The World Cup Blog

Name Your Best Ever World Cup XI and Win an England Press Pass!

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:49:16 -0500

We have teamed up with http://england2018bid.com/ to help promote England’s push to stage the World Cup after a near 50 year hiatus whilst simultaneously giving football fans a bit of fun thinking to do.

OleOle.com has a fantastic World-Cup competition that I simply have to tell you about. We want you to give us your ultimate World – Cup eleven past and present. We want you to tell us about the players who have inspired you and illuminated many a summer with their silky skills, breath-taking defending and all-round greatness. The best entrant will win a press-pass for England’s forthcoming World- Cup qualifier with Croatia. To get you started I have given you mine all-time World Cup eleven, give us your thoughts on it below and remember to enter as quickly as possible as the deadline is Friday when OleOle will select the best eleven and enter it for consideration for the fantastic prize of a pair of tickets to the England v Croatia game in September as well as a coveted Press Pass for the big game.

Good Luck

Goalkeeper

Gianluigi Buffon - the most expensive and the best goalkeeper in the business, the Italians have always had a masterful defence but Buffon when called upon (and he was called upon a lot in 2006) was magnificent. Italy won the World Cup in 2006 not through masterful attacking play but on a solid defence at which, Buffon was at the heart.

Defence

Bobby Moore – England’s talisman in 1966, made defending look like an art, Moore was the prototype for the modern defender, who was equally adept with the ball at his feet and could comfortably link the defence with the midfield.

Paolo Maldini – quite simply one of the great players of all time his performances for Italy throughout the World Cup campaigns of 94, 98 and 2006 were a joy to behold the absolute epitomy of a footballing legend.

Frank Beckenbauer – another player who made defending into an art-form his performances for Germany in 1974 were breathtaking. He absolutely dominated goals from defence and is probably the greatest German player of all time which, when you consider the competition is no small feat.

Midfield

Zinedine Zidane – bossed the world cup in 1998 and showed the world exactly what a modern midfielder was all about. Zidane did everything and was pivotal in France’s victory. In 2006 he rolled back the years to almost single-handily lead them to glory again. Only for the red-mist to descend and France to lose in the final…

Gazza – he was immense for England in 1990 as he brought the almost South-American craft of Maradonna to an excellent England side. He would have missed the final had England been able to beat West Germany and that would have been a tragedy of Zidane proportions. England have and probably never will have a player like Gazza and that is a crying shame.

Johan Cruyff – Holland in 74 played total football and Cruyff was their leader and talisman, he only graced one World Cup in his career but his performances for Holland were enough to convince the world he was a player like no-one else.

Hristo Stoichkov – 1994 was his World Cup he led a poor at best Bulgaria to a third-place finish with his goals from the left-hand side of midfield.

Attack

Ronaldo – not since Pele have Brazil had a striker as prolific as Ronaldo. He dominated France 98 only for mysterious circumstances to cloud his appearance in a final where he looked completely out of sorts. He would return to his best form in 2002 when his goals led Brazil back to World Cup glory.

Pele – Mr World Cup, probably the greatest striker to ever grace a World Cup, his performances in 1970 were exemplary, the world will never see another Pele.

Diego Maradona – while Pele was a great player in a great team, Maradonna was a great player in an average team. He single-handedly led Argentina to World Cup glory in 78 and well “that” goal against England is worth a place in my team alone.

Now it's your turn to pick your XI, place your selection in the comments box below and OleOle will pick the best choice and enter it into the competition for those fabulous tickets!

Visit www.england2018bid.com

Top Five World Cup Villains

Tue, 9 Jun 2009 03:17:53 -0500

1. Zinedine Zidane – (2006 Germany) what a player! One of the greatest footballers to ever grace a World Cup. Zizou announced before the 2006 World Cup in Germany that he would be retiring from the game after the tournament. So, the 2006 World Cup would witness his last official minutes in professional football.

The fairytale ending was set; Zidane was on top-form in the tournament, rolling back the years, dominating games from the centre of midfield. He scored in games against: Spain, Portugal and Italy and led a distinctly average France side to the World Cup final where they would face Italy.

