1979 FIFA World Youth Championship final

The 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship Final was a football match that was played on at the National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan on 7 September 1979 to determine the champions of the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship. The final was contested by Argentina and the Soviet Union. Argentina won the match 3–1, winning the title for the first time.[1]

1979 FIFA World Youth Championship Final
National Stadium of Tokyo, venue of the match
Event1979 FIFA World Youth Championship
Argentina Soviet Union
Argentina Soviet Union
3 1
Date7 September 1979
19:00
VenueNational Stadium, Tokyo
RefereeJosé Roberto Wright (Brazil)
Attendance52,000

Argentine raising superstar Diego Maradona, who scored a goal, was named the best player of the competition.

Background
Ernesto Duchini (left) chose the players that were then coached by César Menotti (right)

Argentina had won its first FIFA World Cup just one year before. César Luis Menotti, who had managed the senior squad that crowned champion in Argentina, coached the team. Ernesto Duchini –who was part of the coaching staff to discover new talents around the country– had selected the players that were then under the guidance of Menotti to win the title.[2]

Duchini had been in charge of Argentine youth teams since 1954, and was a cornerstone of the coaching staff that led that group of players to achieve their first title. Some of the players discovered by Duchini were Roberto Perfumo, Carlos García Cambón, Oscar Más, Rubén Ayala, Oscar Ortíz, Jorge Olguín, Raúl Savoy, among others.[3]

Duchini worked side-by-side with Miguel Gitano Juárez, former player of Rosario Central and very close to Menotti. Juárez suggested some players for the youth team, such as Juan Simón, Rubén Rossi, Rafael Seria and Daniel Sperandío, all of them playing in Rosario-based clubs.

The players selected to play the tournament were goalkeepers Sergio García (Flandria) and Rafael Seria (Central Córdoba); defenders Juan Simón (Newell's), Rubén Rossi (Colón), Abelardo Carabelli (Argentinos Juniors), Hugo Alves (Boca Juniors), Marcelo Bachino (Boca Juniors), Jorge Piaggio (Atlanta); midfielders Daniel Sperandío (Rosario Central), Juan Barbas (Racing), Osvaldo Rinaldi (San Lorenzo), Juan José Meza (Central Norte de Tucumán); Diego Maradona (Argentinos Juniors); forwards Osvaldo Escudero (Chacarita), Alfredo Torres (Atlanta), Ramón Díaz (River Plate), Gabriel Calderón (Racing), José Luis Lanao (Vélez).[4]

Diego Maradona was the playmaker and leader of that team. His performance in the competition was so stunning that was awarded the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament. He also won the Silver Boot as the second topscorer behind teammate Ramón Díaz.[2]

Road to the final
Argentina Round Soviet Union
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
 Indonesia 5–0 Match 1  Hungary 5–1
 Yugoslavia 1–0 Match 2  Guinea 3–0
 Poland 4–1 Match 3  Uruguay 0–1
Group B winners
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD Status
 Argentina 63300101+9Advanced to the quarter-finals
 Poland 4320194+5
 Yugoslavia 2310253+2
 Indonesia 03003016−16
 Final standings Group D runners-up
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD Status
 Uruguay 6330080+8Advanced to the quarter-finals
 Soviet Union 4320182+6
 Hungary 2310237–4
 Guinea 03003010−10
Opponent Result Knockout stage Opponent Result
 Algeria 5–0 Quarter finals  Paraguay 2–2 (aet) (6–5 pen.)
 Uruguay 2–0 Semi-finals  Poland 1–0

Match details
(Left): Both teams starting line-ups; (center): Diego Maradona carrying the ball surrounded by Soviet players; (right): Maradona scoring by free kick
Argentina 3–1 Soviet Union
Alves 68'
Díaz 71'
Maradona 76'		 Report Ponomaryov 52'
Attendance: 52,000
Argentina
Soviet Union
GK1Sergio García
DF4Abelardo Carabelli
DF2Juan Simón
DF6Rubén Rossi
DF3Hugo Alves
MF8Juan Barbas
MF13Osvaldo Rinaldidownward-facing red arrow
MF10Diego Maradona
FW7Osvaldo Escudero
FW9Ramón Díaz
FW11Gabriel Calderón
Substitutions:
MF17Juan J. Mezaupward-facing green arrow
GK12Rafael Seria
DF13Jorge Piaggio
MF5Daniel Sperandío
DF15Marcelo Bachino
FW16Alfredo Torres
FW18José Lanao
Coach:
Argentina César Menotti
GK1Viktor Chanov
DF14Sergey Ovchinnikov
DF2Viktor Yanushevskydownward-facing red arrow
DF4Ashot Khachatryan
DF5Aleksandr Polukarov
MF15Anatoliy Radenko
MF6Yaroslav Dumanskyidownward-facing red arrow
MF8Igor Ponomaryov
FW13Sergei Stukashov
FW10Oleh Taran
FW11Ihar Hurynovich
Substitutions:
MF7Mykhaylo Olefirenkoupward-facing green arrow
MF16Vladimir Mikhalevskyupward-facing green arrow
GK18Serhiy Krakovskyi
DF3Alexander Golovnia
DF12Gennadiy Salov
MF17Oleksandr Zavarov
FW9Valeriy Zubenko
Coach:
Soviet Union Sergei Korshunov

Match rules:

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
  • Five named eligible substitutes
  • Maximum of two substitutions

Sources:

Aftermath
The Argentine players celebrating after the match

The second world title within two years were widely celebrated by people throughout the country, as they had done the previous year after the win against the Netherlands.[2]

The media also praised the team's style of play, attributed to Menotti's philosophy toward the game.[3]

Sirs, you are already champions, I don't mind the result of this game because you have shown that you are the best in the world. Nothing to hit kicks or to do crazy things; let's go, play and amuse the 35,000 Japanese at the grandstands

— Manager César Menotti's talk to the players before the final match.

Beyond the great performance of the team in general, media focused on the performances of Argentinos Juniors' star Diego Maradona (highlighting his control of the ball, passing and dribbling) and Ramón Díaz's scoring prowess at the tournament.[4]

At their returning from Japan, the players were carried in helicopter to the Atlanta stadium, where the flagship landed on the field as part of the celebrations for the championship won in Tokyo.[5]

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Argentina U20 v Soviet Union, 7 September 1979.
  1. World Youth Cup (U-20) 1979 (Japan) by Pablo Ciullini, Erik Garin and Héctor V. Martínez on the RSSSF
  2. Argentina Sub-20 1979 on El Gráfico
  3. Argentina ganaba su primer mundial juvenil on Diario Jornada, 6 Sep 2014
  4. Hace 37 años, Argentina ganaba su primer Mundial Juvenil by Gustavo Lenti, Telam, 7 Sep 2016
  5. La delirante llegada del campeón sub 20 (video), El Gráfico
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