Nice find. Although the diagram doesn't completely make it clear, it looks like they picked it in a Zona Mista formation for sure!
Interesting to see the contrast here with the Gazzetta team! More proof that there were many varying options that different people and publications could pick from, and few automatic choices that everyone felt should be included. I would have thought it is quite likely Gazzetta might be one of the 4 major sports publications referred to (I'm not sure if you knew and remember though Puck); perhaps it was the 4 used for the Guerin d'Oro but even if not Gazzetta would be a promienent major one I think. But it could be 4 different ones. Especially if Gazzetta's choices were factored in for the joint team/squad it really shows the variance though I guess. Only Scirea, Collovatti, Boniek and Rossi (3 of then Italians) are making the combined team that were in Gazzetta's XI. Then just Zoff, another Italian, on the bench from Gazzetta's team also. Italians in Gazzetta's team but not the joint one: Gentile, Conti Italians in joint squad but not Gazzetta XI: Graziani, Tardelli (sub), Antognoni (sub) Non-Italians in Gazzetta's team but not the joint one: Junior, Cerezo, Falcao, Littbarski 3 Brazilians and a German Non-Italians in joint squad but not Gazzetta XI: Dasaev, Gerets, Briegel, Giresse, Platini, Zico, Ardiles (sub), Eder (sub), Tigana (sub), Genghini (sub). 4 French, 2 Brazilians, a Soviet, a Belgian, a German and an Argentinian.
FRANCE FOOTBALL #1983 (1982-07-20) The best 11's of 9 reporters + what they say in the rubric about their highlight of the tournament. I won't type everything they said about the highlight tho, although it's very interesting and well-written. It will be a "compressed version". Patrick BLAIN Dassaev - Bossis, K. Förster, Scirea, Cabrini - Socrates, Falcao, Briegel, Tigana - Conti, Zico. [he says "we", others will do too at times, as a manner to speak] We eliminated the sluggers right away; Gentile, Passarella, Gerets. We did not take on Rossi, because a World Cup is played over 7 games, not 3. And if we reluctantly eliminated some bodies at midfield (what do you think about an Ardiles-Giresse-Platini-Tardeli 100% Latin or about an Anglo-Saxon Wilkins-Breitner-Robson-Coeck?) we scratched our head a long-time to find two forwards... so the take on a 4-4-2! Highlight : - ARG v ITA and the beating of Maradona. The name of the executioner : Gentile. - FRA v GER : 120 mins of pleasing football then a yellow card to Giresse who dared to kick the ball after the referee whistled. - In the end, in all logic, Giresse = Gentile... [Blain shows different examples of bad refereeing, some examples of good refereeing and spot the hetereogenity of the refereeing which globally was poor in his opinion] /// Gérard EJNES N'Kono - Bossis, Passarella, Förster, Junior - Tardelli, Ardiles, Socrates, Zico - Boniek, Rossi. A keeper who only moves when it's indispensable, a right back who proved that his defensive skills were superior to his offensive skills, the most beautiful jump and the most powerful gush at the libero position, a stopper-octopus, a left back who can do everything, a defensive midfielder with the ability of a forward, the best water carrier that the world ever knew, two wonderfully inspired Brazilian princes so the spirit remains, the born-goalscorer and the self-taught scorer. It's all just a dream. Highlight : the day Maradona was able to play football [...] against Hungary [...]. That night he proved that he truly was the greateast. /// Didier BRAUN It's never easy to compare the merits of individualities that evolve in very different collective contexts. Maybe the most representative 11 would comprise the Italian defensive block and a French-Brazilian patchwork for the attacking game. But since we have to decide on the players who stood out, let's have a go : Dasaev - Gentile, Förster, Passarella (after having hesitated a long time between the Argentine, Trésor and Stielike), Cabrini - Falcao, Tardelli, Giresse - Conti (in his role of shifting winger), Rossi (essentially for his efficiency in the end of the World Cup), Eder. But it's not about forgetting Zoff, Leandro, Junior, Lato, Ardiles, Platini, Zico, Littbarski, Mariner, Coppell and many others... Highlight : the French team, that stopped just one step before the final. After the failure in Bilbao they developped one of the best way of playing in the competition. In the middle of a triumphant European football that left to the world an impression of merciless efficiency, the French left a more smiley tonality. Like a flower in the middle of the cobblestones that it will be needed to preserve from the concrete [...]