ONLY a few more days to the World Cup. Yippie. Or not, in my case. I couldn’t care less for the World Cup, in much the same way that I don’t care much for international football, full stop.
But still, it’s inevitable. Like death, tax returns and Kris Boyd leaving Rangers, it’s going to happen and there’s nothing you nor I can do about it.
It’s got nowt to do with Scotland not being there. Technically, I should be supporting Holland, what with me being a Cloggy and all that, but I couldn’t name you more than three players in the squad, nor could I tell you who the manager is, or even how they qualified – the 3-0 against Scotland in Amsterdam aside, at which I was present.
And that rings true for the other teams also. I don’t know them, I don’t know the players, I don’t know the leagues and I don’t know the history. I could look it up, but frankly I’ve got more interesting things to do with my time.
So. Is that clear? Don’t expect any World Cup coverage from this site! But just to prove I’m not a complete football philistine, I’ll do one post on the World Cup. This one.
It all came about when we got an email from Craig Anderson, owner of The Last Ditch Tackle (and current editor of Scotzine while Andy is away – to use his own words – “practising making babies”) asking for our World Cup memories.
So, grudgingly, here are mine:
First World Cup they can remember (“i.e. not Spain 82 when only 1 year old”)
Blatantly ageist this, presupposing that all Scottish football bloggers are 29 and younger. As a mature but well preserved 40-year-old, I was too young for 1974 (during the final of which my father and my uncle, both ‘well oiled’ threatened to stab a victorious German supporter in the tent next to us at the campsite where we where having our holiday). The 1978 tournament completely passed me by (I have not a single memory of it) so for me, the first World Cup I can remember is: Spain ’82.
Aberdeen had quite a few players in the squad (Miller, McLeish, Strachan and Leighton, while Stevie Archibald, then at Spurs, still lingered in my 12-year-old memory) which made me sit up and take notice. It was a rubbish World Cup for Scotland (sure, which one isn’t?) and the first one I remember.
Jairzinho, scorer of my all-time favourite World Cup goal
Favourite goal
Much has been written about Carlos Alberto’s goal for Brazil against Italy in 1970; sublime individual skill with almost telepathic teamwork, 9 players combined to make one of the finest goals ever seen. Maradona’s mazy run for his second goal against England is great too, but so is Saeed Owairan’s for Saudi Arabia against Belgium in 1994 who ran pretty much the same distance but who was a much crappier player than Maradona, making his goal better, in my opinion.
The Scottish Football Blog has Denis Bergkamp’s goal against Argentina as his favourite. Aye, sure, it’s good, but he was doing that kind of stuff for Arsenal every week, so hardly anything special (puts on flame retardant suit).
Now, as far as football fetishes go, when the wife and kids go to bed, I like to turn the lights down low and scour the Internet for videos of players teasing and tantalising the opposition, working their way through the defenders before sticking it in the back of the net. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s for Ajax against NAC Breda is a good example of the genre. I’m also partial to the odd diving header, as demonstrated ably here by Alan Shearer
Sadly, neither of those are World Cup goals, so they don’t really count. For my favourite World Cup goal I have to go back to arguably one of the greatest World Cups there’s ever been: 1970. Pele’s goal against Czechoslovakia is a good example of a clinical pass, excellent control and a ripping finish, but the one goal that makes the top of my list was Jairzinho’s winner against England.
In a game better known for the “Banks save” rests a wee jewel of a goal. Paulo Cesar gets the ball from Tostao on the left wing, passes it back to Tostao who runs into the English defence. With options running out, he manages to get a cross in to Pele who, with deft control, draws two English defenders out to him before cooly passing it to a waiting Jairzinho, who slots it past Banks. The game finished 1-0, England’s only group defeat. You can watch it here, but wind on to 3:24 for the action!
Best individual performer at a World Cup
It’s hard to chose one really. DiStefano, Puscas, Puskás, Cruijff, Pele, Maradona, Zidane, Zico, Dalglish, Moore, Beckenbauer, and so on. All great players, all great individual performers.
Scotland memory
Spain ’82 (again) and David Narey’s goal against Brazil. I mention it a lot on this blog, but it is a great goal from a player who was not known for his scoring abilities. Narey, a rock in the center of Dundee United’s defence for over twenty years, only scored 22 goals in his 600-odd appearances, and only ever scored 1 goal for Scotland. This one. The goal (the first of the game) only made Brazil angry and we lost 4-1, but still. A cracker.
Best game
Has to be the World Cup final in 1970. Great players, great teams, great goals. Brazil won their third World Cup and held on the trophy. Italy – the reigning European Champions – qualified for the final after their mammoth 4-3 win over West Germany (called the Game of the Century”) and where no push-overs themselves. But in the final they where simply outplayed by a blistering Brazil featuring Pele, Tostao, Jairzinho and Rivelino and of course, Carlos Alberto’s fabulous fourth goal.
Worst game
The 1990 World Cup final between West Germany and Argentina. An Andreas Brehme 85th minute penalty won it for the Germans, but it was a bad tempered game with more red and yellow cards on display than shots on goal.
But I must be honest – I only watched the first half “live”. I started drinking my way through a particularly cheap case of Bulgarian wine just prior to kick-off, and having consumed three bottles before half-time, I passed out and woke up the next day to find the Germans had won 1-0.
I watched the second half later that day, but finding it to be a terrible game and a total waste of time, I proceeded to drink the remaining bottles of wine. I don’t remember much after that. Ah, students eh?
Nostalgic memories (“i.e. merchandise, cheesy songs, ad’s etc”)
When it comes to Scotland and World Cup’s, there’s not much in the way of nostalgic memories: it’s mostly awful. I still have my ’82 World Cup Panini album (jings, players where a lot uglier in them days) somewhere, as well as a Holland-top (a t-shirt really) from 1978 with “Cruijff” hand-written on the back. Shame he didn’t play in that tourney, otherwise it might be worth a bit.