 18 years for Olimpia. 24 years total. In 1978 he was perhaps at his best – experienced, wise, stable. Strong team starts with the goalkeeper, the common wisdom goes, and Olimpia already had the skeleton of strong and successful team, ready to conquer something larger than Paraguay.

Bolivia, another of the low ranking countries, made significant change in 1977: full professional league was formed. The championship formula was complicated and also changed in later time, but the general format remains. It was the end of semi-professional football and chaotic tournaments, a determined step hoping to elevate the level of the game. The only problem at the end is counting titles – championships are divided: amateur era, semi-professional era, and the new league, so it is somewhat difficult to make totals. Anyhow, the new league started with 16 clubs, most of them the 'usual suspects' from La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz. Most of the big names settled well in the new environment , but there was one casualty: Always Ready (La Paz) was fading away and although they started very well in the new league, it was also their last success.


The teams were divided in two groups, 8 in each, for the first phase. The numbers don't add – every team ended with 16 matches played, which does not make sense, not fitting into neither 2-leg round-robin group tournament, nor into 1-leg inter-group championship. The top five of each group proceeded to the second phase, carrying their records from the first stage. The team with least points was relegated – the unlucky one was 20 de Augusto (Beni). They played in Group B and won only 4 points – 1 win and 2 ties. The next weakest club was the last in Group A, Aurora (Cochabamba), finishing with 9 points. No club was head and shoulders above the rest – the top two teams in both groups finished with equal points. The pursuers were close – the team with least points entering the second stage was Municipal (La Paz) with 16. The rest were: San Jose (Oruro), Always Ready (La Paz), Oriente Petrolero (Santa Cruz), The Strongest (La Paz), and Oriente Petrolero (Cochabamba) from Group A, and Bolivar (La Paz), Jorge Wilstermann (Cochabamba), Bata (Cochabamba), Blooming (Santa Cruz), and already mentioned Municipal. Perhaps with the exception of Bata – the traditional cream of Bolivian football, with increasingly strong Oriente Petrolero and Jorge Wilstermann.

The second phase was standard 2-led round-robin tournament, with the added records from the first phase, of course. The best two of the groups moved to the third stage. Jorge Wilstermann was almost unchalanged in Group B – they finished first with 33 points, 4 points ahead of Oriente Petrolero. Municipal was just happy to appear at this stage – they finished last with the least points among all – 20. Group A was tougher – three teams hardly played a role, but the battle between Bolivar and Always Ready lasted to the end. Bolivar clinched the top spot by a point, but the third finisher – Bata – ended 7 points behind Always Ready.

One more mini-league for the third phase: 2-leg round-robin tournament, previous records not counted. Beginning from scratch, yet, strong performance during the season distinguished the favourites – Bolivar and Jorge Wilstermann. Always Ready collapsed, however – they finished 4th, with measly 3 points. Oriente Petrolero was not much better – 5 points. The top two finished with equal points – 8 – and the final table depended on goal-difference, so Bolivar finished first by a goal.

Yet, the championship was finished: the top two had to play a final on neutral ground: Bolivar and Jorge Wilstermann met in Santa Cruz and Bolivar clinched a 1-0 victory – and the title.

One more note about the championship – high goalscoring. By 1978 scoring was getting lower, especially in Europe. The Bolivians achieved impressive 3.48 goals per match. Well, weaker leagues tend to have high records, but still – impressive.

Jorge Wilstermann finished second.

The club historians proudly speak of the second 'golden era' during the 1970s: the boys won two titles – 1972 and 1973 – and were steadily among the best. So silver was not bad, especially for a club founded as late as 1949. The Cochabamba club fougth to the end and lost by a single goal. Not champions, but increasing the importance of the La Paz – Cochabamba rivalry. Perhaps making it the most important in Bolivian football.

Bolivar are traditionally successful – they already had 12 titles: 6 during the amateur era, and 6 more during the semi-professional years. Their last was in 1976. Now they were proud to win their first title in the new professional league format.

Founded in 1925, Bolivar is not the oldest club in Bolivia – not even in La Paz, but already was one the strongest and most successful. They faced relegation only once – in 1964 – which, with time, became rather amusing point, for it was never repeated again. Their original name also sounds a bit amusing: it was Atletico Bolívar Literario Musical. The high-brow parts were eventually dropped and the club became simply Club Atletico Bolivar. Popular and strong, they earned long time ago the nickname 'La Academia', although their sky-blue colours made for another equally popular nickname – 'Los Celestes'. True to their nicknames, they added one more title.

Hard to tell much of the team – most players were unknown to the world. Plenty of foreigners: 5 plus one naturalized Argentinian. One Paraguayan and 4 Argentines. Not great stars, yet, at least two were fairly known names in South America – Luis Gregorio Gallo and the defender Ricardo Troncone.