. /// Gérard ERNAULT In the goals Dasaev, well-positioned, precise at throwing the ball, sound on his line and in the air. Economy of gestures, pure efficiency guaranteed. The very finest. In defense, on the right, Gentile, stopper Förster, libero the formidable Trésor of France-Germany, on the left Cabrini remarkably complete from beginning to end. At midifled, all the combinations work around Falcao, Tardelli, Platini, Giresse, Zico, Tigana, Cerezo, Conti and Antognoni, the latter being unfortunately deprived of the final. I take on the 4 first named who all can shoot, score from short or long range. It's also the case of Zico, who was somewhat disappointing though. In attack, Paolo Rossi is undisputable [then the arguments for his last selection are unreadable but it seems to be Mariner. Not 100% sure. It will be the selection of his colleague Jean-Marie Lorant in any case]. Highlight : indisputably, FRA v GER. [...] /// Jacques ETIENNE Difficult to make a best-team when we did not see every games. We're bound to be influenced by the ones we "covered". At the goalkeeper position, if Zoff had a remarkable World Cup, the Soviet Dassaev left on us a formidable impression. His catches of the ball, especially in the air, were often sensational, without talking of his authority and his work-rate. In central defense we can form a pair : Trésor-Collovatti. The former found back the World-class level and the second shown no mercy in front of all the forwards he had to man-mark. On the wings, Gentile - even though he played too severely against Maradona - shown a rigor and a presence that made him one of the most in-view players from the Squadra. On th eleft, we hesitate between Junior and Cabrini. Let's have the first named, more spectacular. As for the defensive midfielders, Tardelli indisputably imposes himself and we choose the Brazilian Falcao, very steady. Conti, who reached the top-level and our national Giresse could be the playmakers. At the forefront, only Rossi clearly stands out. We'll adjoin to him Zico, who deserves to feature in this team and who constantly played "forward". Highlight : for I have covered all the games of Italy, to me the highlight is undoubtly the spectacular recovery of the Squadra that lead them up to... the title. This phenomenon can't be explained in a rational manner. How a moribund team that did not win a single game in his group, ultimately saving themselves by sharing the points against Cameroon was then able to beat Argentina, Brazil, Poland and GDR remains an unfathomable mystery. The image of this metamorphosis remains obviously Paolo Rossi, nonexistant in the beginning and who finsihed as the top scorer of the World Cup. /// Patrick LEMOINE Dasaev - Bossis, Collovatti, Passarella, Briegel - Junior, Wilkins, Giresse, Socrates - Rossi, Boniek. Dasaev? He did not released a single ball. Not one. For us French, let's confess that it can impress. Bossis can play on the right. He was superb. Passarella is still just as sober and efficient. Collovatti doesn't make any fuss... nor any gifts. in concurrency with Briegel there was Demianenko, the Soviet, it's true. But he palyed two games less. Would he have continue at the same pace? Junior actually acts as a midfielder. His finesse and his ability to relaunch does not allow us to keep him on the bench. The English man Wilkins has worked like you would not believe. Always with passion and intelligence. Giresse has become a big man and Socrates did again into genius stuff. The two forwards at last... impossible to not take the ones who scores three goals while they only had four chances... Highlight : the progressive desintegration of the English team. /// Jean-Marie LORANT To compose a 11-man team when 391 players participatd in this World Cup is not an easy undertaking, all the more so as the great individualities did not fly over the competition, Maradona no more than Blokhin, Zico, Arconada, Rummenigge, Trevor Francis... So in the goals we'll take on Dasaev, full of ease and reliability, over N'Kono. Amongst the defenders, Gentile seems to impose himself on the right and Junior on the left, these two men having very different tempers. one is a leech and the other is a lion of the attack. The libero of les Bleus broke through the ceiling against the GDR whislt the German stopper knew how to show himself merciless in his man-marking and his interventions. At midfield, in a 4-4-2, it's towards France and Brazil that we look, these two teams hving been particularly brilliant in this sector. Two players deserves to be taken without hesitation, Tigana and Falcao. We'll put Giresse and Zico by their side. The four of them had a big influence on their teams' game, each their way. At the forefront, Rossi, for his efficiency, and Mariner can complete his action. Dasaev - Gentile, Trésor, Förster, Junior - Tigana, Falcao, Giresse, Zico - Mariner, Rossi. Highlight : [well it's difficult to make a translation. He's trying to make a demonstration that the FIFA's plans were thwarted and/ or just says in the end that the results were unpredictable. It might be voluntary unclear, somehow. Difficult to explain, it's a bit Kafkaesque or something like that] /// Jean-Philippe RHETACKER For the keeper, I'd hesitate a long time between Dasaev the bif revelation and Zoff the confirmation. In defense, I'll be based on the Italians, of course, expert in the subject world champions : Gentile, executioner of the Stars, Förster always irreproachable, Trésor resuscitated (despite Scirea) and Cabrini (more complete and more of a defender than Junior). At midfield, a horrendous choice to make between the Brazilians Socrates, Cerezo, Falcao, Zico, the French Tigana, Genghini, Platini, Giresse, the Italians Tardelli, Antognoni, Conti, the Polish Boniek. As for the 2-headed attack, it only has one undebatable element, Paolo Rossi. As for the second one, it's as clear as mud... let's decide : Zoff - Gentile, Trésor, Förster, Cabrini - Cerezo, Tardelli, Falcao, Giresse - Zico, Rossi. Highlights : the resurrection of an offensive football. FRA v GER, BRA v ITA. /// Patrick URBINI Dasaev - Gentile, Förster, Scirea, Briegel - Tardelli, Falcao, Giresse, Socrates - Conti, Rossi. The Soviet keeper, with his reliability at catching the ball and by the number of decisive saves that he made has dominated everybody. And he is only 25 years old... In defense, I opt for an Italo-German formula. In the plaster kind, leech, efficient and steady, Karl-Heinz Förster and Gentile seem undebatable to me. Briegel, at the same time athlete and technician, knows how to do everything. As for Scirea, his sobriety, his positionning and his seriousness give him the notch over Stielike. At midfield, at the view of the number of candidates, the choice is more difficult to make. Tardelli and Falcao in a more defensive role, Socrates and Giresse in an offensive role, seemed the more clear-sighted and the more inventive in their task. At last, in attack, Rossi, although he exploded in the last four games only, and Conti, a very brilliant winger like it less and less exists, form a seducing tandem. Highlight : The fiasco of the Spanish team. With all the advantages that their situatuon of top seed and organizers provided to them (all the games in Valencia at 21:00, all the second round games in Madrid without the South-Americans...) and the protections they benefited from at the refereeing level during the first round, their failure is at the same time logic and moral : they did not deserve, with the players they had, to go any further; as for the system established, it turned against them in a pretty manner.
Over the next few days I will be calculating averages from the different sources available to me. I will apply a correction coefficient of a rather limited value to the corresponding ratings so as not to distort the real average. Once I publish the rattings of all the sources, I will establish the arithmetic average taking into account all of them, both the one obtained with the correction coefficients and the one obtained without any correction. I start with the 50 best ratings from "El Gráfico", with a minimum of 3 ratings per player. Durante los próximos días voy a calcular los promedios de las diferentes fuentes de las que dispongo. A las calificaciones coprrespondientes les voy a aplicar un coeficiente corrector de un valor bastante limitado para que no desvirtúe el promedio real. Una vez publique los rattings de todas las fuentes, estableceré la media aritmética teniendo en cuenta todas ellas, tanto la obtenida con los coeficientes correctores como la obtenida sin ninguna corrección. Comienzo con los 50 mejores ratings de "El Gráfico", con un mínimo de 3 notas por jugador.
