Between Brazil and Argentina, the third South American powerhouse – Uruguay – showed most clearly the troubles of the continent’s football. It was clearly and decline and lagging behind Europe. In the same time illusions were strong. Uruguay finished 4th in the 1970 World Cup. Good! Nacional (Montevideo) won both Libertadores and Intercontinental Cups in 1971. Good! What crisis? But after 1970 massive exodus of top players started. Nothing really new – Uruguay was main exporter for many years. But never in such numbers before… New talent, then… There was some, but was it sufficient? Hard to tell – today Uruguayan historians call the 1970s ‘transitional period’ for Penarol. Yet, in 1974 the World Cup selection was called ‘La Superseleccion’. Third World title was expected… Crisis or booming football? Uruguay after all is amazing: tiny population, yet, producing great talent. And not the whole country either, but only Montevideo. Now, Buenos Aires is the city with most professional football clubs in the World, but Buenos Aires has more than 10 times larger population than Montevideo. Besides, Argentine football is not only Buenos Aires. When it comes to percentages – there is no city like Montevideo: until 1999 not a single provincial club played in the First Division and hardly any in the Second Division. So far no club outside Montevideo won the national title. Only once a provincial club won the Second Division – Juventud (Las Piedras). Third Division – a record of 2 provincial winners: Juventud (Las Piedras) in 1995 and Oriental (La Paz) in 2004. Uruguayan football is Montevidean football… dominated by 2 clubs – Nacional and Penarol. The derby represents familiar division: the ‘people’ (Penarol) vs the ‘rich’ (Nacional). Penarol are more popular and more successful, yet, football is funny – the ‘people’s club’ was found by British railroad company. During the military dictatorship (1972-1984) the army supported Penarol, not Nacional.
Anyway, Penarol won their 19th title in 1973. They lost only one match.
1. Peñarol 22 14 7 1 38-16 35

2. Nacional 22 9 11 2 29-19 29

3. Danubio 22 10 8 4 26-15 28

4. Defensor 22 10 5 7 33-28 25

5. Rentistas 22 7 10 5 21-18 24

6. Liverpool 22 8 7 7 28-21 23

7. Cerro 22 8 7 7 24-24 23

8. Wanderers 22 4 13 5 16-15 21

9. CA River Plate 22 5 11 6 17-20 21

10. Huracán Buceo 22 3 10 9 22-29 16

11. Central Español 22 6 2 14 18-38 14

12. Bella Vista 22 1 3 18 10-39 5
How good they were? The team was aging and some former stars already moved to other countries. On the bright side – Fernando Morena. Perhaps the greatest Uruguayan player of the 1970s, the goalscorer played his first season for Penarol.

Morena won Uruguayan championships (1973, 74, 75, 78, 79, 81, and 82), 6 times he was the top goalscorer, amassing a total of 667 goals during his career in Uruguay and Spain.
Was Fernando Morena enough? Not really, but titles are titles.

19th title for Penarol in 1973
Top, left to right: Caetano, Corbo, Sandoval, Lamas, Fernandez, Gonzalez.
Bottom: Quevedo, Jimenez, Morena, Silva, Liucy (I am not sure about the name – this is frustratingly obscure player).
An aging team – Caetano, Quevedo, Lamas, Gonzalez. And apart from Morena only Jimenez seemed promising. Once upon a time I got this picture and was happy to have an Uruguayan team in my collection. The names of the players meant absolutely nothing… I guess they mean nothing to most people today.

Brazil had her third national championship in 1973 and only from a great distance it looked good. Imagine this: 40-team league! Only in Brazil – the best football in the world and corresponding huge league. Must be fantastic. Fantastic it was – but not because of football. Machinations, manipulations, intrigues, petty and no so petty interests plagued Brazilian football – it was already on the road of sheer lunacy. Consequently, great football was increasingly rare. Palmeiras won their second title at the end with pretty much the same squad as the year before. So far, one thing was obvious: Sao Paulo was getting the upper hand and Rio de Janeiro was left behind. Which increased the lunacy.

Top, left to right: Eurico, Leao, Luis Pereira, Alfredo, Dudu, Zeca.
Bottom: Edu, Leivinha, Paulo Cesar, Ademir da Guia, Nei.Oswaldo Brandao coached the champions and the team was more than decent with strong players at all key positions: Leao between the posts, Luis Pereira directing the defense, Ademir da Guis in midfield, and Leivinha scoring constantly in front. It was also a bit different team than traditional image of Brazilian squad – instead of frivolous technical magic and fun, Palmeiras were disciplined and not particularly flashy. They had very skilled players, but played more team-oriented and defense-minded football. Luis Pereira was becoming not only the best Brazilian centre-defenseman, but a representative of new, more European kind of football: tough, pragmatic, and effective. By the end of the year Palmeiras players were key national players.

