Kevin’s World Cup memories

Hello my friends and greetings from Canada.

I asked Johnny if I could write an off topic post about the World Cup, he agreed so here it is and I hope you enjoy reading it.

This Friday will see the start of the 2010 World Cup and for me it will be my eleventh tournament dating back to 1970 in Mexico. In fact I watched the 1966 Final with my dad but I just can’t remember it. Of course I’ve seen video of the game but it’s not the same.

Hence the World Cup has become somewhat of a Holy Grail for me like a football Indiana Jones movie as I search for that elusive prize of seeing England win the World Cup.

Back in 1970 my expectations as an eight year old were high as England was World Champions and pretty much seemed unstoppable to me. My dad had purchased a color television and the pictures from Mexico were awesome. The lasting memories of this tournament was a classic encounter as England faced Brazil in which we lost 1-0 but I came away from that game with a boyhood hero, Gordon Banks who pulled off a remarkable save against Pele. Some nine years later I met Banks’ face to face, what an honour that was. Inexplicably Banks was dropped for the quarter-final game against West Germany and we squandered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 thank to terrible goalkeeping by Chelsea’s Peter Bonneti. I cried all night long.

The tears flowed again some three years later in October 1973 as England required a win at home against Poland to qualify for the finals in West Germany. Brian Clough had labeled the Polish keeper a “clown with gloves” before the game but it was long-haired keeper Tomaszewski who had the last laugh pulling of a string of saves as England laid seige to the Polish goal. The game ended in a 1-1 tie and England was knocked out. I was devastated; I couldn’t comprehend that England would not be in the finals? That result would play on my mind for years to come.

The 1978 qualifiers saw us matched up against Italy, Finland and Luxembourg and at that time there were far less European countries. Although we only lost one game in qualifying and that was to Italy by 2-0 we actually went out on goal difference thanks to the Italians 6-1 hammering of Finland . So as the summer of ’78 came around my mates and I ended up cheering for the Tartan Army as Scotland had qualified. My lasting memory of this World Cup was Archie Gemmill’s goal against Holland in the group stage and did Argentina really bribe Peru to win 6-1 and so meet Holland in the final. Yes they did!

It was 1982 and the sounds of “Were off the sunny Spain” echoed around the pubs and bars. England were back and in some style with Bryan Robson the new hero of the day scoring within 27 seconds of the opening kick off against France. I was at my mates house, the living room erupted, lampshades were broken but who cared it was a dream start and we went on to win 3-1. England topped their group and would face West Germany and Spain in the second group stage. With Keegan and Brooking injured we could only muster two 0-0 draws and exited the competition.

Four years later we were back in Mexico and I dreamed of another classic encounter against Brazil. It turned into a nightmare drawing 0-0 with Morocco losing 1-0 to Portugal but eventually rallied to win over the Polish by 3-0 and thus qualified for the knockout round. In the last 16 Gary Lineker scored twice in another 3-0 victory that set us up against Argentina who had now become the enemy after the Falklands War. Although Maradonna’s second goal was pure magic his first goal was a definite handball which we saw sitting thousands of miles away. How the referee didn’t see it still bewilders me but in any event we were out.

Then the violence came to the sport more than ever and suddenly every Englishman was a hooligan especially if you had cropped hair like me, but mine was falling out anyway. To be honest I drifted away from the sport for the razzmatazz of American Football and started to spend vacations in the USA. I didn’t even follow the qualifiers for the World Cup, that’s how upset I was at the violence and then suddenly I heard the music Nessun Dorma by Pavorroti being used by the BBC as their World Cup trailer. Images of Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore, Charlton, Keegan, Robson came flooding back and suddenly it was COME ON ENGLAND! It was great to be back. Unfortunately I would be in the USA for the World Cup as I had planned one months vacation there two years earlier however I was able to watch England’s progress as we topped our group and had two extra time wins over Belgium and Cameroon. Suddenly we were into the semi finals against  Germany driven by the skills and exuberance of Paul Gascoigne and the finishing of Gary Lineker. The game went to a penalty shoot out which of course we lost and that started our jinx which has yet to be broken. I felt awful after the game watching Gazza cry and being so far from my fellow countrymen and unable to share in the despair of being eliminated.

