Before the 1974 World Cup the Netherlands had only two World Cup matches to their name, and that was back in the 1930s when they lost in the first round of both the 1934 and 1938 World Cups.

They would have to wait thirty-six years before competing in football’s greatest competition again, but when they did, they showed the world they had revolutionised the game.

During the sixties a transformation took place in the Dutch game which saw the two leading clubs in the country produce an array of talent.

Feyenoord and Ajax were fierce rivals but their rivalry sparked the constant improvement of the national game over a decade, which eventually led to them becoming a world force in the seventies.

The style of play, which became known as Total Football, was pioneered by Ajax coach Rinus Michels, who in turn was influenced by the Austrian Wunderteam of the 1930’s and the dazzling Hungary side of the 1950’s.

An Englishman, John “Jack” Reynolds, is the man credited with laying down the foundations of the system, with various spells with Ajax over three decades.

Michels certainly took it further, and arguably perfected it with playmaker Johan Cruyff at the centre of everything for Ajax and the national team in the early seventies.

By the time the 1974 World Cup came around, the Ajax and Feyenoord sides had dominated European club football from 1969 to 1973, which made the Netherlands one of the big favourites for the World Cup.

They got off to good start, working their way past a tough Uruguayan defence to win by two goals, both scored by Johnny Rep.

However, they couldn’t score against Sweden in their next game which finished level.

Their last group game was in Dortmund, and their fans had travelled in great numbers to cheer them on dressed in their now famous orange shirts, and they were rewarded with a stunning display and a 4-1 victory.

The Netherlands topped the group and went onto comfortably beat Argentina and East Germany in the second group stage, meaning they just needed a draw against Brazil in their last group match for a place in the final.

The Brazilians had to win — the match subsequently has gone down in history as one of the most violent ever played.

The Brazilians were a shadow of the glorious 1970 side in Mexico, and became frustrated once the Dutch gained control of the match.

Brazil’s roughhouse tactics were an attempt to break the Total Football game of the Dutch, and the first half ended 0-0.

However, five minutes after the break, Oranje finally made their class count and found a breakthrough when Neeksens combined with Cruyff for 1-0.

Neymar would die watching this

Total fail of the referee. No game control. And psycho players.

If this happened nowadays you would see all 22 players dying

That was insane... Unbelivable.

If it happens today, for the first 5 tackles the game would have been forfeited, and players would sue each others

Looks like Stoke City in EPL.

I' ve seen worse lol, Bilbao had some butchers in their back line in the 80's... could have ruined maradona's career.

Typical Turkish league game from 7-8 years ago haha. But the level of football in this Brazil Holland game is amazing.

All clean challenges. What's wrong?

What's most impressive is the fact that most of the players, just got back up quickly to play on. Yes, some of the players rolled a bit, but for good reason!

Different time and style, but the class on display, incredible.