Troncone became a legend of Bolivar – an iron defender, who generally won every ball and did not let straikers pass. He was helped by another club legend – Pablo Baldivieso, already nearing the end of his career, but considered one of the best Bolivian defenders in the 1960s.

Midfield was also strong: here perhaps the biggest club legend played -

Carlos Fernando Borja Bolívar – or simply Carlos Borja. He was mearly 22-years old in his second professional season, but rapidly becoming the most influencial player of the team. Borja scored a lot as well, but his major quality was consistency. He was incrediably loyal to the club – a one-club man, for which he played 20 years! As a total, he played 532 games and scored 129 goals for Bolivar. And equally strong was he as a national team player – 88 matches and 1 goal in 16 years, reaching at the end to the 1994 World Cup finals. 1978 established Borja as a Bolivian star – and he was called to the national team the next year. A true legend, which was not known in 1978, of course – back then he was bright new star.

The attack was strong as a whole, with Viviano Lugo (naturalized Argentine, who probably unjustly was never called to the Bolivian national team) and Waldino Palacios (Argentina), but the big name was the 24-years old Jesus Reynaldo. A goal scoring machine, he was already twice the top Bolivian scorer and, so far, bigger star than Borja.

Reynaldo (on the right) provided goals to Bolivar, delighting the fans. Unlike Borja, he played for few other clubs, scoring a plenty everywhere, and ending as the all-time best Bolivian goalscorer. But this was also in the future – for the present, he simply made Bolivar's attack lethal.

Strong squad, by Bolivian standards, but well-rounded and most importantly – quite young. Only three players were 30 or older. The veterans still had a few years ahead of them, providing experience and stability. The younger talent was very promissing – and the key players were all young: Borja, Reynaldo, Fierro, Araoz, Aragones. A team with a future. As a novelty, there were two 'strange' players: Vlado Svigir and Stephan Matic, clearly of Yugoslavian descent, most likely Croatian. But they were no imports – they were Bolivians. Neither played a role in the winning team, though – aparently deep reserves.

Ecuadorian football ranked higher than venezuelan one, but some attention to it was paid only in South America. Obscure country, so the drama was almost entirely local. Three-stage championship: at first the 10-club league played standard 2-leg tournament. The bottom two teams were relegated and replaced by the best two in the second division. The top three qualified for the final stage, carrying extra points to it: 3 the first placed; two – the second, and a single point the third. El Nacional (Quito) finished first by a point. Tecnico Universitario (Ambato) was second and Emelec (Guayaquil) – third. The last two were LDU (Quito) – goal difference determined the fate of three clubs, and LDU had the worst – and at the last place ended Manta, clearly the outsider – they lost 10 of their 18 championship games. The club scored quite a lot of goals, but the defense was too leaky. These two were replaced by UD Valdez (Milagro) and Bonita Banana (Machala) for the second phase, clubs hardly meaning anything today, for they no longer exist.


The second phase was exact coppy of the first, once again the bottom two relegated and top three carrying points to the final stage. Bonita Banana performed well, ending 5th , but UD Valdez were pathetic and settled on the very bottom with measly 9 points from 18 games. The won a single match and lost 10. Above them finished LDU (Portoviejo), quite surprisingly, for only worse goal-difference denied them third place at the opening tournament.

At the top – no surprises: El Nacional was first again, but only because of better goal-difference. Barcelona, a traditional favourite, finished second, one point above two teams with also equal ponts. Goal-difference placed Tecnico Universitario third and Emelec was forth. Thus El Nacional, Tecnico Universitario, Barcelona, and Emelec composed the final group of 4 teams, competing for the title. The second placed in the fnal tournament got the second Ecuadorian spot for the Copa Libertadores.

El Nacional was starting with good advantage – they carried 6 points from the first two stages. TU had 3, Barcelona – 2, and Emelec – 1. Now the finalists had to play 2-leg round robin mini-championship. The competition was fierse and almost every away match was lost by all contestants. El Nacional was a bit better than the rest, finishing with 3 wins, 1 tie, and 2 losses. Barcelona was slightly worse – 2 wins, 1 tie, 3 losses. The other two teams won 3 matches, but lost also 3. The difference was really made by the bonus points, although El Nacional was first even if there were no additional points. Curiously, the second placed TU ended with negative goal-difference. Emelec scored the most goals.

