O/T Was it really 24 years ago??

Excellent article, where has the time gone?

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/jun/03/world-cup-25-stunning-moments-gazza-cries-1990

“I got the ball in the centre circle and bundled my way forward. Then, as Matthaus tried to nick it off me, I nudged the ball out of his reach, but overran it. I had to stretch as Thomas Berthold came across. I was giving it 110%. It was the World Cup semi-final and I didn’t want to give them anything for free. To this day I honestly don’t think I touched him, but down he went, rolling around as if in agony. I crouched down to make sure he was OK, and at that stage I wasn’t thinking I was in trouble. There was nothing in the challenge. Then everything turned to slow motion.”
For all the uplifting moments in England’s march from the foyer of ignominy to the doorstep of greatness in 1990 – David Platt’s goal against Belgium, Gary Lineker’s equaliser against West Germany, Paul Gascoigne’s own phenomenal turn to leave Holland’s Ronald Koeman trailing in the group stages – we have chosen to define it by this one. The swell of unexpected hope experienced by the English coincided with the blossoming of Gascoigne’s rare and fragile talent; they rose together, they fell together – quite a bit sooner than either would have liked – and frankly everyone’s still a bit bitter about it.

Gascoigne had started only one international before an effervescent performance in a friendly against Czechoslovakia in April 1990 catapulted him into the first team for good, or at least for as long as his knee was good. And like his team he kept improving. His display against Germany, at least until the 99th minute, had been superlative.

“I straightened up and turned to the ref,” Gascoigne continued in his book Glorious: My World, Football and Me. “He’s gone for his pocket. Suddenly I can’t hear anything. The world just stops apart from the bloke in black. My eyes follow his hand, to the pocket, then out with the card. There it is, raised above my head. I looked at the crowd, I looked at Lineker, and I couldn’t hold it back. At that moment I just wanted to be left alone. I didn’t want to talk to anyone or see anyone. My bottom lip was like a helicopter pad. I was devasted.”

“My heart sank the moment the referee took out the yellow card,” said Bobby Robson. “My heart hit my shoes. Because I realised instantly, that was the final for Paul Gascoigne, out. And that’s a tragedy – for him, me, the team, the country, the whole of football. Because he was so good, and he was superb in this particular match. The bigger the game, the better he got.

“Gascoigne knew as well, the moment the card was produced. Because I saw his face change, from being aggressive, fighting for the ball, to realising he’d committed an error, and he’d been booked, and he knew now the final was not for him. Tears began to well into his eyes. And Gary Lineker was very clever, he saw it immediately and came as close as he could to me and said, watch Gazza. Watch him. He thought now his mind might just go a bit berserk, even more berserk than he had with [giving away] the free kick. And I understood it. He knew the supreme penalty he was going to have to pay for that slight indiscretion.”

In all Lineker won 80 caps for England, returned from the 1986 World Cup with the Golden Boot, won the major cup competitions of England and Spain and scored 243 times for a variety of clubs including Everton, Tottenham and Barcelona. But for all the goals and the glory more than anything he is remembered for the time someone else was booked and he made a face at his manager. “Out of everything in my career, the moment people ask me about most often was when Gazza got booked in that semi-final,” he has said. “I could see his bottom lip was going. I think it says a lot about Bobby that it was him I turned to, to ask him to have a word. I didn’t know that the moment would be caught on camera.”

Robson believed that the Germans had pressured the referee into showing the card. “He flew in at the boy, upended everything, and the German bench all stood up, which unfortunately I think affected the referee,” he said. “We don’t allow players to do that. We say, ‘Sit down, it’s got nothing to do with you.’ They all jumped up and it made it worse for Paul. It was only half a booking.”

But now the referee whose decision to wave a yellow card was to prove key to England’s World Cup elimination has spoken to The Guardian about the incident, his first interview with a British newspaper.

“Listen, there was no controversy,” insists José Roberto Wright. “The lad tackled an opponent from behind and nowadays he could even have been sent off. It was none of my business if Gascoigne already had a yellow card – my job was to apply the laws of the game. He tried to argue with me and apologise, but I told him in English that it was a bookable offence. Then I got on with the game.”

The booking that brought Gascoigne to tears, ended his hopes of playing in a World Cup final and left him so emotionally drained that he withdrew from the decisive penalty shoot-out – Chris Waddle replaced him, fatefully – might be considered somewhat controversial in England, but was not seen in the same light elsewhere. In 1990 Wright was named the best referee in the World Cup by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, and later that year named the best official on the planet by the World Referees’ Federation. If he is remembered now for booking someone, it is more commonly the Atlético Mineiro striker Edmilson, whom Wright cautioned in 1998 for celebrating a goal against América (nickname: the Rabbits) by pulling a carrot out of his pants and eating it. “What most amazes me was the taste the carrot must have had – all sweaty and kept in his shorts,” the official said at the time.

“I didn’t see him crying or all that commotion,” says Wright of Gascoigne. “It wasn’t until later that I saw footage of the game and noticed how upset he was. Years later I read that Gascoigne’s tears were some kind of watershed moment in English football, that it helped people fall in love with the game once again.”

In England hearts skipped a beat with every wobble of Gascoigne’s bottom lip. As it turns out he was not to be the last Englishman to shed a tear that night, and player and fans bonded in a display of lachrymose unity. A few months later he was named Sports Personality of the Year. “I don’t know anybody who dislikes Paul Gascoigne,” Robson wrote in his autobiography. “The affection we all felt for him added to the poignancy of his booking. As we went into the second period of extra time, I had said to Paul, ‘Look, I know you can’t play in the final but what you can do is make sure all the other lads can. Just concentrate on that.’ This was in the heat of the battle. Now, I can appreciate how crushed Paul would have felt had we beaten the Germans that night in Turin.”

Time has proven that Gascoigne’s behaviour in Turin was not borne of juvenile petulance but the result of one small fissure in a fractured mind. For all their very different characters and wildly diverse levels of experience, it is nevertheless telling to contrast Gascoigne’s reaction to his booking to that of Michael Ballack, the midfield inspiration behind a poor Germany side’s run to the final in 2002. Gascoigne received his second caution of the tournament with 20 minutes of extra time to play in his semi-final and the scores level; Ballack with 20 minutes of normal time to play in his semi-final and the scores level. Both knew they no longer had a chance of appearing in the final, but while the Englishman was of limited use from that moment onwards, Ballack scored his side’s winner within four minutes and celebrated without reservation. In the crucial moments before the shoot-out in Turin, most of the England manager’s time was spent not with the five designated takers but with Gascoigne, coping with the midfielder’s emotional disintegration.

“Had Gascoigne been German he would be persona non grata today,” the former Liverpool and Newcastle midfielder Dietmar Hamman wrote in his book The Didi Man. “[After the booking] he went to pieces. The game was still tied, and a job still needed to be done, yet his first thoughts were for himself. When the game went to a penalty shoot-out Gascoigne was earmarked to take [a] penalty for England. He decided that he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to take it. For Gascoigne, in that moment, it was all about him as an individual, and the way he was feeling. It was nothing to do with his duty to the team. If Gascoigne was German his behaviour would have created a national scandal, and the player would be forgotten for ever. If it were possible to erase his name from the teamsheet then it would be done.”

In England the only player to receive any significant criticism for his role in the defeat in Turin was Peter Shilton, the 40-year-old goalkeeper, who made several decent saves in open play but in the shoot-out decided to delay diving until each kick had been taken, and got nowhere near any of them. “You should have bloody gambled,” Pearce shouted in the dressing-room after the game.

Having wept his way to a string of product endorsements and a lucrative column in The Sun, some – including the referee who booked him – would expect that with the passing of time and the accumulation of money Gascoigne’s grief might have subsided. “The tackle was bad, and if I hadn’t booked Gascoigne I would have lost control of the game,” says Wright. “But I must say I was surprised he got so upset about it. I’ve never met him again, but I’m sure now he’d agree with me about the incident.”

If the interview Gascoigne gave to the Observer in 2002 is anything to go by, that seems extremely unlikely. In it Gascoigne was asked what he thought, with the benefit of hindsight, about Berthold. “He was a dickhead. He was a tall man with a mouth like a fish. I remember all the details of his face. He was a ****er and a cheat,” Gascoigne said. “When I made that tackle, I missed him and the ball. He dived, as Germans do, to get me booked. When I see that game and I see that guy dive, I wish I had the chance now to play against him and take the piss out of him on the pitch and, if I got the chance, tackle him properly – and this time really properly. Because if I’m going to get a yellow card I would rather be for a proper foul. And it would be if I played against him again.”

But Berthold had retired by the time Gascoigne faced Germany for the second and final time, in the Euro 96 semi-final. Again the Englishman was booked, and again his side lost on penalties – though on this occasion he took one, and scored. He would never again play in the finals of an international competition.

For Gascoigne and the rest of the England team, and indeed their nation, each passing year makes the memories of this game both more sweet and more bitter. In what is now almost half a century since their one World Cup win they have rarely produced such a convincing performance in a match of such magnitude, and that it failed to bring any reward still bridles, particularly with the knowledge that only an unconvincing Argentina team – who had four players of their own suspended for the final – stood between the winners of this game and the World Cup trophy.

“The Germans scored a fluky goal and then nothing,” said Mark Wright. “The only genius Germany showed was from the penalty spot,” said Terry Butcher. “We were the better team. We battered them,” said Gascoigne. “I consider ours to have been one of England’s best performances in the last 25 years,” said Robson. “It’s the one thing I look back on and regret,” said Lineker. “It still rankles. We were within a whisker of a World Cup final. We’d have won it too. Argentina were shot.”

To some, the British beatification of the beaten represents a disturbing acceptance of failure and acts as a barrier to success. And this match is hardly unique – it stands on any list of England’s finest all-time World Cup performances alongside the brilliant displays in defeat against both West Germany and Brazil in 1970, and more besides. But what, in the end, is the difference? It’s not as if the team’s display in Turin would have been any better or worse had Pearce and Waddle scored from the spot and Olaf Thon missed. If a team succeeds in entertaining and inspiring us, it hardly matters whether they return home with their chins on the floor or with medals round their necks. Though one day it might be nice if we got to witness the latter.

 

Anyone ever watched One Night In Turin? Superb film.



Also, it was 24 years today that World In Motion went to number 1.

[video=youtube;Q_YiG7yN7PY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_YiG7yN7PY[/video]

 

Is that the one with Gary Oldman narrating it?

If it is, yes it's very good.

 

Yeah, it's that one.

 

One Night In Turin is class.

I'd of loved to have been old enough to live through that 1990 summer.

 

I was a young teenager still at school so couldn’t give you a perspective that some of the alter kaempfers could, but I remember it as a quality summer/tournament.

Probably nostalgia distorting genuine memories, but it seemed that we often had proper seasons throughout my childhood of the 1980s – snow in winter/ dry sunny days in the summer (perfect for playing football, climbing trees, garden hopping etc) and I recall June 1990 as being nice and warm to form.

I couldn’t ****ing wait for it to start. My first proper World Cup was Mexico (just a bit too young for Spain 82) and it seemed like Italia 90 was taking ages to come round.

After qualifying (as best runner up I think) the build up was typically negative towards England – sure that one tabloid was demanding that we should ‘bring them home’ before a ball was kicked. Further, Bobby Robson was getting ripped to shreds day in-day out by the tabloids over his personal life.

Anyway, I recall a pre-tournament friendly away in Tunisia. With the odd exception, minnows were minnows back then and England were expected to easily win. It finished 1-1 which just cranked up the pressure on England from the press with them scoring a crazy 40 yarder past Shilton only for Steve Bull to equalise late on.

So much was the lack of faith in England, an electrical retailer (might have been Rumbelows) offered refunds on anyone buying a new TV if England won the World Cup. New TVs were ****ing expensive back then and think the company concerned were absolutely bricking it by the semis.

The Friday it started, Cameroon v Argentina was ****ing class. Maradona’s Argentina versus a team of unknowns I’d seen kicking a turnip around on Saint & Greavsie. As often stated, with no internet or real Anglo interest in foreign leagues, people just didn’t have the knowledge of foreign players as they do now – this was certainly the case for Cameroon.

I can’t quite remember, but I’m sure they had two men sent off (they were fouling the Argentinians like ****) – but the best bit, was that I’m sure the two players sent off did laps of honour after the red cards. It went mental when they won 1-0, Pumpido ****ing up (from Oman Biyik?)

Too many specific memories of England throughout the competition to detail but ultimately suffice to say that they went so ****ing close, so close, and if they had won on penalties v BRD, I’m sure they’d have won it.

 

Good summing up and thats why they were so good. Genuine excitement at seeing players who you'd never heard of or only heard as a famous name.

 

My first World Cup I remember, my old man is no football fan and I watched that Semi final in my bedroom alone crying, poor little 9 year old. Haha.

 

Italia 90 was brilliant, watch Gazza make the run for the free kick that Platt scored from against Belgium, fantastic moment, great team, great manager, great New Order song, Rule Britannia!

 

I remember the Germany game I was in a pub in Hertford and luckily had taped the game. I got so pissed on Newcastle brown I woke up in the morning not knowing the final score so I had to watch the game again. Funnily enough I haven't had a Newcastle brown since.
I just have Stella instead.

 

Doesnt it say a lot about our abject failure as an international football nation that we still celebrate a semi final 24 years ago? Just one semi final on foreign soil, can anyone be arsed to work out have many Germany (inc West) and Italy have had?

And the ref is right, it was a booking. What was the other booking that accumulated to see him suspended? Why is that never remembered?

 

Sorry for the bump. but pressed the wrong button and this popped up.

33 years ago now.

There's been a lot of water under that bridge since.

 

Always makes me wonder what Gaza’s career would have turned out like if he’d been booked in that Cup Final v Forest for the first foul.
Memory’s not the best anymore, but were both his fouls on Garry Parker, or just the one he got injured on?

EDIT:

I just checked & the first was on Garry Parker & the second, the one he did his knee in, was on Gary Charles.

 

Ya ****ing ****, i just read all that from the top AND then i thought Bum Chinned had reappeared.

 

Coincidence? But at the weekend I was clearing out a cupboard and I came across my 1966 World Cup programme, England v West Germany. I sent away to Wembley for it when I was a lad. Cost me half a crown plus postage. I actually thought I'd lost the programme in a house move. Anyhow, gave it to one of my daughters, she stuck it on ebay and got £100 for it within minutes. I remember that final well because I was on holiday in Scarbourgh with some relatives at the time. July 30th 1966, and we managed to watch the game on the telly in the British Legion Club on Huntriss Walk. Kids were not allowed in clubs in those days and the rules were bent a bit for me and my cousin, both 12, to be allowed in if we behaved ourselves. I had sixpence in my pocket and put it in the one armed bandit, which was I wasnt allowed to play on by club rules, and with one pull of the arm, dropped the jackpot! It was coughing out silver sixpences all over the floor, it caused uproar in the club, some members wanted us thrown out, because this jackpot had been building up for weeks apparently. The compromise was, me and my cousin were allowed to keep one pound each in sixpences, and given a lemonade and a bag of crisps, maybe the adults got a free round of drinks probably. The rest of the jackpot, and it was a considerable sum in those days, all in sixpences, was taken away by the club chairman, the one who had been persuaded to let us in the club in the first place. This caused a bit of a sulk amongst our table espically with my uncle, and as a result, and I suppose because of some of the annimosity against us, we left the club at full time to go back to the boarding house for our tea, so missed the extra time.

 

I watched the final at home alone, it was the first year I had not gone on the family holiday. Wasn't the same watching it by yourself.

On the fruit machine story, we used to go into Springhead GC clubhouse most weekend evenings and there was a tik/tak/toe machine in the lounge where the younger members would gather. A guy came in and started playing the machine, and ran out of sixpences so went through to the bar to get more change. My mate went up but sixpence in and dropped the jackpot 40 quid, when the guy came back he was furious as you could imagine.

 

This was a tic tak toe bandit too.

 

Yes, they had the window at the front with the sixpences on show, so when it was won the window drop it all into the tray.

There was the brass head of a red Indian and people would rub it for good luck.