Already, Zidane was most people’s player of the tournament, could he now once again lead his country to World Cup glory?…. Seven minutes into the final France were awarded a penalty and Zidane stepped up and coolly slotted home, to put France a goal up. But, not long after Marco Materazzi levelled the scores with a goal from a Pirlo corner. After ninety-minutes the scores remained level and the game headed into extra time. Zidane nearly scored again for France but was denied by Buffon who made a world-class stop to deny the Frenchman.

There is something in the minds of all truly great players that sets them apart from their contemporaries. It is the mixture of light and dark, of good and bad, the saint and the devil. Maradona showed his saintly and devilish side in the 1986 World Cup. Ronaldo equally has his demons and in the 2006 World Cup Zidane would show his. In the 110^th minute of the game with the scores level, Zidane was sent off for a furious head butt on Materazzi, the Italian defender. Seconds before heated words were exchanged between the two and Materazzi had been seen pulling Zidane’s shirt but Zidane appeared to walk away from him. However, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned to Materazzi and rammed his head into the Italians chest, knocking him to the floor. The referee had no choice but to send Zidane off.

The game would eventually go to penalties and France would lose 5-3 to the Italians with Trezeguet missing his penalty for France, had Zidane been on the pitch he would have surely taken a penalty and everything may have turned out differently for France and Zidane.

So why is Zidane on the villains list and not Materazzi? Well in my opinion Zidane was a genius on the football field, he had such grace and panache and his performances for France in the 2006 World Cup were reminiscent of Maradona’s twenty-years before as he dragged Argentina to glory. Yes, France had some great players in there 2006 side: Henry, Viera and Makelele to name but a few. But, France were a spent force, they looked old and jaded, there best years behind them. But Zidane refused to let tired legs stop him and his performances were as sprightly as those of the eighteen-year old Michael Owen’s in France 1998. Nevertheless, he let football down that day, he let the thugs win, and he let a hatchet-job player like Materazzi wind him up and put him off his own wonderful performance. A player as great as Zidane should have been above Materazzi’s childish insults, he should have let the great skills bestowed on to him by God do the talking rather than his own churlish, violent actions.

2. Diego Maradona – (USA 1994) Oh Diego how you broke English hearts in Mexico 86 with the infamous “Hand of God” goal. However you also made the rest of the world rejoice with your performances during said tournament. In particular, your second goal against England where you proceeded to take on the entire England side before coolly slotting the ball home.

But USA 94 was a different matter all together, instead of being the tortured genius who could be equally good and bad; Maradona was cast as a villain, forced to bow out of the World Cup, a tournament he had previously illuminated with his brilliance under a dark cloud of failed drugs tests. Maradona would never play in a World Cup again and Argentina would be eliminated in the last-sixteen by Romania 3-2 in a thrilling encounter in Los Angeles. The World Cup would forever be a much more boring place without Diego.

3. David Beckham (France 1998) – Practically everyone in the world knows David Beckham; you don’t even have to have a passing interest in football to know the man. He has cast himself as a bit of a legend really, thanks to successful stints at three of the biggest clubs in football: Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan as well as some truly inspirational performances for England while, he was captain. However, in the World Cup in 1998 things were much different for a then Mr Victoria Beckham.

One of the very best games of France 98 brought England and Argentina together again. The fixture has a history of brilliance and controversy and this game lived up to its billing. The brilliance came in the form of an eighteen-year-old Michael Owen who scored one of the finest goals an Englishmen has ever scored in a World Cup in the sixteenth minute. There was also brilliance from Argentina, there equaliser from Javier Zanetti on the stroke of half-time was a fine move from a free-kick that came right off the training ground.

However, the controversy belonged to the second-half, when Beckham was sent-off for a petulant kick aimed towards Diego Simeone. If truth be told Beckham did not deserve to be sent off. He was childish to lash out in retaliation, and Simeone certainly made the most out of it. But nevertheless, it was a stupid thing to do and it would not be the last time the red mist descended onto Beckham.

Had England won the game I imagine the incident would have been largely forgotten. However, England would go on to lose 4-3 on penalties and David Beckham for the time being at least was public enemy number one. The incident has been consigned to history now and Beckham has since gone on to captain England and in the World Cup in 2002 would score the winner from the penalty spot against Argentina. But, for his act of petulance at France 98 he makes the top villains list.