The final table:

1.El Nacional 6 3 1 2 9- 6 13 [6]

2.Técnico Univ. 6 3 0 3 7-11 9 [3]

3.Emelec 6 3 0 3 12-10 7 [1]

4.Barcelona 6 2 1 3 6- 7 7 [2]

New old champions – El Nacional won third consecutive title, something no Ecuadorian club achieved before. All together, it was their 5th title – great success, considering that the club was founded in 1964 in Quito. But it was not just any club – El Nacional belonged to the Ecuadorian Military. Hence, it was not only well administered and financed, but had considerable weight in Ecuadorian football. One thing making the club attractive to fans was the policy of using only Ecuadorian players – not surprising policy for and army club, but endearing to sentimental public. And because of this policy the most popular nickname of El Nacional is 'Puros Criollos' – 'Pure Creoles', which may smack of nationalism, but also makes sense to many. The full name is typically long and nobody uses it, but it describes popular South American aims of making sporting club socially important gathering place: it is 'Club Social, Cultural y Deportivo "El Nacional"'. More than football, yet, football is the most imporatant part of it. As for rivelries – since the club was young and located in a city with few much older clubs, some 'derbies' were more or less artificially made – those with LDU and Deportivo Quito – but one occured instantly: with Espoli. Espoli belonged to the Police and rivelry between Police and Army happens everywhere. Thus, El Clásico de las Fuerzas del Orden (The Armed Services Derby) was quickly born.

Since Ecuadorian players were largely unknown abroad, little can be said for the strength of the squad – obviously, the policy of recruiting only Ecuadorians worked. And to work, obviously El Nacional had enough money and clout to get the best. To contemporary outsider the nickname may sound hypocritical – the abundance of black and Indian players is hardly 'purely Creol', but such suspicion is nonsense in South American context. Wikipedia credits the goalscorer Fabian Paz y Mino as the most important player of the team, but he is not in the picture. No matter what, highly successful club already.

Tecnico Universitario finished second, although a bit shaky in the final stage. Otherwise, seemingly the close pursuer of El Nacional during the year. Strong season – they captured the second spot alloted to Ecuador in Copa Libertadores.

For the club hailing from the city of Ambato it was great success: the club was founded in 1971! They won promotion to First Division in 1977 and finished second in their very first year among the best clubs of the country. It may apparead to be just enthisiastic season, but the club was ambitious and determined to keep its newly acquared position. Credits were given to players unfortunately little known outside Ecuador:

At least one was a foreigner: the Argentine Jorge 'El Polaco' Bustos, recently coaching Tecnico Universitario. If anything, the great dilemma remained unanswered: teams of local players were successful, but so were those employing foreign feet.

And from North to South. Venezuela did not have to worry about World Cup or anything else on international stage. The whole concern was domestic. Two-stage championship: a regular 2-leg league at first and after that the top 6 clubs proceeded to compete for the title in a mini-league. The bottom 6 were less interesting – down there survival was the issue. The Venezuelan league ranked very low internationally, but it was full of foreigners. The imports hardly helped – there were old troubles: transportation, other irregularities, some scandals, all going under the umbrella word 'logistics'. Yet, the championship was trotting ahead. Perhaps the biggest disappointment was Deportivo Lara (Barquisimeto) – they finished 11th in the first stage of the season. Only one club had worse record then them. Deportivo Lara had practically foreign squad: Isabelino Martínez (defense, Uruguay), Ángel Palacios (defense, Colombia), Edilberto Pedraza (midfield, Colombia), Gonzalo Flores (striker, Ecuador), Luis Salas (defense, Chile), Roberto Álvarez (defense, Argentina), José Luis Núñez (striker, Perú), José Manjarres (goalkeeper, Colombia), and Raúl Peñaranda (striker, Colombia). Practically, the whole regular team... which theoretically should have made Deportivo Lara a title contender, not an iutsider. But they finished at the bottom. At the top finished familiar to those following Venezuelan football: Portuguesa FC (Acarigua), champions in the last four years. They were first by a point, with 11 wins, 6 ties, and 5matches lost. So far, Portuguesa was not overwhelming leader – second placed ULA Merida had much better scoring record and three clubs had better defensive record. But the first phase meant nothing except qualifying for the real final tournament. It was there when Portuguesa really dominated: they did not lose a single match, won 6 and tied 4. The next club in the final table, Deportivo Galicia, finished with 3 losses and 4 points behind. Which is huge difference achieved in 10 games. Portuguesa scored the most goals – 18 – and allowed the least – 6.

Nothing new... 5th consecutive title for Portuguesa. Solid dominance. Evidently, the best Venezuelan club in the 1970s, most likely on the road for more success. Alas, this title was the last for Portuguesa – nobody would have predicted it in 1978, but... to this very day Portuguesa added nothing.

Home success without any resonance abroad. At the end, even a picture of the winners is difficult to find. Most likely the 1978 was similar to the one of 1977 – when perhaps the best international moment happened for Portuguesa:

Back in 1977 Portuguesa FC played a friendly against Cosmos New York. Pele, Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto, Chinaglia against the modest boys from Acarigua. It even did not matter how the match ended – the memories of playing against the greatest names in world football was cherished.

