Zaire's World Cup falls apart

18th June 1974. Yugoslavia vs Zaire. Parkstadion. Gelsenkirchen. Kick off:
Attendance: 20,000

Yugoslavia 9 (Bajevic 8',30'81, Dzajic 14', Surjak 18', Katalinski 22', Bogicevic 35', Oblak 61', Petkovic 65' Zaire 0

Teams: Yugoslavia:Maric, Buljan, Hadziabdic, Katalinski, Bogicevic, Petkovic, Oblak, Surjak, Acimovic, Dzajic, Bajevic.
Coach: Milan Miljanic

Zaire: Kazadi (sub: Tubilandu 20'), Mwepu, Mukombo, Buhanga, Lobilo, Kilasu, Manu, Kembo, Kidumu (captain), Ndaye, Kakoko (sub: Maku 45')

Yellow cards: Hadziabdic (Yugoslavia) 55' Red card: Ndaye (Zaire) 22'

Referee: Omar Delgado (Colombia), Assistant referees: Vicente Llobregat (Venezuala), Ramon Barreto (Uruguay)

"The management had made off with our match bonuses, and we'd threatened not to play the game. Frankly we'd lost our morale. We could easily have let in 20 goals." (Zaire's star striker, Mulamba Ndaye)

Zaire's goalkeeper, Mwamba Kazadi, was substituted after just twenty minutes with the Leopards already three goals down. The first job of his replacement, Dimi Tubilandu, was to pick the ball out of the net yet again, literally seconds after coming on. To compound Zaire's misery, Ndaye was sent off for protesting against this goal, which looked suspiciously offside. Yugoslavia led 6-0 at half-time and had ample opportunities in the second-half to reach double figures.

"I'm not a psychologist, but at half-time I thought the coach was a bit distracted. He had changed the line-up and it was turning into our worst game. He had taken off Kazadi, who was a good goalkeeper, and put in Tubilandu, who was 5ft 4 in tall against these six-foot-plus Yugoslav forwards. The poor goalkeeper! We were static on the field, the defenders were nervous, our marking wasn't up to standard, our clearances were poor, we hadn't had any clear chances. We had really shown our amateurism. But you also have to remember that Yugoslavia were one of the best teams of the era." (Midfielder Adelyard Mayanga Maku, who came on for Zaire as a second-half substitute having surprisingly been dropped from the starting line-up)



Zaire vs Yugoslavia 1974 World Cup (match highlights)

"The cause of African football (has been) set back a great deal by tonight. Their case to have the number of African nations in the World Cup increased can hardly have been strengthened by this performance." (ITV match commentator, Gerald Sinstadt)