世界杯战术演变史

World Cup Football and New Methods of Play

Duan Lian

For football players and fans everywhere, the high point of football excitement and interest is probably the World Cup tournament. The tournament, held every four years brings together the world's best teams to compete for football's highest honour. In Cup matches, one can see the finest players in the sport, whether professional or otherwise, not just the amateurs, as in the Olympic Games. Furthermore, in Cup competition one can often see the latest developments in the game: fresh styles of play, improved methods of attack and defence, new tactics and strategy. New ideas and methods, especially those used by the more successful teams, have often had a far-reaching influence on the sport throughout the world.

According to students of the game, in the 49 years since the first World Cup tournament was held in 1930, football has gone through three major changes, or revolutions, in method of play.

The first was in 1954, when the Hungarian side swept away all opposition and won the 5th world Cup. The Hungarians played with their centre-forward held back, using their inside-forwards to spearhead the attack. This gave the forward line a shape similar to the letter “M”. On offence, the players played their positions flexibly and used various “two-to-one” tactics to get past defenders. Playing against some of the best teams in the football world, the Hungarians won by surprising scores. Their total of 31 goals in six games still stands as a record in World Cup competition.

The Hungarians' tactics brought a new look to the game, which for thirty years had kept to the traditional “WM” formation used so often by teams from England, the birthplace of modern football and a world-class football power for many years.

The second major change took place at the 6th World Cup tournament in 1958. The Brazilian team took over some of the ideas of the Hungarians but improved on them, A 4-2-4 formation was used; that is, four forwards, two halfbacks, and four backs. This system provided better over-all balance, allowing for quick change from defence to offence, or from offence to defence. The Brazilians took top honours by combining excellent team play with brilliant individual performances.

After the 6th World Cup, many teams over the world adopted the 4-2-4 formation. But unfortunately defensive football began to dominate the game. This was due mainly to the method used in the European club tournaments to determine the winners. These tournaments, played among the top professional European clubs, were played on a home-and-away basis. The winning side was the one with the highest total number of goals. As a result, a visiting team would often not play to win, but to keep down the other side's score, hoping to score more goals in the return match on its home field. This emphasis on defence lasted sixteen years and produced far too many dull games with low scores.

In 1974 in the 10th World Cup competition held in West Germany, the team from the Netherlands surprised many people by making its way to the finals. The team was made up of speedy all-around players who were good on attack as well as defence. When attacking, instead of having the players sticking to certain positions, the Dutch team used “total offence”, with all ten men moving forward. Any man who had the ball and in a shooting position was a threat. But when the opponents had the ball, the Dutch team changed to “total defence”, with all ten men falling back to stop the other side. Any opposing player with the ball would often have to deal with not just one defender, but two, three and even four. Whether attacking or defending, the entire team moved like a mighty tidal wave up or down the field, with opposing players often seeming powerless in its path.

The Dutch did not win the Cup, finishing second in that tournament, as they did four years later in Argentina. But their method of play was so effective that coaches and players had to sit up and take notice. Teams all over the world began to adopt their methods. This was a welcome change from the cautious defensive style of play that had dominated the game for so many years. It put new life into the game and attracted millions of new followers to the sport. No wonder, then, that many people consider it the third revolution in football.

Some Common Football Terms

football (association football) 足球，美国叫 soccer

field 球场

penalty area 罚球区

goalkeeper, goalie 守门员

right (left) back 右（左）后卫

centre-half 中卫

right (left) half 右（左）前卫

centre-forward 中锋

outside-forward (wing, winger) 边锋

inside-forward 内锋

referee 裁判员

linesman 边线裁判员

to pass the ball 传球

to dribble the ball 盘球

to head the ball 头球

to feint 做假动作

to break through, to dart past 带球过人

to shoot 射门

to score, to make a goal 得分，进球

throw in 掷界外球

corner kick 角球

direct free kick 直接任意球

indirect free kick 间接任意球

offside 越位