Carlos Nunez, one of the two Peruvians in the squad, posing with Franz Beckenbauer. No Venezuelans here, but what a moment for modest club and player.

Of course, it was NASL, not Mexico, the big news in North America. NASL continued to be controversial league – and in more than one sense. On the surface, it was very successful: the number of clubs increased. The number of famous players increased. Attendance was good. The main goal of NASL was to become major North-American league – which meant central TV spot and coverage. For that reason money were spent without much concern for returns. Tickets were cheap, especially the family packages, salaries were huge. Huge stadiums were used without thinking were they fit for the sport, or were they to be sold to full capacity. Expenses were considered investments: to lure the public, to capture the American minds, and to elevate football to the holly status of baseball, American football, basketball, and ice hockey. And for that reason NASL operated like any other major American league: rules were changed, international organizations were ignored, international competitions were ignored. NASL maintained the strange rules introduced earlier: the 35-yard offside line, the penalty shoot-out to break ties, and bonus points given for goals scored. 2/3 of the venues used had artificial turfs and were not designed for soccer. NASL did not follow the international transfer rules too. FIFA was outraged and NASL was on the verge of becoming outlaw league – if FIFA did not make the last step, it was not because NASL cooperated, but because FIFA too wanted soccer to become major American sport. NASL went its own way, transforming the sport into something else in an effort of selling it to the American public. For that, the game had to be lively, the scores – high, and no ties. Real football had no appeal to Americans, but the turfs contributed to the transformation as well: the ball bounced unpredictably on the hard artificial surface. Gridiron and baseball lines, never erased from the surface, constantly reminded the public of familiar sports and rules, thus, demanding the new sport to be made familiar. At the end, the biggest attraction to the average American was the cheap tickets – one was able to take the whole family to some show on Saturday. Then Sunday come – and real sports with it. American soccer was no longer soccer, yet, the battle for capturing American minds was lost. Most people saw soccer as some freak show and never bothered to understand the rules. (Even today watching soccer with North Americans is irritating – no matter what you say, to the end of the game you will be asked to explain what is an offside and why the corner kick. And when the match ends you will be told that the rules are impossible to understand. And why something is not done to make scoring easier? What is this 0-0 tie...) Anyhow, back in 1978, the signs of trouble were getting more and more: lucrative TV contracts were absent. The novelty value of the sport did not build loyal followers: after few packed initial games, attendance steadily declined. Only New York Cosmos and Vancouver Whitecaps were solidly attended. The press avoided football stubbornly, giving it little space. Clubs – or franchises, as they were called – folded or relocated. Market mentality was defeated by the market, yet, so far NASL brass did not see that the end of the operation was coming quickly. Instead, the crazy race set by Cosmos continued: signing of more foreign players for more money. It did not make sense at all – especially did not make business sense. As for the players coming to NASL, most of them enjoyed the league: it was easy living. Money were great, demands – few. It was fun. It was impossible to figure out the status of the players – particularly the British players. They not only moved frequently from franchise to franchise, but often had contracts just for few matches. To which club the Brits belonged was a mystery: some were loaned, others moved to NASL permanently. Some came only for the summer – between British seasons. Just a taste: to which club belonged Trevor Francis in 1978? He ended among the top scorers of NASL, representing Detroit Express. Back in Europe few people were even aware of the American exploits of the English star – he was Birmingham City player.


Nationality was another mystery: NASL greatly preferred foreign stars – as if the best of the world was playing in America. Thus, the newcomers Laszlo Harsanyi and Joszef Horvath, who defected in 1975, when Ujpesti Dosza played an European cup game in Switzerland, were listed as Hungarians. So was another Hungarian defector – Juli Veee (real name: Gyula Visnyei), who was already US citizen and played for the US national team. But another refugee, Igor Bachner, who played once upon a time for Skoda (Plzen)in his native Czechoslovakia, was not listed as Canadian. What criteria was used to determine who was Yugoslav and who was already American or Canadian? Perhaps nobody knew. And the lack of comprehensive transfer rules on top of everything: 8 players played for Cosmos this year, but only 'exhibition matches' . Were they any real part of Cosmos? Were they just visiting stars? Or prospective players on trial? Look at the names: the already mentioned Hungarian defectors Harsanyi and Horvath (both signed and played with other NASL clubs this season), Rivelino (never came to play regular football in USA), Arsene Auguste, who played for Haiti at the 1974 World Cup (played for Tampa Bay in 1978), 2 unknown British players – Willey and Jump, perhaps the most impressive Iranian player at the 1978 World Cup, Andranik Eskandarian (who most likely was a refugee, because the Iranian revolution happened – and many went into exile), and Johann Cruyff. Only Eskandarian became real Cosmos player of the bunch... The group was strangely arranged anyway: some world class stars; some fairly well known guys; and some nobodies. Reason? Any reason? It was not the same trying to sell Cruyff and trying to sell some Jump. But never mind. Cosmos set the tempo of buying frenzy – and every other club tried to follow. The spending spree was suicidal.

