World Cup Final July 7 1974

West Germany v Holland

Olympic Stadium, Munich

West Germany: 2 (Breitner (pen) 25, Muller 43) Holland: 1 (Neeskens (pen) 1)

West Germany: Maier, Vogts, Beckenbauer, Schwarzenbeck, Breitner, Bonhof, Hoeness, Overath, Grabowski, Muller, Holzenbein.

Holland: Jongbloed, Suurbier, Rijsbergen (De Jong 69), Haan, Krol, Jansen, Van Hanegem, Neeskens, Rep, Cruyff, Rensenbrink (R. Van der Kerkhof 46).

Referee: Taylor (England)
Yellow Cards: Vogts, Neeskens, Van Hanegem, Cruyff

West Germany eventually won the 1974 World Cup final against Holland in a match that will probably best be remembered for two penalties.

A penalty had never been awarded in a final before, but within a minute of the kick-off English referee Jack Taylor had changed all that. Before a West German player had even touched the ball, Johan Cruyff was brought down in the area and Taylor pointed to the spot. Johan Neeskens netted the penalty to put the purveyors of 'total football' ahead.

Franz Beckenbauer and co were shocked and it took them some time to get themselves back into the game. After 25 minutes Taylor awarded another penalty - this time to the West Germans - and Paul Breitner duly equalised.

The host nation were now in the ascendancy and as Beckenbauer and Rainer Bonhof began to dictate proceedings, a West German winner seemed inevitable. It came just before half time when goal machine Gerd Muller swivelled and hit a brilliant winner past the dumbfounded Dutch keeper Jongbloed who was rooted to the spot. It was a fitting way for 'Der Bomber' to celebrate his final international match.

Holland had probably been the most exciting team of the tournament and had the best player in Cruyff. They used a system that utilised the versatility of all their players, allowing them to show off their skills in more than one area of the pitch. Throughout the tournament they showed off their talent but they were probably at their best in the 4-1 demolition of Bulgaria in the group stage and in the 4-0 thrashing of Argentina in the second round.