An outstanding individual performance actually Less than 150 ELO points difference between Hungary and Argentina in 1982 aswell https://www.eloratings.net/1982 Probably in his top 3 all time world cup performances with the England and Belgium games in 86
Buncol: 7, 6, 7, 7, 5, 5, 6 Boniek: 4, 4, 8, 10, 5, --, 5 Smolarek: 7, 6, 6, 7, 5, 5, -- Lato: 6, 5, 6, 9, 5, 5, 5 Mlynarczyck: 6, 6, 6, 5, 6, 5, 7 Zmuda: 6, 6, 6, 6, 7, 4, 5
Another selection (the comments will be shortened although originally not that long either) : France Foot 2 #225, 1982-07-16 "The Fabulous World Team" GOALKEEPER 1. Dasaev "tall, athletical, supple and vicacious" 2. Zoff "unspectacular but well-positioned and reassuring" 3. N'Kono "the calm cameroonese keeper gave an impression of invicibility during a long time" Mentions : "Pantelic for his perfect match vs Honduras, Koncilia of Austria although badly protected by his defense, Arzu the astonishing keeper of Honduras, the Polish Mlynarczyk with his imposing stature". + elsewhere in the mag : "with either Dassaev or N'Kono on their team, France and Brazil would have compete in the final". Jean-Marie Lawniczak, RC Paris coach. RIGHT BACK 1. Leandro "not only a destructor, he did remarkable counter-attacks" 2. Gentile "in spite of his game against Maradona he also shown he could use legal means to turn his opponent off" 3. Mills "the captain of England is an impeccable man of duty and man of confidence" Mentions : "the hot-blooded Spanish Camacho, Dziuba the calm Polish, Gerets the Belgian unfortunately knocked-out, Merzekane the Algerian and our two tricolores Battiston and Amoros for their combativity and moral value". STOPPER 1. Gudelj "all the more worthy since his team took water from everywhere" 2. Collovati "the young italian was a formidable shadow worker" 3. Janvion "without a doubt the most steady tricolore, we never saw his opponent to escape him" Mentions : "Bergomi young Italian revelation who's only 19, Tendillo, Baltacha, Donaghy, Kourichi, Aoudou". LIBERO 1. Scirea "has accumulated the good performances, never destroyed but on the contrary participated in the counter-attacks with good heart" 2. Passarella "one of the rare Argentine to defend the title, a pity that he is too mean" 3. Trésor "our national Trésor rejuvenated of 10 years. An uncertain start and a brilliant finish" Mentions : "Zmuda, Costly, Chivadze, Figueroa (Honduras)*, Stielike, Stojkovic". *José Roberto Figueroa of Honduras (forward, in the wrong category) or Elias Figueroa of Chile? LEFT BACK 1. Cabrini "he confirmed '78 when he rised up" 2. Junior "the remarkable Brazilian would have been our #1 if he did not struggle completely against Italy. At this level, the tactical mistakes are unforgiving" 3. Demyanenko "he pleased us for his courage and his love for wide-open spaces. His team should have had the same temper" Mentions : "Mubarak the Koweitian, Bossis our courageous tricolore, Gordillo the Spaniard who was one of the rare Iberians to put the cat amongst the pigeons" Part 1/2
FALCAO CHOICE - 1982 WC TEAM - PLACAR - 1982 DASAEV , KALTZ, SCIREA , PASSARELLA, BRIEGEL. ARDILLES, GIRESSE, ANTOGNONI. CONTI PLATINI AND BONIEK (PAGE 3 BELOW)
France Foot 2, 2/2 MIDFIELDER (8) 1. Ardilès and Giresse "a brain teaser really, we could not choose between the Argentine and the tricolore who's considered as the big revelation of the tournament by the international press. The first named was unfortunately not surrounded strongly enough but he made it out with honours. The second was end to end fantastic and participated in the feast with great fanfare" 3. Socrates "The Brazilian calls for revenge in '86. He gave everything in Spain, doing a lot of work. He deserved better than this elimination against Italy". "They also confirmed their talent : Breitner, although intermittently, Antognoni the great absentee of the final, Kupcewicz the Polish with hard shooting of the ball, Slijvo one of the rare irreproachable Yugoslavs, M'Bida the Cameroonese revelation." MIDFIELDER (6) 1. Tardelli "the Italian is the great triumphator. It's him who sounded the charge against Argentina and who knocked out West Germany. Not bad heh, for a player accustomed to the... defensive work" 2. Falcao "the Brazilian of Rome would have deserved a better outcome him too. He came out with head held high after he shown undermining work and good positional sense" 3. Tigana "as soon as he was a starter, he gave regrets about not using him in the first round". Mentions : Robson, Velasquez, Majewski, Dremmler (? see later), Vercauteren, Abega, Strachan, Genghini "were not far to contest the spot of our three candidates" MIDFIELDER (10) 1. Zico "again it was not easy to make a decision. Zico, 4 games out of 5, marked his team by the seal of his natural class" 2. Platini "finishes very close. The "finish-line photo" was needed! Th eBrazilian wins it for a few - we have to admit it - because we feared to be accused of being biased" 3. Belloumi "as for the Algerian Belloumi, we rank him at the 3rd place to reward the Algerian team for they shown how the difference between the nations which are reputed internationally and