6 points for win, 1 point for penalty shoot-out win, breaking a tie, a point for every goal scored – limited to maximum of 3. 1-0 win gives 7 points. 3-4 loss – 3 points. A 0-0 tie, followed by penalty shoot-out win – 1 point. Got it? Your team may lose constantly and still be above a team winning only by shoot-outs. Of course high scoring was the objective, yet, even with such rules, unpredictable turfs, ball bouncing every each way and defenses pretty much meaningless, and the abundance of highly skilled strikers the results were not all that impressive: only Cosmos came close to 3 goals on average. Four clubs achieved 2 goals per game average.

Four teams'relocated' – that is, folded and moved to another places under new names. Or were sold and the new owners named them as they wished. No more St. Louis Stars – but California Surf; Team Hawaii became Tulsa Roughnecks; Las Vegas Quicksilvers - San Diego Sockers; and Connecticut Bicentennials - Oakland Stompers.

The league expanded by 6 teams as well – the new franchises were Colorado Caribous, Detroit Express, Houston Hurricane, Memphis Rogues, New England Tea Men, Philadelphia Fury. Thus NASL rounded to 20 teams – seemingly optymistic sign, as far as more teams meant 'growth'. With the new teams came perhaps the lowest point of NASL's 'concept' of football: the glory belongs to Colorado Caribous and their kit.

Home jersey

Away jersey.

Dave Clement dressed as Caribou... a far cry from the sober kit he weared when playing for Queens Park Rangers (London).

As a rule of tumb, US teams choose terrible colours and designs to this very day, but this kit beats everything else. What were they thinking in Colorado? Clearly, a circus. So the kit may be a great symbolic summary of NASL.

24 teams divided in 6 sub-groups – or divisions. Every team played 30 regular matches – as ever, North American leagues play unusual and hardly making sense regular season. Hoe they came to the number of 30? Except that is a round number, it means teams played more games with some opponents and fewer with others. Impossible to say why... but North American sports use such formulas all the time.

Top two teams of two Division and three from the other two advance to Conference play-offs, and the the winners – to the grand final. Cup format, nothing fancy.

Cosmos was best in everything during the reular season: they finished first with 212 points – a new league record. They won 24 matches – the most in the league; scored most goals – 88; and their defense was third – behind Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers. The next strongest club was Vancouver Whitecaps, finishing with 199 points and also winning 24 matches. The point difference depended on goals scored. Rochester Lancers were the unlucky members of the Eastern Division. Minnesota Kicks and Tulsa Roughnecks qualified in the Central Division. Los Angeles Aztecs was the only team in the Western Division not advancing. They were one of the weakest teams this year anyway – only the great Colorado Caribous was worse. Fancy kit did not help a bit. Ten clubs going to compete for the 'title' of the National Conference. Geography – an obvious reason for dividing a league into sub-groups in a vast country – seemingly played no role at all: teams from the East coast and the West coast are here.

Similar was the American Conference... Eastern, Central, and Western divisions. Tampa Bay Rowdies, New England Tea Men, and Fort Lauderdale Strikers advanced from Eastern; Detroit Express and Chicago Sting from Central; and San Diego Sockers and California Surf – from the Western Division. Something wrong? Seven teams? No – they were eight. Philadelphia Fury, dead last in the Eastern Division also advanced... and don't ask why. The answer is obvious... the top two teams of every Division and the last two – by points. Whoever got more among the remaining teams – Philadelphia was last, but with more points than any other lowly placed club in the American Conference. Sometimes it pays to be last...

The next stage was 1/8 finals – but really 1/4 finals: the teams were still playing between their original divisions for the the title of the coresponding Conference. Thus, the next stage was not 1/4 finals, but Conference Semifinals, followed by the Conference finals. Cosmos confidently won the National Conference, beating Portland Timbers twice – 1-0 and 5-0 in New York. The American Conference was tougher contest: Fort Lauderdale Strikers won at home 3-2, but lost the away match in Tampa 1-3. Tampa Bay qualifies? Not at all.. or not yet: goal-difference was nothing, so penalty shoot-out decided the winner. Tampa Bay Rowdies clinched the victory by amasing reasult: 1-0. In a shoot-out... and not even normal shoot-out, but 35-yards free attack. Anyway, Tampa Bay won.

And only after that – the real title. Or the only title, for who remembers Division and Conference 'champions'? Big final, played at the Giants Stadium, in East Rutherford, New York. Any need to say the famous stadium is not designed for football? On August 27 Cosmos and Tampa Bay came out. To a point, home advantage for Cosmos. But who knows? Well, Cosmos was classier by far and although Tampa Bay fought back bravely it was 3-1 for Cosmos at the end. A second consecuitve title for Cosmos.

