Welcome to the first in a series of posts where I will recount my memories of World Cups gone by. Each post will also feature a betting tip for the upcoming tournament so if you want that but don't want to read the article then scroll to the down to the bottom, I will be sad but hey-ho. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading.
Gary Lineker, England striker and golden boot winner at Mexico '86.
Image: https://georgesjournal.org/2010/07/06/handle-with-dare-world-cup-1986-argentina-versus-england/
The first World Cup I can remember is Mexico in 1986. In fact, my first clear memory of football existing at all is the 1986 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Everton one month earlier. I rooted for the Toffees that day, solely to be in opposition to my school friend J_____ W____, whom I did not like all that much but happened to live conveniently nearby. Everton led at half-time, courtesy of a goal from Gary Lineker who would soon become my absolute hero, but ended up losing the game 3-1. Ian Rush (twice) and Craig Johnston spoiling my adolescent party. Hope became joy, which led in turn to an expectation that was swiftly replaced by disappointment and sadness. A sequence of emotions that has become all too familiar in a life supporting Southampton and England. If only I had known then what I know now, perhaps I could have channelled my energies into something a little more worthwhile.
I cannot recall if England was in the grip of ‘World Cup Fever’ in ‘86. Were the nations expectation levels disproportionately high compared to our relative chances in the tournament as they seem to have been ever since? Looking back at that squad now though, it looks simply awesome. Peter Beardsley and Lineker remain to this day my favourite England front two, Lineker’s instinctive finishing fed by the clever, deft passes of Beardsley. The midfield included Bryan Robson, Ray Wilkins, Glenn Hoddle, Chris Waddle and John Barnes, legends of the English game every one of them. At the back, a pre-bloodied-headband Terry Butcher marshalled a defence safe in the knowledge that an in-his-prime Peter Shilton lurked behind. And all this talent was managed by the wonderful (Sir) Bobby Robson, a man of class and dignity who is still hugely respected wherever he once lay his footballing hat.
The England Squad of 1986, complete with embarrassing songs.
Image: https://www.discogs.com/England-World-Cup-Squad-1986-World-Cup-Party/release/7453569
My memories of the early games are sketchy at best. I was too young to stay up and watch them live, instead replaying them on VHS before going to school. I can recall nothing of the defeat by Portugal in the opening match. The second game, a nil-nil draw against Morocco, survives in my mind only as a grainy historical GIF of Ray Wilkins lobbing the ball at the feet of the referee and being sent off. Wilkins was a hugely influential player and the first to be sent off for England at a World Cup. It was massive news and the result looked certain to be sending England home at the first available opportunity. But then everything changed against Poland in the final group game. Beardsley came in for his first start of the tournament and Lineker scored a wonderful, beautiful hat-trick. In my mind each of his three goals is identical. Beardsley zipping the ball across the six-yard area and Lineker sliding in, toe-poking the ball over the line and wheeling away to celebrate, a look of utter glee on his face. For a short while Lineker’s hand in the air, complete with that white plaster cast, was the image of the tournament. However, only for a short while.
Where is VAR when you need it, oh for a time machine...
Image: http://www.itv.com/news/update/2013-03-14/maradona-hand-of-god-brings-argentina-pope/
Like the first group game, I have no memory of the second round win against Paraguay. I must have watched it, sitting in my pyjamas munching cereal, like I did all the others but there is nothing there. In truth, I don’t remember too much of the quarter-final defeat against Argentina either, just a few key incidents, one in particular that you may have heard about before. I won't say too much about the ‘hand-of-god’ goal, it was a long time ago and I am over it now. I truly am, although admittedly it took the best part of twenty years to work through my system. What I do remember is the confusion that Diego Maradona’s second goal stirred in my young mind. Just a few short minutes after his blatant act of cheating the Argentine scored a goal so wonderful that it is rightly regarded as one of the greatest to grace a World Cup. Confusion turning to outrage, leading unexpectedly to bewilderment and awe. There was hope of course. Gary Lineker’s goal, late in the game from a John Barnes cross, that brought the score back to 2-1. The same two players nearly combining in exactly the same fashion a few moments later, only this time the cross was agonisingly out of Lineker’s reach. And that was that, my first lesson in World Cup disappointment, England out and Argentina through. Sudden death, knockout football, the hollow feeling of ‘what now’ settling in the stomach.
In hindsight, perhaps 1986 was England’s best chance to win a World Cup in my lifetime. Despite the heat, despite the captain missing half the tournament with a shonky shoulder, despite the red card for Wilkins in the second match, if that handball goal had been disallowed then who knows what might have happened next. An eminently beatable Belgian awaited in the Semi-Final and even West Germany in the final were not at their imperious best. Perhaps, if VAR had been around on that baking afternoon in Mexico City, then things would have panned out differently. Argentina, of course, went on to win the whole thing, a tournament that will always be synonymous with Diego Maradona for one reason or another.
Maradona almost won that cup single-handedly, don't pardon the pun.
Image: http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/67/world-cup/2014/07/13/4957438/messi-misses-chance-to-match-maradona
WORLD CUP BETTING - Tip 1
Sergio Aguero to be top scorer. 2 points each way at 30/1 with Paddy Power (paying top six at 1/5 the odds).
If Argentina are to do well, and I think they will, then Sergio Aguero will surely play a big part. The Manchester City striker is a phenomenal finisher, more than capable of sticking away his only chance in a game, a crucial skill in the pressure cooker of major tournament football. Added to this is the fact that Paddy Power are offering 1/5 of the odds on the top six and this looks like a lovely bet.
nb. A word on betting banks for any novices out there. The above bet is stated as '2 points EW'. General wisdom is that your bank should be around 1000 points and that you should NEVER bet what you cannot afford to lose. For me, one point is £1, no bet during this World Cup will exceed 10 points.
Good luck, happy betting and please check out the rest of my blog :-)
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