The World Cup, like life, does not provide rehearsals or previews. However, two weeks ago in Amsterdam we had just such a rehearsal which told us in quite vivid detail of the sort of football which might be in store for us in France over the next few weeks.The rehearsal was the European Champions League Cup final between Real Madrid and Juventus. And what made the match a curtain raiser for the World Cup was both the style of football and the way it was played.Such is the cosmopolitan nature of the players who now play in Europe that almost all major powers of world football had a representative in the final. So apart from Italian and Spanish players, a Brazilian and an Argentine played for Real Madrid as did a Yugoslav who scored the winning goal, while Real's Dutch midfielder was opposed by Juventus' Dutch midfielder, both of whom are in the Dutch squad for the World Cup.Juventus also had their World Cup stars but they were more than matched by Real's centre back Fernando Heiro, who is also the mastermind of Spain's defence. Indeed it was the duel between Heiro and Juventus' striking force led by French international Zinedine Zidane that not only dictated the shape of the match, but explained why Real, against expectations, won. It also provided a firm pointer to what we might see in the World Cup finals.Very simply, it told us that this World Cup will provide a marvellous combination of skill, strength and pace. It will integrate the two streams that have dominated world football for so many decades.Traditionally, the Latin and South American style of football has always been the more skilful, but the Latin players have a reputation for histrionics and an inability to take the rough stuff. In contrast, the British style of football was built on pace and strength, with skill often at a premium. So the joke often is that the first touch of a British player is so poor that it almost amounts to a pass, while Latin and South American players can almost make the ball talk with their ball-trapping ability and instantaneous control.The British style of football was exemplified in 1966 when, through the prosaic 4-4-2 system of four defenders, four midfielders and two attackers, England won the World Cup; the beautiful South American style reached its apogee in 1970 when the Brazilians led by Pele, and including Gerson, Tostao, Rivelino and Jarzinho, beat Italy 4-1, in probably the greatest World Cup final ever.There are teams that have tried to combine the two styles. In the '70s, the Dutch came up with total football but that was based on the idea that defenders could interchange with attackers and was built on the supreme skills of individuals led by the incomparable Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens. The Germans, while sharing much of the muscular approach of the British, have tried to graft on some of the superior balls skills of the Latins, as exemplified by Franz Beckenbauer both when he led Germany to the World Cup in 1974 as a player and then as a coach in 1990. Yet on the whole, the historic gulf between the British style of football being a game of hard running and hard tackling and the Latin belief that, as Pele said, football is a beautiful game of magical touches has remained.But Amsterdam showed the two can be combined. Real often attacked with six players streaming up front and using the width of the pitch, something even the legendary Real team of Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo Di Stefano would have been proud of. As the same time, as Heiro showed when Juventus attacked, they could defend as well. What is more, the match was played at an electric pace and players like Brazilian Roberto Carlos, who at free kicks can bend the ball as if he had magnets attached to the soles of his feet, also showed how hard a tackler he is and how quick he can be. He symbolised the modern Brazilian style in which Ronaldo's skills up front will be backed by defenders who are as hard as any defenders the English game can produce.A factor which may prove crucial in the World Cup is the re-freeing. The referees are under instructions from FIFA, the world's governing body, to come down hard on defenders who try to stop forwards illegally. In the past when the World Cup was played in Europe, as in 1954 and 1966, skilful men have been hacked out of the competition. Now it is possible this will not happen.So which are the teams to look out for? Brazil is the best loved team but there are doubts; the team is aging and its leadership sends contrary signals. Argentina, who beat Brazil recently, and Chile look like better South American bets. .preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Germany always does well in such competitions, but on the basis of the way Heiro defended, this might well be Spain's year. Spain has always been a great force in European club football, never on the national scale. Now they appear to have combined their Latin skills with some of the guts of the English and could be formidable.The unknown in all this are the Africans. Cameroon in 1990 had the skills and so did Nigeria in 1994 but not the temperament, losing to England and Italy when they should have won. It revealed a lack of self-belief that they could storm these established bastions of football. It remains to be seen if they have the self-belief necessary. If so they could spring a true surprise. The author is an award-winning sports columnist for London's Daily Telegraph Published By: AtMigration Published On: Jun 8, 1998--- ENDS ---