Simple facts of greatness are never simple. South Americans did not mind saying Independiente was the best club in the world, but did not think so on their own continental level. Brazilians shrugged them off; Uruguayans did not think Independiente better than their own Penarol and Nacional; Chileans very likely pointed at the final results – well, Colo-Colo was almost as great… How about Argentines? Certainly River Plate and Boca Juniors fans did not consider Independiente the best. Even from aside is hard to think them best – sure, after Estiduantes, Independiente was refreshing team. Estudiantes were anonymous tugs, having only one real star – ‘the Witch’ Veron. Independiente at least had much more impressive players – Santoro, Comisso, Sa, Semenewicz, Balbuena, the Uruguayan Pavoni, the young and talented Bochini and Bertoni. National players and future national players. Worthy squad… which was unable to win domestic title in 1973. Impressive team, yet, in those years both River Plate and Boca Juniors were in crisis and Estudiantes were declining. Even international success was open to questioning: South America had peculiar problems – traveling around was difficult and expensive, which was the reason many clubs boycotted Copa Libertadores. There was a gruesome example: Racing Club won everything internationally in 1967. The success was very costly – Racing Club accumulated so much debt, they never recovered. To this very day. To win internationally was to play hide and seek with bankruptcy. Independiente did not go bankrupt, but did not win the Argentine title in 1973 either. Who did then?
South America is a statistician’s nightmare. Different formats, legal and illegal championships, the peculiarities are endless. Between 1967 and 1985 Argentina run two different championships in a single year: Metropolitano and Nacional. The formats and the number of participants changed almost every season. In 1973 17 clubs played in standard Metropolitano championship and 30 clubs divided in two groups competed for the Nacional. Two champions, both winning berths in Copa Libertadores. But which one was the proper Argentine champion? Both, according to the Argentines. Dim witted Europeans took the Metropolitano champion to be the Argentine champion by the virtue of winning familiarly structured tournament. Thus, no attention was paid to Rosario Central, the Nacional winners. The champion was Huracan (Buenos Aires).
Huracan was and is among the smaller clubs of city bursting with football clubs. Founded in 1908, Los Quemeros (‘the burners’ – the nickname comes from their stadium, built on the site of old garbage burning station) had some glory days long ago: they were champions in 1921, 1922, 1925, and 1928. All titles came during the amateur era and after that – nothing. Their arch-rivals San Lorenzo de Almagro were a bit better known outside Argentina, but the derby was not big enough to attract interest. Thus, the 1973 title was sweet and dear to Huracan’s fans, but curious novelty for the larger world. And dear remains to Los Quemeros supporters… for it is their last success so far. Very likely not to be repeated.
However, more than intriguing squad: Alfio Basile surely is familiar name today – he coached Argentina twice 1991-94 and 2006-08. Rene Houseman, Miguel Brindisi, Carlos Babington, Roque Avallay, Jorge Carascosa, and Omar Larrosa were all national players and made up strong attacking-minded midfield and forwards. Carascosa, the left full back, had fearsome reputation. Hoeseman and particularly Brindisi were considered to be the next superstars of Argentine football. It was a squad at par with the usual big clubs, as far as star players names could tell. And the players delivered.
There was one more name – a name nobody paid much attention to in 1973: one Cesar Luis Menotti coached the champions. Unknown young coach, who had not been a star during his playing career, which ended in pre-NASL USA. Kicking the ball for New York Generals in the late 1960s was not exactly something suggesting greatness. But Menotti’s Huracan was a whiff of fresh wind of change. Just a whiff…

Independiente conquered South America before conquering the world. The club was relatively unknown in Europe – River Plate, Boca Juniors, and the ill-famed Estudiantes were the familiar Argentine clubs. Santos, Botafogo, Fluminense, Sao Paulo… Penarol, Nacional… somehow Independiente was not among the greatest. It was routinely announced as a club from Buenos Aires, something never done in South America – they are from Avellaneda (along with their arch-rivals Racing Club), an independent municipality of the Buenos Aires Province, although Avellaneda is part of Greater Buenos Aires, the megapolis. Of course, they never matched the popularity of River Plate and Boca Juniors, but records tell different story: in 1973 Independiente became the most successful South American club – they won their 4th Libertadores Cup, a record surpassing any other club. River Plate and Boca Juniors were nowhere near such international success. The forth Cup did not come easy – three games were needed to edge over Colo-Colo (Chile) and finally, in overtime, the Argentines scored the winning goal.