4. Pedro Monzon (Italia 90) – The Argentinean defender earns his place in the top-five by being the first player to be sent off in a World Cup final against West Germany. In an ill-tempered, dreadful, boring game Monzon was sent off for a foul on Jurgen Klinsmann and then twenty-minutes later his team-mate Gustavo Dezotti became the second player to be sent off in a World Cup final when he hauled Jurgen Kohler to the ground. Although it must be said that Klinsmann definitely made the most of Monzon’s tackle and the German players were just as cynical as the Argentineans in this game.

5. Jose Batista – (1986 Mexico) the Uruguayan defender is infamous for holding the record for the fastest sending-off in World Cup history. Batista was sent off for Uruguay after fifty-three seconds for a reckless challenge on Gordon Strachan in a 1986 World Cup group match with Scotland that finished 0-0.

Cheers

Mike

38 Reasons Why Lionel Messi is the Best Player on the Planet: Video

Mon, 8 Jun 2009 07:19:48 -0500

If you love great goals then you really can not afford to miss these beauties.

The Argentine international showed last term that any adulation he had been subject to in recent years was fully justified. Sit back and enjoy!

The Alternative Top Five World Cup Heroes

Thu, 4 Jun 2009 05:59:46 -0500

Here are a few World Cup “heroes” past and present, some of them you may have heard of, others you may have not, please post your own thoughts on who should and who should not have been included in the list.

1. Brazil (Mexico 1970) – Yes, I know Brazil are a little bit obvious, but there was no way I couldn’t include the 1970 team in my list, alternative or not. Not only did Brazil secure permanent ownership of the Jules Rimet trophy in 1970 but they also played some of the most stunning football the world has ever seen. Led by such artists as: Pele, Jairzinho, Rivelino and Tostao Brazil firmly put the heartbreak of the 66 World Cup behind them, with a showcase of flair and free-flowing attack.

The Brazilian victory in 1970 marked the third time Brazil had lifted the World Cup, having previously won it in 1958 and 1962. But, Brazil had never before won it with such style. They scored nineteen goals in the World cup, scored by seven different players.

In the final the boys in yellow came up against the ultra-defensive Italian boys in blue with the game finishing 4-1 in Brazil’s favour, thanks to goals from: Pele, Gerson, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto. Alberto struck the final goal in the eighty-sixth minute and it is generally hailed as one of the finest goals to ever grace a World Cup. The goal consisted of a series of moves and interplays by no fewer than eight Brazilian outfield players. The move started with Tostao five yards from Brazil’s own penalty area who passed to Brito who then found Clodoalso who beat four Italian players in his own half before finding Rivelino who sprayed a wondrous ball down the flank to Jarizinho who crossed the ball to Pele, who held the ball up before playing it to Alberto who smashed it home much to the delight of Brazilians and football fans the world over. Italy had a very strong side in this tournament but were no match for this Brazil side, who were perhaps the greatest World Cup side of all time.

2. Eusebio – (England 1966) “The Black Panther” scored an amazing forty-one goals in sixty-four appearances for the Portuguese national team. However, he only starred in the World Cup for Portugal once and that was the 66 World Cup in England. He finished the tournament as leading goal-scorer with nine-goals, four of which came in one game! In the quarter-final Portugal faced the surprise package of the tournament Korea DPR and found themselves 3-0 after only twenty-five minutes. Eusebio would go and turn the game on its head with four goals in just over thirty-minutes to put his side through to the semi-final where they would lose 2-1 to the eventual winners England, a game which, Eusebio also scored in. He would score again in Portugal’s third-place match against the USSR which would lead Portugal to a 2-1 victory and their best ever finish in World Cup history. Not many people may now Eusebio outside of Portugal but the man outscored: Geoff Hurst, Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Charlton and Pele in his only World Cup and for that should be hailed.

3. Hristo Stoichkov (USA 1994) – the fiery Bulgarian was awarded the Golden Boot at USA 94 as joint-top goal scorer, with six goals. Before USA 94 Bulgaria had never won a game in the finals but led by the explosive Stoichkov they managed to finish in fourth place. Bulgaria were battered 3-0 in their opening group game against Nigeria but recovered to gain a convincing 4-0 against Greece, in which Stoichkov netted twice and then in a surprising 2-0 victory against Argentina again a match in which, Stoichkov would score. In the last sixteen, Stoichkov scored again in a 1-1 draw with Mexico which, eventually was decided on penalties with Bulgaria going through 3-1. Stoichkov and Bulgaria’s greatest moment would come in the quarter-final where they beat the much fancied Germany 2-1 thanks to goals from Stoichkov and Letchkov. In the same stadium in New York, Bulgaria went down 2-1 to Italy in a fiercely contested game Roberto Baggio put the Italians 2-0 up after only twenty-five minutes before Stoichkov scored a consolation penalty on the stroke of half time.