the said "small" nations, reduces over time" "Rare were the great animators in this competition, we'll retain however : Wark, Al-Dakheel, Madariaga, McNicholl, and Coeck although the later did not always show being at his ease" RIGHT WINGER 1. Conti "shown to be the best thanks to a sure individual technique, an inextinguible breath, a malice of everytime, a pronounced sense of the goal" 2. Lato "the old Lato looked to rejuvenate through this tournament. He was in any case the best of his team" 3. Littbarski "finished dead beat. A pity because he affirmed a certain talent and was one of the rare specialists at his position". Mentions : Whiteside, Schachner, Francis (from who more was expected), Madjer the vivacious Algerian. CENTRE FORWARD 1. Rossi "it was the easiest choice. Rossi wins hands down and one more time, hats-off to this attacker of race, vivacious as an eel, efficient like a jackhammer" 2. Boniek " his future partner at Juventus came-back well after a catastrophic start in this Mundial" 3. Armstrong "did not content himself by playing with his square shoulders but also revealed himself to be very striking, ball at the feet" Mentions : "for their good performances overall, Mariner, Betancourt, Gonzalez, Milla, Toroczik, Yanez, Soler and Rocheteau. LEFT WINGER 1. Rummennigge 2. Smolarek "the famous German wins it by a hair over the Polish Smolarek, quick and sturdy. All of that because Karl-Heinz hurted France badly and shaked up his comrades. But the Polish would have certainly won the Palm if not sent-off in the little final for his repeated contestations towards the referee. Next time, he'll sclose his mouth" 3. Eder "is 3rd, because there was not much concurrents anymore. We appreciated his shooting of the ball. On the other hand, we did not like much his too individualistic game" Mentions : "only the Algerian Assad deserves a citation". "So it comes to this team which has very good allure" : Dassaev - Leandro, Gudelj, Scirea, Cabrini - Ardiles (Giresse), Tardelli, Zico - Conti, Rossi, Rummenigge. (next, their flops)
France Foot 2, their flops "THE FORMATION OF THE FALLEN It's our column untitled "the less glorious ones". Those who have not met the expectations. They're numerous also. Thus, amongst the keepers : Arconada, Fillol, Quiroga, Hruska, Pfaff and our tricolores Ettori and Castaneda. The right backs : Kaltz who's too much searching for the "homing head" of his friend Hrubesch, Olguin the shadow of the world champion '78, Hansen and McGrain the Scots, Martos the Hungarian. Amongst the stoppers : Luizinho the Brazilian, deceived like a little boy by this devil, it is true, who is Paolo Rossi; Obermayer the Austrian that we believed to be fitter than that. Amongst the liberos : Oscar, Alexanko the Spaniard who was accused by all his compatriots, Pezzey the Austrian of Francfort, Fiala the Czechoslovakian, disappointing at the Mundial, promising during the prepatory games. Amongst the left backs : Sansom the English, Majewski the Polish heavy and with no inspiration, Tarantini, Renquin, who knows much worries this year, Briegel with heavy legs. Amongst the midfielders (6) : Dremmler too robotized, Surjak the former Parisian without soul nor energy, Berger the Czechoslovakian. Amongst the midfielders (8) : Prohaska the Austrian delusion, Dalglish, Bessonov too confined in defensive and negative tasks, Ceulemans who lacks his freshness of the Euro championship. Amongst the right wingers : Cziernatinsky to who everything looked yet so easy some months ago, Juanito the Spaniard rough copy, Bertoni the exiled Argentine, Vujovic the Yugoslav who only managed to dribble... his own shadow, Vizek the complicated Czechoslovakian. Amongst the centre forwards : Susic, Graziani, Serginho the Brazilian fly in the ointment, Szarmach the Auxerrois, Hrubesch and Fischer the Germans without creative genius, Kempes and Diaz the tossed around Argentines, Satrustegui the unefficient, Vandenbergh without a doubt the doppelganger of Erwin the neo-Anderlechtois, Jordan the Scot whose the teeth have been... eliminated, Uribe and Krankl who have never been in on it. At last, amongst the left wingers : Six, that we expected much from and who did not bring enough at an offensive level, Lopez-Ufarte lost in the Spanish torment, Caszely, Masny, Oblitas and most of all Blokhin, mostly remarked for shooting and yelling rather than for his strokes of genius. So we formed, per game, this team of the great delusion which has good allure, on the paper : Arconada - Kaltz, Luizinho, Alexanko, Tarantini - Prohaska, Dremmler, Maradona - Juanito, Serginho, Blokhin. No, we haven't forgotten Maradona, we kept him for the good word. He's only 21. It's his only excuse. Coz, if he was ruthlessly marked by Gentile, he should have had the tactical intelligence to withdraw to expose himself less. Against Brazil who had setup a surveillance network around him without preventing him to evolve with enough freedom in his moves for all that, Diegito, apart from 10 minutes long, went unnoticed. One very good game - against Hungary - out of 5, was the minimal portion. The law of sport is really hard nowadays."