Three years later I met my wife and by the time USA 94 had come around I was married and living in Canada. In those days it was difficult to follow the qualifiers other than in newspapers and the early internet. Football was on TV here but very sparse. England had failed to qualify once more thanks to an emerging Norwegian side who won the group and a strong Dutch team and so we ended up in third place. The finals itself were pretty uninspiring except for the brilliance of the Romanians and Bulgarians who should have both been in the final but as it was we had to settle for and Brazil-Italy bore draw and penalty shoot out. My wife couldn’t see the deal about the World Cup and I couldn’t blame her.

Four years later though that all changed. It was France 98, I had a full time job after an incredible four years of temp work and my boss was Spanish. I’m still at the same company today and now I’m the boss of the mailroom. My wife’s interest began to increase thanks to two emerging stars in the form of Michael Owen and David Beckham. As I was at work I had to record the games and then try to avoid the results and the boss and I would watch the games after work at my house. England had topped the group over Italy in qualifying but struggled in the finals ending up in second place behind a strong Romanian team. We faced Argentina in the round of sixteen and I couldn’t wait to get revenge over them from Mexico 86. Argentina took the lead after 4 minutes but we equalized from the spot through one of my favorite all time players Alan Shearer. Then Michael Owen scored an incredible individual effort that will go down as one as the all time classics of World Cup finals. Argentina were not out of it and were helped by the impetuous David Beckham who lost his cool and was sent off. The South Americans found their equalizer and so it went to extra time. England played with “bulldog spirit” and after having a goal unfairly disallowed once again fell by way of the penalty shoot out and that was that.

By the time Korea/Japan came around football was mainstream on TV in Canada but the cunning television stations realized they were on a winner with England and so came along pay-per-view for qualifiers as they knew we would pay it. This World Cup would produce some lasting memories even before the finals began. England would unbelievably hammer Germany 5-1 in Munich and as I watched that game unfold in a packed English bar outside Toronto it was like we were winning the World Cup and somehow helped heal the disappointment of Italia ’90. A few weeks later I was at the same bar but it was a lot quieter as England were trailing Greece 2-1. Then Beckham decided to take on Greece single-handedly resulting in that last minute free kick and it was 2-2. We were off to Asia. We had been drawn in a tough group with Sweden, Argentina and Nigeria and after drawing the first game I had to get up a four in the morning for the match against Argentina. I was pacing up and down in front of the TV chewing my nails and then we were awarded a penalty. Beckham smashed it straight down the middle and we were in the lead. I yelled with all my might, woke up the wife and probably the neighbors too but I didn’t care as 45 minutes later we had won and got the victory that meant so much. We brushed aside Denmark in the round of 16 and when Michael Owen gave us the lead against Brazil I suddenly realized we could win the whole thing. My dream was shattered with two goals by Brazil either side of half time and although they went down to ten men we couldn’t break through and we were out of the tournament once more.

As the qualifiers began for Germany 2006 I was in despair as the pub I had gone to for the last several years was closed down so as England prepared to play their opener against Austria I went shopping with the wife. On the way home though we came back a different route and on the horizon emerged a new pub The Victoria & Albert with a huge sign outside England v Austria. I was ecstatic and would end up watching most of the qualifiers there and still use the same pub to this day. We topped our qualifying group as well as our finals group having seen off Sweden, Paraguay and Trinidad even though we struggled in every game. A spectacular free kick by Beckham against Ecuador saw us through to the quarter-finals but we hadn’t played well and Lampard seemed to miss at every chance he had. The quarter final against Portugal I will remember for the Portuguese playing eleven men behind the ball for virtually 120 minutes looking for the penalty shoot out and Rooney getting sent off with the help of his United team mate Ronaldo who winked at him as he left the field. Inevitably we lost the penalty shoot out in a game we should have really won and so once again I was the first house on my street to take the flag down.

So here we are the World Cup is almost upon us again but this time it feels different, no hype by The Sun or Daily Mirror, no cries of we are going to win it like it’s our birth right and under Capello perhaps the calmer approach is the way to go. My flag is up once more bigger and better than before and flies proudly in the morning breeze. My vacation days are booked my coins have been saved up for beer money and once again I embark on my dream to see England win the greatest prize in sport, The FIFA World Cup. COME ON ENGLAND.

Thanks for reading and have a fantastic tournament!