4. Senegal (Japan/South Korea 2002) – they came roaring out of the tracks in their first ever World Cup campaign like there was no tomorrow defeating the holders France 1-0 thanks to a Papa Bouba Diop strike and they brought a much needed freshness to World Cup proceedings. Senegal were written off before the tournament had even begun and no one expected them to qualify from Group A, a tough group featuring: the holders France, two times champions Uruguay and the dark horses Denmark. But, they showed enough heart and ability to advance thanks to a further two draws against Denmark (1-1) and Uruguay (3-3). Senegal should have got top-spot in the group; they led 3-0 against Uruguay at half-time but strikes from: Forlan, Recoba and Morales meant the game finished a tie. In the last sixteen Senegal faced Sweden and won 2-1 after extra-time thanks to two strikes from Henri Camara. However, their tournament would end in the quarter final as they went down 1-0 to Turkey. But, the Lions of Teranga could hold their heads up high; they were only the second African team to make the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

5. Pickles the Dog (England 1966) – the only animal on the list, Pickles is a legend because he found the World Cup after it had been audaciously pinched from Westminster, Central Hall where it had been proudly on display. Pickles found the said trophy wrapped in newspaper at the bottom of a garden in South London much to the relief of the English footballing authorities and football fans the world over.

Barcelona Star Gets Very Drunk Indeed!

Sun, 31 May 2009 02:42:59 -0500

If I was the best footballer of my generation and I had just won the Treble then I too would probably get very drunk indeed. Hilarious video which is further enhanced by his Barcelona teammates expression of shock and amusement as their diminutive idol continues to display his alcohol fuelled one man show!

“It’s coming home, it’s coming home, it’s coming, football’s coming home” England’s 2018 World Cup Bid

Thu, 21 May 2009 08:14:01 -0500

If football is coming home then it must have got lost along the way. 1966 was the first, last and only time England held and won the World Cup. Clearly, there is some type of conspiracy from Fifa who know that if we were to host a World Cup then we would surely win it again. Personally, I blame Michel Platini, Steve McClaren, Chris Woods and Stewart Downing for this travesty.

Joking aside 2006 was the last time we had any hope in hosting the World Cup; but we somewhat controversially lost out to Germany. Because of the controversies surrounding Germany’s bid for the 2006 World Cup, Fifa, in their infinite wisdom decided to implement a rotation policy. Whereby, each confederation gets a chance to host the World Cup, a policy that will be withdrawn for the 2018 World Cup selection I might add. South Africa will host the 2010 World Cup and Brazil will hold the 2014 World Cup. The bidding process for the 2018 World Cup is currently underway; with England’s campaign led by David Beckham and co facing strong competition from: Australia, Russia, America, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, and combined bids from Spain and Portugal and Belgium, Holland and Luxemburg.

So will England get the chance to host the 2018 World Cup?

Well, there seems to be a lot of support for England’s bid from people in high places. Sepp Blatter has described England as “the homeland of football” and Franz Beckenbauer, a member of Fifa’s Executive Committee has twice publically backed our bid. It is also surely time that a footballing-centric nation like England should get a chance to host the World Cup. Since 1930 the hosts have been:

1930 – Uruguay

1934 – Italy

1938 – France

1950 – Brazil

1954 – Switzerland

1958 – Sweden

1962 – Chile

1966 – England

1970 – Mexico

1974 – West Germany

1978 – Argentina

1982 – Spain

1986 – Mexico

1990 – Italy

1994 – USA

1998 – France

2002 – Japan/Korea Republic

2006 – Germany

2010 – South Africa

2014 – Brazil

So Italy, France, Brazil, Mexico and Germany have all held the World Cup twice. When you consider that the so called “homeland of football” has not hosted the most prestigious football competition in what will be in 2018, fifty-two years, then surely everyone must agree that England’s time must again soon be upon us.

