The Toes That Bind

Advice to visitors planning to be in Europe this Wednesday night: Don't try to get an audience with Pope Paul VI or Queen Juliana of The Netherlands.

Forget about possible talks with President Tito of Yugoslavia, Premier Andreotti of Italy or Chancellor Brandt of West Germany. Put off plans for a big auto deal with Giovanni Agnelli of Fiat.

Abandon all hopes of a date with British Actor Albert Finney or Spanish Bullfighter El Cordobes. Chances are that they--along with more than 200 million other Europeans--will be watching a football game: the European Cup soccer final.

An annual happening, the European Cup final is more than just the biggest sports event on the Continent. It might very well be the biggest yearly event of any type, at least in terms of the interest it arouses. Certainly it will excite far more Europeans this year than the Security Conference discussions in Helsinki or the Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions talks in Vienna. It will simultaneously unite and divide more Europeans along partisan lines than any issue likely to come up within the European Common Market.

For soccer, the world's most popular sport, is a European passion that transcends national, language, class and ideological barriers. No single match (with the possible exception of the quadrennially held World Cup) attracts as much attention as the European Cup final, which decides, after months of tough elimination matches, the best club team in Europe.

This week the toes that bind the Continent belong to the aggressive voetbailers of Amsterdam's Ajax club and to the graceful giocatori di calcio of Turin's Juventus team. When they meet on traditionally neutral territory in Belgrade's Crvena Zvezda (red star) stadium, it will be a classic confrontation of styles. Ajax, shooting for a third successive cup victory, epitomizes a relentless, free-flowing new style of "total football." Attackers defend and defenders attack interchangeably. Juventus, winner of 15 national titles and known as the "grand old lady" of Italian soccer, represents the conservative, traditional style known as catenaccio (literally, door bolt). The emphasis is on tight defense, with the opponent's attacks being used as springboards for counter-thrusts and breakaway strikes by swift forwards.

Whatever the outcome of this week's game, the innovative, extraverted style of Ajax--last week a 1-to-8 favorite with London bookies--is credited with helping soccer reach new levels in popularity. The sport's international governing body, the Federation Internationale de Football Association, represents 141 countries--nine more than belong to the United Nations. Tens of thousands of teams, ranging from professional clubs in sleek, 100,000-plus-capacity stadiums to little leaguers who dribble across vacant lots, are spread throughout both East and West Europe.

In Holland, 67 out of every 1,000 citizens are players. Recently, even the Vatican formed a league; L'Osservatore Romano and Vatican Museums are tied for the lead.

Though attendance at games is down in some areas (notably Britain and West Germany), the total number of followers has risen rapidly because of television. Europe now has 150 million sets, triple the number ten years ago, and sales keep jumping--often on the eve of a major soccer game.

This week's cup match will be telecast live to at least 28 countries on the Continent and beyond, including both Israel and Iran. Taking into account those who will see it on a delayed telecast, the game will be watched by more than 300 million people besides the 98,000 crammed into the Belgrade stadium. Says one French commentator:

"Televising football is now a public service. It's like showing Mass on Sunday mornings." But to considerably bigger and noisier audiences.

To date, television has not brought riches to soccer teams (most of which are run at a loss by enthusiastic benefactors). The reason is that European television is generally government-controlled and monopolistic; it lacks both the commercial sponsorship and the competition that boost bids for major U.S. sports. Ajax's share from the cup final will be only 225,000 guilders ($83,000), which will not even cover the playoff bonuses it has guaranteed team members.

TV exposure, though, has helped some individual stars to cash in on international fame. There is no shinier soccer star in Europe than Ajax's high-scoring center forward Johan Cruyff (rhymes more or less with rife), 26, a sinewy young Dutchman with strong, quick legs and fluttering, long hair. His salary as a player--250,000 guilders a year--is among the highest in the sport.

On top of that, "Cruyffie" earns 350,000 guilders a year through business investments and plugs for products ranging from Citroen cars to Bols gin (which he enjoys drinking laced with Coke).

Despite the changes in soccer, one ugly characteristic remains: fan violence and vandalism. Attacks on referees and players, brawls among spectators and window smashing after games are as common to soccer as cheerleaders are to American football.

In Italy a few years ago, one referee had his ear bitten off. In France, all stadiums have been forced to erect 7-ft.-high iron fences to keep irate fans off the field. In Britain, police patrol special football trains to curb fights. Last week in Rome, after Juventus won the national league title by beating Roma, the Juventus players had to drive through a gauntlet of angry Roma supporters who pummeled their cars with sticks and boots.

Belgrade, expecting an invasion of 40,000 emotional Italians and 10,000 partisan Dutchmen, is taking no chances for the European Cup final. To help distract the fans after the game, the Belgrade city council has ordered shops and restaurants on the main streets to stay open all night. In addition, virtually the entire police force of the Republic of Serbia will be on duty, trying to keep the peace. Still, Yugoslav authorities are happy to host the game.

They expect the feverish visitors to spend $6 million, win or lose.

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