Final (May 22 & 29)Independiente Arg Colo Colo Chi 1-1 0-0

Playoff (Jun 6) (in Montevideo)Independiente Arg Colo Colo Chi 2-1 aet

1st leg. Cordero, Avellaneda, 22- 5-1973 Independiente - Colo Colo 1-171' Sá (own goal) 0-175' Mendoza 1-1

Independiente: Santoro, Commisso, Sá, López, Pavoni, Semenewicz, Raimondo, Martínez, Balbuena (Bertoni), Giachello (Maglioni), Mendoza.

Colo Colo: Nef, Galindo, Herrera, González, Silva, Páez, Valdés, Osorio (Caszely), Messen, Ahumada, Véliz (Lara).

Referee: Lorenzo (Uruguay)Attendance: 40,000

2nd leg. Estadio Nacional, Santiago, 29- 5-1973 Colo Colo - Independiente 0-0

Colo Colo: Nef, Galindo, Herrera, González, Silva, Páez, Valdés, Osorio,Caszely, Messen, Véliz.

Independiente: Santoro, Commisso, Sá, López, Pavoni, Semenewicz, Raimondo,Martínez, Balbuena (Bertoni), Giachello (Maglioni), Mendoza.

Referee: Arpi Filho (Brazil)Attendance: 80,000

Play-off. Centenario, Montevideo, 6- 6-1973 Independiente - Colo Colo 2-1 aet25' Mendoza 1-039' Caszely 1-1107' Giachello 2-1

Independiente: Santoro, Commisso, Sá, López, Pavoni, Semenewicz, Raimondo,Galván, Bertoni, Maglioni (Bochini), Mendoza (Giachello).

Colo Colo: Nef, Galindo, Herrera, González, Silva (Castañeda), Valdés, Páez,Messen, Caszely, Ahumada, Véliz (Lara). Referee: Romei (Paraguay)Attendance: 50,000

Colo-Colo – worthy finalists, but they also lost the Chilean title in 1973… grand losers?

Well, the best team in the world in 1973. Unbelievable in Europe, a simple fact of greatness in South America.

May be in May again… may be, because unlike 1972 Ajax did not win everything. On one hand, there was stiffer competition at home – PSV Eindhoven was getting stronger, Feyenoord too, and looked like Twente (Enschede) was on the road of becoming really good squad. On the other hand Ajax refused to participate in the Intercontinental Cup – it was valid refusal after the ugly experience of 1972, but still left an open question who was best: Europeans or South Americans. After all, in the South something similar was happening – Independiente (Avallaneda) dominated South America just like Ajax dominated Europe. Like 1971, in 1973 the European second best Juventus represented Europe in one-legged final – new format – for the Intercontinental Cup, staged in Rome. European home advantage... which did not help: Independiente won 1-0. Since history is largely statistic records, South America was better so far, total football or whatever. Statistics… Cruiff had 3 European Champions Cups and 1 Intercontinental. Miguel Angel Santoro, the Independiente goalkeeper, added the Intercontinental Cup to his resume, having already 4 Libertadores Cups. Slightly better than Cruiff?

Santoro was not exactly world famous, yet more successful than Cruiff by 1973. Was Ajax the best club in the world? Not according to historic statistics… Statistics… to the Europeans, the Intercontinental Cup was tainted by South American violence. The tournament was in deep crisis. Clubs were not interested any more… so, who was best anyway?
Final:Rome. Field: Olimpico.November 28, 1973
Juventus (Italy) 0-1 Independiente (Argentina)
Goal: Ricardo "Bocha" Bochini
Independiente: Miguel Ángel Santoro - Miguel Ángel López, Ricardo Elbio Pavoni - Eduardo Comisso, Miguel Ángel Raimondo, Francisco Pedro Manuel Sa - Agustín Alberto Balbuena, Rubén Galván, Eduardo Andrés Magglioni, Ricardo Enrique Bochini, Ricardo Daniel Bertoni.
Juventus: Zoff - Spinosi (Longobuco), Marchetti, Gentile, Morini, Salvadore, Causio, Cuccureddu, Anastasi, Altafini, Bettega(Viola).

The epic of Ajax’s advance to the final kept the other teams in the shadows. From the shadows Juventus (Turin) reached the final after eliminating Olimpique (Marseille) 0-1 and 3-0 in the 1/16 finals; 1. FC Magdeburg (East Germany) 1-0 and 1-0 in the 1/8 finals; Ujpest Dosza (Budapest) 0-0 and 2-2 (away goals favoured the Old Lady) in the ¼ finals; and Derby County (England) 3-1 and 0-0 in the ½ finals. Only the semi-final attracted some attention during the progress of the Italians, but even that was low key interest compared to the drama of Ajax – Real.
The final was played in Belgrade with Yugoslavian referee – unlike the scandalous Cup Winners Cup final, Mr. Gugulovic did not taint the final.