Furthermore, England has fantastic stadiums across the country: Villa Park, Old Trafford, Wembley, the Emirates, St James Park, Anfield, Goodison Park, the Stadium of Light, Stamford Bridge and Eastland’s are just some of the excellent venues we have right now. Come 2018 I expect Liverpool and Everton will have new stadiums, Leeds may have got their act together and even the MK Dons may have a stadium worthy of the World Cup.

Similarly, England has the Olympics in 2012 so the country will be in excellent condition for another sporting event and we proved with Euro 96 that we were more than capable of putting on a prestigious tournament.

Above all else we are a nation completely and utterly obsessed with all things football. The Premier League is one of the greatest and most exciting leagues in the world and English clubs domination of the Champions League in recent times reflects this. There is also immense support in the lower leagues; the Championship is the fourth most watched league in Europe. England’s second tier is more popular than Italy’s Serie A. There are also clubs like Leicester and Leeds who regularly get attendances of 20,000 plus in League One. So come on Fifa, let’s bring the World Cup back to England, by 2018 we might even have a chance of winning it again!

USA 94: Murder, Drugs, Penalties, the Irish and Brazil!

Wed, 20 May 2009 05:05:29 -0500

Technically, my first World Cup was Italia 90 but I was only five at the time and my recollections are hazy at best. I do remember my dad falling in love with the eccentric Cameroon side though and in particular Roger Milla. I also remember some tears after “that” England semi-final, but in reality I was too young to really understand the ramifications of that night.

So, four years later I was nine, the perfect age to be getting into football, my beloved Aston Villa had just won the league-cup at Wembley by defeating Manchester United 3-1 and football had become an all-conquering obsession for me. Typically, England had failed to qualify for USA 94 that summer and I will never forgive Ronald Koeman for his foul on David Platt in the qualifying round. It was 0-0 at the time and Platty had a wonderful chance to score, Koeman brought him down with a professional foul, yet somehow avoided a red-card and then added further insult to injury by scoring the second goal in a desperate 2-0 defeat. Subsequently, England manager Graham Taylor was sacked after our failure to qualify and it was the Republic of Ireland who became honorary Brits for USA 94. Half of my family are Irish and my dad has always followed the Republic over England and Ireland had FOUR Aston Villa players: Steve Staunton, Paul “God” McGrath, Andy Townsend and Ray Houghton so I had no problem in becoming an honorary Paddy for the tournament.

If God forbid, Hollywood ever decides to make a World Cup film I am sure USA 94 would make riveting source material. It had everything: firstly, it was the first World Cup final to be decided by the dreaded penalty-shoot-out. The tournament also saw the rise and fall of a hero and a villain in Diego Maradonna, after he was expelled from the competition for failing a drug test. There was also tragedy, as Colombia’s Andres Escobar was shot to death after he scored an own-goal in his countries 2-1 defeat to the USA, a costly own-goal that led to Colombia being eliminated from the finals and Escobar tragically paying with his life. There was the plucky underdogs Bulgaria, who were led by the legendary Hristo Stoichkov, he eventually won the Golden Boot at the tournament along with Oleg Salenko of Russia, and Bulgaria managed to finish in fourth place despite previously having never before won a match in the World Cup finals.

But, above all you had Brazil, led by Carlos Alberto Parreira, who were for a nine-year-old watching his first World Cup a joy to behold. There was: Romario, Bebeto, Dunga and Branco who twisted, turned and shimmied their way through opposition defences like they weren’t even there. I had grown up on the likes of: Dean Saunders, Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole who were all decent enough players but these boys from South America were playing on a different planet!

In Group B Brazil eased past Russia 2-0 and Cameroon 3-0 before being held by a surprisingly resilient Sweden 1-1 in their final group game. In Group E special mention must also go to the Irish who upset all the odds and beat Italy 1-0 thanks to a delightful Ray Houghton chip. I watched this game surrounded by family and we all went mental as the ball nestled in Pagliuca’s net. It was also made all the more sweeter by the fact that Houghton was a Villa player too!

My dad told me great stories about Ireland’s Italia 90 campaign but truth be told I was left a little underwhelmed by them in this World Cup. They battled the searing heat in Orlando but had no answer to the Mexicans who beat them 2-1 in a game best remembered for John Aldridge and Jack Charlton’s foul language on the sidelines. In their final group game they drew 0-0 with Norway and this dreary encounter was just enough to see the Irish through. In a bizarre turn of events everyone in Group E finished on four-points. Mexico topped the group on goals scored and Ireland and Italy also advanced with identical records. Although Ireland finished second due to their victory over the Italians, who were third and Norway fourth. It was a fantastic achievement for Ireland to qualify for the knock-out-stages of another World Cup and my nine-year-old-self probably believed they could actually win the thing. But, the boys from Brazil were about to show me the true glory of attacking football.

