7 Mar 2005(Mon)

TOKYO (March 5): Usually I write about Japanese football, because this is where I live and this is the football I follow.

But today's column will be more universal, after reading an article on Friday that both shocked and upset me.

It was the report of the death of Rinus Michels, the inventor of "Total Football" which took the World Cup by storm in 1974.

I was only 14 years old at the time, but that summer, watching the Dutch in West Germany via my television, changed my life.

The British are not known for embracing trends from overseas, and we (England) still thought we were the best in the world at that time, having won the World Cup in 1966.

That was only eight years ago, and a lucky Polish goalkeeper by the name of Tomaszewski--dubbed "a clown" by the legendary coach Brian Clough during his TV commentary--had prevented us from qualifying for West Germany.

That's right, England weren't even there, but we were still better than "Johnny Foreigner."

This was the dogma and propaganda produced by the biased English media.

Then along came Johan Cruyff and Company!

Wow, now this was football. Total football.

Michels, known as "the General," had a gifted generation of players at his disposal, and devised a system that required intelligence, fitness, unerring technique and communication.

Michels himself actually preferred to call it "Pressing Football," as it involved all the players pushing forward, changing positions, marking the man closest to them.

Not only did they bring the game to life with their running and vision, they also squeezed the life out of their opponents by denying them space and time.

All I remember about the 1974 World Cup is the green pitches just being covered in a blur of orange, as the genius Cruyff conducted his own symphony orchestra.

They produced beautiful football, scored beautiful goals and left rivals gasping for breath, not knowing where the next attack would come from.

Uruguay, whose violent approach was more than matched by these elegant but tough Dutchmen--yes, they could look after themselves in this department, too--Bulgaria, Argentina, East Germany and Brazil were swatted aside like flys, with only the resilient Swedes holding the Dutch to a 0-0 draw in a first round group match.

The world sat down to watch Holland tear apart the host nation, West Germany, in the final at Munich, and Michels's men were 1-0 ahead before the Germans had even touched the ball!

From the kick-off, the Dutch strung together a series of passes, before Cruyff surged into the box, to be fouled by Hoeness (not Vogts, which is the common, but wrong, version of events).

Neeskens hammered in the penalty, 1-0 to Holland, and surely it was just a matter of how many goals they would score.

In the end, they didn't score any more, as a casual, arrogant air descended on the team.

Breitner equalised from the penalty spot, and the great Muller--"Der Bomber"--scored the winner, still in the first half.

It was a traumatic day for me, as I had fallen under the orange spell.

Later, in 1988, when I was working as a football reporter in north-east England, I covered the European Championship, again in West Germany, and saw the Dutch, with Michels back in control, destory England in Dusseldorf with a Van Basten hat-trick, then beat West Germany 2-1 in the Hamburg semi-final with a late winner from the same player.

Revenge was very sweet!

In Munich, goals from Gullit and Van Basten--the latter being an acrobatic, unstoppable angled volley--beat the Soviet Union in the final.

Michels and the Dutch finally had what they deserved in 1974...a trophy.

So the death of Michels was a massive shock, and a sad day for football the world over.

Not only had he changed the game from a tactical point of view, he had opened up a whole new world for fans, coaches and players alike.

No-one will ever forget Rinus Michels, Total Football and the orange wizards who cast a spell on the 1974 World Cup.

ends