Final, Crvena Zvezda Stadium, Beograd, 30 May 1973, att 89000

Ajax (1) 1 Juventus (0) 0
4' 1-0 A: Rep

Ajax (trainer Kovacs)
Stuy; Suurbier, Hulshoff, Blankenburg, Krol; Neeskens, G.Mühren,
Haan; Rep, Cruijff, Keizer
Juventus (trainer Vycpalek)
Zoff; Salvadore, Marchetti, Morini, Longobucco; Causio (Cuccureddu),Furino, Capello; Altafini, Anastasi, Bettega (Haller)
Referee: Gugulovic (Yugoslavia)

It was tough final and not very attractive. Ajax scored early with a header by their newest star Johnny Rep. The rest of the match was largely outfoxing in which Ajax emerged winners. To a point, the Italians were outplayed at their own game: winning by a goal; not giving a chance to the opposition to score… but this time they were at the receiving end. Unable to score. Ajax proved to be more Italian than Italians, when needed. In fact, they proved everything – head and shoulders better than anybody else in total football; more Spanish than the Spaniards; more Italian than Italians. No matter the opponent, the Dutch were capable to adjust their game and win. Skill, fitness, intelligence – they had everything in abundance. The new dynasty – it was obvious they were going to dominate world football for many years to come, perhaps to better Real (Madrid) record of 6 European Champions Cups. Perhaps better team than legendary Real… Ajax were still very young, they had about 10 years ahead of them to play. They were very good at replacing aging players too – every new player was better than the one he replaced. The future was clearly white and red.
Some hippies? Casually not paying attention to national anthems.
Roberto Bettega attacking and Johhny Rep defending. Ajax pulled one more trick: for the final players used new numbers. Normally Blankenburg played with #12 and Rep with #16.
The golden header of Johnny Rep.
Krol and Gerry Muhren with their third Cup.
Cruyff, the champion. Never mind the Juventus’ jerseys – it is Ajax.
This is 1971, but still the same in 1973.

Ajax fans celebrating and not getting tired from it. In 1973 it was clear that Amsterdam will feast every next May.

The next opponent was very different: Ajax played against Real (Madrid) in the ½ finals. The Spaniards were a far cry from the great real of the 1950s and early 60s, but may be because of that they were particularly difficult team to beat. During the 1970s and the early 1980s Spanish teams hardly played football – they played war instead. So involved they were on fighting that it was hard to tell were they good or bad players – football was the last thing on their minds. For which they paid heavy price – their games were ugly affairs of kicking, wasting time, simulating, and arguing with the referees. Italians were playing the same kind of game, but at least one was able to glimpse occasional brilliance – by contrast, the Spaniards were so carried away by the war, they routinely forgot football at all. The ugliest and meanest tugs. Real fought from the first referee’s whistle to the last second and both legs were not fun to watch. Their anti-football was particularly difficult to beat simply because it was not football. However, Ajax showed another side of their brilliance – their tactical awareness and versatility. The fought as well, but never forgetting that they have to score and win. It was pragmatic approach nothing to do with freewheeling. The first match ended 2-1 for Ajax, a result seemingly favouring Real.
The second leg was no different, yet, the hostile Madrid did not scare the Dutch – they attacked and attacked. It was good tactical scheme: Real had to score and win, which was very likely given their anti-football approach. They needed 1-0 to go to the final and defensive tactics would not work against unpredictable because chaotic team – Ajax chose to attack whenever they got a chance, but in rather German manner. That is, playing physical football, waiting for opportunity without panic, and trying the unexpected. Again and again, and again. It was next to impossible to penetrate Spanish defense and get a scoring opportunity in the penalty area. Well, let’s try something else… which Gerry Muhren did – his shot from great distance was unexpected, looked frivolous, and hardly dangerous. It was lightning bolt of a shoot, but the goalkeeper clearly saw it and plunged to cover. The ball deflected from a unfortunate defenseman, trying to block it, and went into the net. Muhren did the unexpected and caught Spanish defense off guard – it was not that much lucky goal, but rather a result of determination to use whatever chance emerges. That was Ajax’s approach to the second leg and it paid off - they won 1-0.

A rare moment: Cruyff looks desperate. Very likely Real (Madrid) were the most difficult opponent the Great Ajax ever met – football was the last thing in the minds of the Spaniards. But anti-football lost at the end.