The last sixteen saw Brazil face the hosts and while many expected a landslide victory for the Samba boys the game was nothing of the sort. Eventually, in the seventy-second minute Branco broke the deadlock for Brazil in what would be the games only goal. The hosts had done themselves proud although the game was marred with a series of yellow cards, seven in total and two red cards, one for Fernando Clavijo of the USA and the other for the Brazilian Leonardo as both sides struggled to break down the others defence. Meanwhile, Ireland broke my young heart by losing to Holland 2-0 in a pretty one-sided encounter. The heat of Orlando caught up with the Irish again and I was left despondent as Bergkamp and Jonk fired the Dutch into the quarter-finals, whilst, my dad cursed the Orlando heat and that “bloody Bergkamp”, although he used a much stronger term than “bloody”.

Brazil’s semi-final against Holland is easily one of the greatest games I have ever witnessed. Brazil ran out 3-2 winners after Branco struck with just nine-minutes to go. This game had everything, one only has to look at the starting line-ups of both sides to realise what a footballing treat was offered that night in Dallas. There was: Rijkaard, Overmars, Bergkamp, Bebeto, Romario and Cafu to name but a few. How could a game with all those footballing artists on the field be anything but spectacular? The game was initially quite a cagey affair up until the fifty-third minute when Romario put Brazil a goal up. Ten minutes later Bebeto made it 2-0 and it looked as though Brazil were cruising on through to the semi-final. But, a minute later Bergkamp struck a goal back for the Dutch who began to dominate the Brazilians. Eventually, Aron Winter equalised on the seventy-sixth minute and it looked as though we were heading into extra time. However, Branco had other ideas and nine minutes before time he made it 3-2 in-front of a 60,000 plus crowd Brazil had made it through to the semi-final.

If I’m being completely honest the Brazilian magic pretty much ended there. They slugged it out with Sweden in the semi-final and eventually managed to win 1-0 thanks to a Romario goal in a largely forgettable encounter. The final was similarly underwhelming as the attacking force of Brazil met the defensive-minded Italy who had overcome the dark horses Bulgaria in the semi-final.

Whereas Brazil had a wealth of potential goal scorers, Italy relied heavily on Roberto Baggio who was carrying a hamstring strain before the final and was clearly in no fit state to play. Brazil attacked and attacked and should have won the game in normal time. But, credit to Italy they defended brilliantly with Maldini putting in a typically master class performance, it was no easy feat keeping that Brazilian attack at bay. There were 92,000 people in Los Angeles for the final and every one of them would have been greeted with a great sense of anti-climax as the game went on goalless.

I was sat at home expecting a goal-fest but it was not to be and so for the first time in history the World Cup final went to penalties. I had mixed feelings with regards to penalties as a nine-year old. The pain of Italia 90 was still quite fresh in my memory but I had also seen Villa beat Tranmere on penalties that year in what was the most exciting game I had every witnessed. However, I had watched in awe as Brazil dismantled anyone who stood in their wake for the past few weeks they were by far the best team in the tournament and they deserved to win. Santos for Brazil and Baresi for Italy missed their opening penalties before Romario and Albertini showed them how to do it and make it 1-1. Next Branco and Evani slotted home and again the two sides were level. Then Massaro missed for Italy while, Brazilian skipper Dunga coolly slotted home to put Brazil 3-2 ahead. It all lay at the feet of Italy’s most potent forward Roberto Baggio he had to score otherwise Brazil were taking home the World Cup for the first time in twenty-four years and……. He missed. He blazed it over the bar. It was a truly dreadful penalty and in a tournament suffused with such attacking intent and wonder it was a shame that it all ended with a player as great as Baggio blazing the ball over the bar. But none the less the most worthy team had won, right from the outset the boys from Brazil had attacked and defended like champions and so my first World Cup ended with the rhythm of the Samba boys ringing in my ears. I would have to wait another four-years before I would get the chance to see England in a World Cup and well quite frankly I couldn’t wait.