In football there are many ways to deal with defeat: giving in to the resignation of failure, turning the page without making amends –causing a new setback with the same stone in the future– or looking ahead, with your head held high, to collect Rematch. The latter made the Peruvian team to classify the Argentina World Cup 1978after the resounding setback experienced towards Germany 1974. And it is that if there was a way that a generation full of talent could recover from the elimination they suffered at the hands of Chile in 1973, it was this, qualifying for the World Cup on Argentine soil.
The pain of being left out of a World Cup is felt double when in the squad one reviews the names of Teófilo Cubillas, Hugo Sotil, Héctor Chumpitaz, Ramón Mifflin, Roberto Chale, Percy Rojas, José Velásquez and Juan José Muñante, among others; many of them in their prime. The defeat against the ‘Red’, in a match where the team led by Roberto Scarone was the clear favorite to access the intercontinental playoffs, was a blow that meant a shock against reality for the ‘Blanquirroja’. The press, the fans, the players themselves and everything that surrounded Peruvian soccer in those years, was forced to chew on failure to later rise from the ashes like the phoenix.
And in what way: now with Marcos Calderon on the bench, the Peruvian team He not only aimed with everything towards Argentina 78, but also towards the 1975 Copa América, the same one he won after a historic victory over Colombia with a goal by Hugo Sotil. That title gave vitality to the team and little by little the bad memories of the elimination against the Chileans remained in the past. With that, the task was incomplete and it was necessary to return to the World Cup so that the Peruvian people smile again at soccer.
The path in the league
For the 1978 World Cup Qualifiers, since Argentina was already classified as the host country, South America had nine participating teams to fight for two direct spots and one for an intercontinental playoff. The format was as follows: three groups with the same number of teams each, the first three of each series qualified for a final league –a single match on a neutral field, to be held in Cali–, in which two qualified. directly and the last one went to the playoffs.
The Peruvian team He had no trouble exorcising the ghosts of 1973 and finished leader of Group 3, leaving Ecuador and Chile on the road –yes, the long-awaited revenge had a sweet taste–. This led to everything being defined in the final group against Brazil and Bolivia, which gave surprise in Group 2 by beating Uruguay and Venezuela. Thus, the logic in this instance was only one: the ‘Canarinha’ would classify as always and the ‘Verde’ would be the rival to beat; If this happens, the World Cup ticket would go to Marcos Calderón’s team.
The curious thing about that cross against Bolivia was that it did not generate much expectation in the Peruvian fans. According to the chronicles of those days, the 2-0 victory over Chile in the last match of the group round, with goals from ‘Cholo’ Sotil and Juan Carlos Oblitas, was the victory that everyone needed to feel like they were in the World Cup, They took for granted what would happen next. That March 26, 1977, when the match with the southern team ended, the fans entered the field to celebrate with their idols. What a postcard!
But for the group Peruvian team there was a game ahead and they knew they had to win it, leaving behind the defeat against Brazil (1-0) in the league debut. The altiplanos, meanwhile, arrived with morale on the ground after having received a resounding 8-0 from ‘Scratch’. Then, on July 17 of the same year, the Pascual Guerrero Olympic Stadium witnessed the closing of an unforgettable campaign, with a 5-0 victory that is lodged in the memory of Peruvians.
The cherry on the cake: a 5-0
Beyond the bulky result, during the first minutes the ‘Blanquirroja’ had a hard time dominating the ball. Everything changed when Teófilo Cubillas appeared to make it 1-0 at 25′ and the peace of mind at 44′, igniting the celebrations of the Peruvians who went to the Pascual Guerrero. José Velásquez’s 3-0, at 64′, ended up drowning the illusions of the Bolivians and finally pushed the ‘Bicolor’ towards a calmer match.
Percy Rojas’ 4-0 (75′) and ‘Patrón’s’ 5-0 again (89′) sealed a victory that, although it confirmed Peru’s presence in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, did not appease the criticism from a sector of the press that expected a performance in line with the win. Apart from that, Peru finally achieved its third World Cup appearance after the pain of not being in Germany 1974 and the second on its own merits after Mexico 1970.
Today, 46 years after that remembered classification, perhaps the unforgettable fact of getting a ticket to a World Cup takes on another value. Very recently our generation experienced the pain of being left out of one for so little, which invites a little reflection regarding the enjoyment of the moment. For the rest there is nostalgia, to remember what happened and possibly not happen again. Let’s hope that what is to come is different and with a celebration according to the circumstances. We need it.
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