No matter what, Tampa Bays Rowdies did very well.

'Doctored' pictures were made years before Photoshop – here Farrukh Quraishi was added at later time and apparently they had only black-and-white photo of him. But this is nothing – Tampa Bay, when compared to other teams and especially to Cosmos, had modest squad. It is this lack of big names which makes them significant: fairly unknown players went to the final and had a chance to win. A few players who played at the 1974 World Cup here: Adrian Alston played for Australia; Arsene Auguste – for Haiti; and Mirandinha for Brazil. None made big waves in 1974 and Mirandinha never played for Brazil after 1974. He was 26 years old in 1978, but his career seemingly was going downhill. At least he came from famous club – Sao Paulo. He was the newly acquired star this year, but the big name was Rodney Marsh. The controvercial former English national team player seemingly found greenr pasture in USA – similarly to George Best, his troubles in England were largely related to drinking. And similarly to Best, Marsh was going steadily downhill, not able to keep his place in any club and no longer even wanted by the clubs. But he was the big guy in Tampa Bay. The rest of the team, South Africans, Haitians, Englishmen, Scottish, the odd Argentinian, the ever present Yugoslav – or may be no longer Yugoslav, were unknown players. But the combination worked well enough.

Cosmos, of course, was nothing like Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay used small 22-strong roster – Cosmos used 34 players! 8 of them were accidental, but the rest weighted a lot. Starting with Beckenbauer. Newly acquired were Vladislav Bogicevic, Yugoslavian national player, coming from Crvena zvezda (Belgrade); Guiseppe 'Pino' Wilson, former Italian national player, coming from Lazio (Rome); Dennis Tueart, ocasionally called to play for England, arriving from Manchester City; and Angola-born occasional Portuguese national team player Seninho, coming from FC Porto. Not superstars like Pele and Beckenbauer, but still famous players. Bogicevic and Wilson played at the 1974 World Cup. Tueart had strong seasons, eventually moving him from Sunderland to Manchester City and the national team of England. Perhaps every newcomer was over his prime, but for NASL they were strong recruits. Wilson perhaps was directly invited by his former teammate and friend Chinaglia, who had big influence in Cosmos. Already strong team only got stronger, but Cosmos still had plenty of money and spent freely.

Champions again: top from left: ? , Ricky Davis(?), Fred Grgurev, Gary Etherington, Robert Iarusci, Ron Atanasio, Seninho(?), ?

Middle row: Jack Brand, David Brcic, Terry Garbett, Nelsi Morais (?), Bobby Smith, Santiago Formoso, Tony Donlic, Erol Yasin

Sitting: Steve Hunt, Vladislav Bogicevic, Giorgio Chinaglia, Eddie Firmani – coach, Werner Roth, Ray Klivecka – assistant coach, Franz Beckenbauer, Dennis Tueart, Carlos Alberto.

Not a bad squad – two world champions, various (former) national team players, whole bunch of solid professionals, and additional young talent, mostly American. But tensions were simmering and not only simmering as well – Chinaglia was the real mover and shaker and only on the pitch. The clash between the English flock and the rest was ongoing; the US players grumbled that foreigners were preffered; and new conflict was brewing between Chinaglia and coach Firmani. Firmani lost. Yet, it was formidable team – at least in North America. Competent enough to keep on winning even when in constant dressing room turmoil. Giorgio Chinaglia was the top goalscorer of the league with 34 goals and 11 assists in 30 matches played. Erol Yasin finished as second best goalkeeper in the league. Gary Etherington was voted rookie of the year. Carlos Alberto, Beckenbauer, and Chinaglia were voted in the NASL All-star team. If there was a North American team capable of competing in real championship – European or South American – it was Cosmos.

And may be Vancouver Whitecaps, the pleasant surprize in 1978. Competent, well rounded team, having the best coach of the year – Tony Waiters, and the best North American player of the year – Bobby Lenarduzzi. Whitecaps emplyed simple concept: hey used mostly English players, coached by Englishman. Lenarduzzi played in England few years back. Kevin Hector and Alan Hinton, although not great stars, provided enough class and influence. It was British team, playing British football – nobody had to change and adapt. It worked much better than the rag-tag teams combined of many nationalities, playing different styles and having trouble in understanding each other. But sanity was something rare in NASL – the league was already showing signs of decline and no reforms were planned. It was still full ahead, spend like crazy, hire everybody under the sun, and hope for a big break through.

