1986, MexicoMaradona! Simply sensational, proving that he could play Gaelic football with his first goal v England in the quarter final, his second goal is forever enshrined as probably the greatest goal ever scored in a major finals. If you have never seen this goal, do a search and watch it…incredible stuff.
I remember 1986 for some terrific games & some terrific players. The USSR team was a superb unit that promised much but was outplayed by a resilient Belgian team in the second round 4-3. Belanov’s goal in that game was a stunner.
1986 introduced Danish football to a global audience. The Danes were sensational in the ‘84 Euro Championship and the Laudrup brothers were immediate superstars. However in the second round, after leading 1-0 with 2 mins to go till half time - they sensationally collapsed to the fancied Spaniards. “The Vulture”, Emilio Butragueno scoring 4 times in their 5-1 win.
The European Champions, France played some scintillating football to get to the semi final, defeating Brazil in a memorable quarter final (on penalties). Germany, typically doggedly, grinding out results to get to that sem-final. Germany won 2-0 & French élan had to wait yet another while for the elusive trophy.
England steadily worked their passage till they met the indomitable force that was Diego Maradona at 25. Argentina deserved their win & they met the conquerors of Belgium – Spain in the semi-final, Maradona again was the triggerman with 2 brilliant goals, the second almost a carbon copy of the sensational goal v England.
The final has a memorable footnote for me. Argentina winning 3-2 in an entertaining game. Maradona pulling the strings and sending his country into ecstasy. If ever someone single-handedly (no pun intended0 won a world cup, it was this man!
The footnote is this, the Irish Counties of Westmeath & Wexford have a strong presence in Argentina (some 350,000 or so) - the first Argentinean scorer in the final was a fourth generation descendant of a Wexford family – Jorge Brown was his name!
No comments:
Post a Comment