Holland contested the 1978 World Cup Final, in
Argentina, for the second time in a row; and as in West
Germany, again they finished runners-up to the hosts.
Home side Argentina, welcomed by sackfulls of shredded newspaper
drifting down from the stands, stumbled to Italy in the first-round group stage and almost
lost out on a final spot to Brazil.
Argentina needed to beat Peru by four clear goals, in the last group
match. They managed six, with Mario Kempes (the tournament's leading goalscorer with six
goals) adding another two to his tally.
For the fifth time, in eleven World Cup Finals, a host nation lifted
football's greatest prize: Uruguay, in 1930; Italy, in 1934; England,
in 1966 and West Germany, in 1974 had all achieved
the feat.
After Argentina, home fans needed to wait 20 years to see this
achieved again; in France 98.
After the Argentina 1978 World Cup Finals, Keith Burkinshaw went on to
make the shrewdest buys of the summer, by bringing Osvaldo 'Ossie' Ardiles and Ricardo
'Ricky' Villa to Tottenham's White Hart Lane. In August of 1978, Tottenham fans introduced
sacfuls of ticker-tape at Nottingham Forest's Trent Bridge; helping the Argentinians feel
at home in English football.