Mexico had new champion and quite an interesting one as well. UANL is abbreviation of Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon. One of the intriguingly Mexican professional clubs belonging to Universities. This one – to the University of the Northern state Nuevo Leon and located in Monterrey. The club was young back in 1978: founded in 1960 and actually debuting in First Division in the 1974-75 season. More or less, the real history of the club started when their stadium Estadio Universitario built - 1967. Until 1974 they played in the Second Division, but after winning promotion things changed rapidly. UANL won the ill-fated Mexican Cup in 1976 – the tournament already lost importance and popularity, but it was a national trophy and UANL's victory clearly stated ambition. And in 1978 the national championship was won – in only 4 top division seasons!

The victory was particularly sweet, for the local rivals – CF Monterrey, much older club and long first division history, never won a title. Perhaps the title really invigorated the rivalry: by 1978 'derbies' were already inflated and imagined by the media – thus, UANL is supposed to be a bitter rival of the biggest University club in Mexico – UNAM from Mexico City. And perhaps of the other Univerisity-based clubs. But the real derby is with CF Monterrey: neither the club, nor the fans of the older club were able to ignore the newcomers and now UANL – CD Monterrey is the great 'derby of the North'.

Of course, confusion exists: UANL or Tigres? Both names are used, but 'Tigres' is not just a popular nickname of the club: it was incorporated into the whole name of the club. The name had old origin: years before the soccer club was established, the University had very strong American football team, which got feline nickname – although not 'tigers'. When the soccer club was found, the feline nickname was 'upgraded' and attached to the official name of the club.

Once in First Division, the Tigers did not stop, but immediately started enforcing their squad. Various well-known players came, some stayed, others did not last, but really the team was getting stronger and was coached well. Arpad Fekete, a Hungarian coach, who worked in Mexico for many years and had great reputation, coached them in 1976-77. An Uruguayan coach was hired to replace Fekete – Carlos Miloc.

Carlos Miloc Pelachi, photographed in recent years. He became a legend and not only of UANL, for he worked for many years in the country, eventually becoming Mexican citizen. Of course, Miloc won the first title in the history of UANL, but there was much more following the first success. Miloc was 56-years old in 1978.

Just like the coach, the great players of UANL are primarily Mexican legends. More or less, the champion squad was based on 5 players, two Mexicans and three foreign-born. The Argentine-born Osvaldo Batocletti captained the champions.

Batocletti unsuccessfully tackled by Atlas (Guadalajara) player. Batocletti was already 28 years old – the oldest star of UANL – and well established in Mexican football. He arrived in 1974 and also took Mexican citizenship. Solid, inspirational, and dependable player.

Jose Pilar Reyes was perhaps the best Mexican goalkeeper of that time.

Reyes was only 23-years old, already a national team player, and if not the best Mexican keeper, at least among the top three. Mexican goalies tended to make fantastic mistakes, especially when going out of the goal-line and trying to clear cross-balls. Reyes was solid in the air, certainly bringing calm confidence to his defenders.

Tomas Boy was already the rapidly rising star in midfield. He arrived in Monterrey in 1975. In 1978 he was only 24-years old and nation-wide star.

Boy is one of the all-time greats of Mexico. An excellent playmaker and dangerous finisher, he was a staple of the national team for many years. His talent so far was sufficient for a title – he debuted with the national team jersey in 1979 – but there was no doubt that he was going to be only better.

Another 24-years old was lethal in attack – Geronimo Barbadillo, the right winger of the champions.

It was no fun playing against Barbadillo, as the picture shows. The Peruvian import arrived along with Arpad Fekete in 1976 and unlike the coach, stayed for years with UANL. The chemistry between him and Boy was great, making the Tigres' attack lethal. Barbadillo debuted for the national team Peru in 1972 and won the South American championship with Peru in 1975. Curiously, Barbadillo played only 20 matches stretched in about 13 years for Peru, but in Mexico he was a big star. And perhaps the biggest ever of UANL – today, in honour of the winger, his number 7 is retired. The only other retired number is 12 – the 'number' of the fans, the 'twelve player' of the club.

And the fifth big name was also foreign – the attacking midfielder Mantegazza arrived in 1977.

Unlike the other stars, Walter Daniel Mantegazza is quite obscure. Very little information about him can be found. Like Miloc, he was Uruguayan and very likely the coach brought him to UANL. Mantegazza played for Nacional (Montevideo) before moving to Mexico – which apparently happened in 1974. To UANL he came from Leon. Mantegazza was the only 'tiger' with World Cup experience – he played for Uruguay in 1974. However, he never established himself in the national team and looks like he was never called after 1974. Understandably so – given the awful performance of Uruguay at the 1974 World Cup. Also understandably he left no lasting memories and sunk into obscurity. He was 26 years old in 1978. His contribution to the victory is hard to judge: he was a regular starter, scored some important goals, no doubt had some class, but... he is only briefly mentioned in the history of UANL and lasted only one season.

