History of the Netherlands national football team World Cup final tournament in 1934. After a second appearance in 1938 they did not appear in another World Cup until 1974. The 1970s saw the invention of Total Football (), pioneered by Feyenoord and Ajax and led by playmaker Johan Cruyff and national team coach Rinus Michels. The Dutch made huge strides, qualifying for two World Cup finals in the decade. The captain of the Brazilian team that won the 1970 FIFA World Cup, Carlos Alberto, went on to say ""The only team I’ve seen that did things differently was Holland at the 1974 World Cup in Germany. Since
History of the Italy national football team able to come back to a World Cup final match after 32 years. They reached this result after one of the most famous matches in football history—the "Game of the Century", the 1970 World Cup semifinal between Italy and Germany that Italy won 4–3 in extra time, with five of the seven goals coming in extra time. They were later defeated by Brazil in the final 4–1. The cycle of international successes ended in the 1974 World Cup, when the team was eliminated by Grzegorz Lato's Polish team in the first round. In the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina,