Guillermo Stábile ran up the pitch, hoping for someone to pick him out. As the ball came sliding across the surface, the Argentine striker latched on to it deep on the right…
Tag: world cup
I. Stade de France, 12 July 1998. It was a cathartic moment that struck an emotional chord across a whole nation. World Cup 98 hosts France, two goals to the good against a…
Picture the scene: an apprentice footballer walks into his manager’s office to learn his fate. It’s decision time, a contract or no contract, a yes or a no. It’s a lifetime of…
GOING INTO the game, Aston Villa had suffered three successive defeats and were looking more than a little ropey. Up against Manchester United in the 1994 League Cup final, the Claret and Blues…
ON 3 JUNE 1978, Peruvian footballer Teófilo Cubillas broke the hearts of five million Scots with a set-piece of ineffable magic. Moments earlier, Cubillas stood 20-yards away from the Scottish goal, staring…
IT IS FRIGHTENING the rate at which our childhood heroes are retiring from football – slowly descending away from the turf, slipping out from the present and into a deep-sea of nostalgia…
This feature is part of The Masterminds IN 1974, Argentine football had unquestionably seen more prosperous days. The national side had just been dumped out of the World Cup in Germany having…
This feature is part of The Masterminds IF TROPHIES ARE your thing, let’s start with them. Marcello Lippi, the grandfather of modern Italian football, won a World Cup, a Champions League and…
There was a time when Scotland boasted some of the world’s best players. We rewind back to their memorable adventure at Argentina 78 under the divisive Ally MacLoed, and with the likes of Dalglish, Souness and Robertson amongst their ranks.
”Mi amigos” is how Diego Maradona is known to describe them. Ali Bin Nasser and Bogdan Dotchev are not on cordial terms with one another. Over three decades on, they still blame each…
Reminiscing of a time before he became Ireland’s pre-eminent sports writer, Con Houlihan recalled the World Cup of 1966 with particular affection: “It was the first to be broadcast on television in…
It was infamy in Paris. Ginola was distraught, Houllier apoplectic. But the Bulgarians celebrated like never before. For one night only, God was theirs
During his still-short managerial career, Pep Guardiola has coached many modern-day legends, including Carles Puyol, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi. But there’s only one man he’s ever labelled as “the…
FOR A TIME HE REPRESENTED THE COLOURS of his country at the highest level in football, captaining his France team at the first ever World Cup. A decade later, he was shot dead…
“This story should be told. Everyone is always talking about the Netherlands of 1974 and 1988, but they skip 1978, which was a great side”
We all marvel at the skill determination and single-minded focus of individuals that achieve greatness across the sports, from Muhammed Ali to Tiger Woods and Roger Federer to Usain Bolt. Commentators and pundits today…
Every footballer dreams of lifting the World Cup. Some achieve this goal, and others sit in the rarefied air of winning it on multiple occasions. Mário Zagallo is in a league of his…
The first thing that anybody fortunate enough to visit Barcelona’s Camp Nou will notice is the club’s proud slogan, Més que un club (More than a club). This mantra is a philosophy…