The most obvious quality of the key 'tigers' is their age: all were quite young, with many years ahead of them. Yet, experienced players too. They were great base for a strong squad not only for this season, but for the years ahead. UANL apparently had wise policy: instead of bunch of old stars, as the normal practice of newcomers usually was and is, the club preferred to gather young talent, which was to grow in the future, providing excellent back-bone for years to come. Miloc was also a great discovery – he and the players apparently suited each other. UANL was there to stay, to be successful. First title, but it was not to be accidental one.

Yet, it was strange to see only one Tigre at the World Cup finals. Mantegazza had no chance because Uruguay did not reach the finals, but the rest? Batocletti perhaps was ignored for he was only naturalized Mexican – he had no chance to play for Argentina: too much and stronger competition. Barbadillo was not called to play for Peru, although he had great season. Perhaps because Peru had enough strikers. Perhaps something in his character... hard to say, but Barbadillo was rarely called to the national team. Tomas Boy was not in the Mexican squad either – and this is perhaps the greater mystery: he was already one of the best Mexican players. Unlike Barbadillo, Boy was to be constant national team player for years – but not in 1978. Perhaps the reason was competition: Leonardo Cuellar was the greatest midfielder at the time and Boy was redundant. Jose Pilar Reyes, the goalie, was the single UANL player at the World Cup finals – very strange, for champion teams usually are massively included in national teams. May be Tigres were still considered luckier than classier. May be the team depended mostly on the stars, three of which were not Mexican. May be this, may be that, but the fact remains – there was only one tiger in Argentina. Which spared them the disgrace... the collapse of Mexico and the scandalous behaviour of Peru against the future world champions.

Just as well – in 1978 it was only glory for Barbadillo and Boy. Picture of pride and triumph.

Little information available for the rest of the African and Asian season – except for a note about Iranian football: the 1978 revolution halted the progress of the game. To CONCACAF then... to Mexico. The season ended before the World Cup finals and the inglorious fiasco in Argentina. Optimism was building up before June 1978. The strangely structured championship went normally – the 20-team strong division, divided in 4 sub-groups of 5 teams, yet, playing standard 2 matches against every league member, finished with teams going to the second round and fighting to escape the single relegation spot. The bottom was decided by points – the two teams with least points played for survival. This year – Union de Curtidores, 5th in Group 1, with 26 points, and Atlas (Guadalajara), 5th in Group 4, with 28 points. Atlas finished last on worse goal-difference. Puebla had also 28 points, but slightly better goal-difference. The lowest met in 2-leg play-off – Atlas clinched a 0-0 tie in Curtidores and looked like the old and better known Mexican club will survive. Alas, no – at home they lost 2-4 and were relegated.


Replaced by a club not exactly famous, but well known – in the past.

Zacatepec – by 1978 it was a fading club, moving between second and first division. Lucky this year – they went up, but their best years were already in the past.

Promotion-relegation is really a concern for the next season, and with that done – back to the current one. The quarter-finals between the top 2 teams of each sub-group. The main objection of such format is that: in a regular league the final table places every club to a place based on the earned points. In a league divided into subgroups teams with fewer points than others may advance. Which makes a mockery of their efforts and does not represent fully the stronger teams. Tampico finished second in Group 3 and advanced to the ¼ finals. Tampico finished with 35 points, earned in 38 matches. 11 wins, 13 ties, 14 losses, 53-55 goal-difference. Four clubs from other groups finished with better, some much better, records, but were out – Tampico finished with worse record than the entire Group 2, for instance. If it was 'classic' league, the top 8 teams would have been: America – 51 points, UNAM – 48, Toluca- 47, UAG – 46, UANL – 44, Cruz Azul – 43, U. de Guadalajara – 41, Atletico Espanol (as Necaxa was called at that time) – 41. Tampico would have been at 12 place. Yet... the Mexican format, following US league structure, does not differ all that much – only Atletico Espanol did not go ahead. And since it was just the first phase of the championship who was 9th or 15th hardly mattered: only the top 8 advanced and only the lowest two were concerned with relegation. Seven clubs would have advanced no matter which league system was used. And now, with direct eliminations, the regular season had no importance whatsoever – except for the decline of the Mexican Cup.

The ¼ finals: UANL – UAG 1-0 3-2

Cruz Azul – Toluca 1-0 2-2

U. de G. - UNAM 2-1 0-2

Tampico – America 2-2 1-1 4-2 – penalty shoot-out

Different logic in the cup-format – Tampico eliminated the strongest team in the regular season...

Semi-finals: Cruz Azul – UANL 1-0 0-3

Tampico – UNAM 2-1 0-4

Tampico was out, but UANL, hardly strong in the regular season, advanced to the final. UNAM was an usual suspect.

A feline final: UNAM Pumas vs UANL Tigres. Pumas vs Tigers. Tigers ruled in Monterrey – 2-0. In Mexico City they had enough claws for 1-1 tie. And Tigres won the championship.

UANL Tigres – champions for first time!