WORLD CUP OF CHEER?

NOT, IT SEEMS, IF YOU ARE A SCOT?

It all begins this evening . . . a full calendar month of what is supposed to be the best in world football.

The World Cup always throws up great games, magnificent players, brilliant goals, and no end of controversy.

It’s a competition which always has the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.

My first recollection of the competition was in 1958 when I saw footage of Brazil hammering France 5-2 in the semi-finals in Sweden.

Previously, I’d heard of Garrincha, Didi and Vava, and the last two named scored in that game, but it was a “bairn” who emerged as top man.

Pele, just 17, stole the show with an incredible hat-trick . . . and I was hooked.

Brazil were just as deadly in the final, hammering hosts Sweden 5-2 in Stockholm, with Pele netting a double, one of which was an incredible chest, flick and volley.

“BATTLE OF SANTIAGO”

The 1962 finals in Chile, again won by Brazil, were not too memorable, perhaps mainly because Pele was injured in the second group game and took no further part in the competition.

My abiding image of this tournament, though, was the “Battle of Santiago”, with the 22 players of Chile and Italy, coaches, stewards, police and other individuals getting stuck in on the pitch.

Tournament hosts Chile won that game 2-0, but who cared?

Brazil, minus Pele, won the final again, this time 3-1 against Czechoslovakia in Santiago.

The Czechs qualified for the finals only after a play-off against Scotland, and many at the time were left wondering just how well Scotland might have done if they had qualified.

1966

We’ll miss out 1966 because it’s all been said before . . . and then some!

BRILLIANT BRAZIL

Colour TVs in 1970 made the Mexico finals all the more spectacular, mainly because the yellow-shirted Brazilians were in magnificent form.

Holders England looked to be coasting into the semi-finals when they led West Germany 2-0 midway through the second half, but a combination of dodgy goalkeeping by Peter Bonetti and an incredible decision by Sir Alf Ramsey to take Bobby Charlton off was their downfall.

This freed Franz Beckenbauer and allowed him to move forward and he was the main architect as the Germans won 3-2. This gave them a semi-final slot against Italy . . . and this remains the best World Cup game ever for me.

After sharing two goals in 90 minutes, the teams then proceeded to produce some of the most exciting play witnessed in the competition, with the Italians eventually triumphing 4-3.

However, partly due to their exertions in that semi and the fact that Brazil were just too good, the South Americans claimed the Jules Rimet Trophy as their own as a Pele-inspired performance gave them a 4-1 win.

BREMNER’S MISS

The 1974 finals in West Germany saw Scotland qualify for the first time since 1958 and the Tartan Army was born.

The Scots recorded a 2-0 win against Zaire and a 0-0 draw against holders Brazil.

This gave us a must-win situation against Yugoslavia in the final game and, despite Joe Jordan’s late equaliser in the 1-1 draw, we exited the competition as the Slavs’ 9-0 blitzing of Zaire meant they required just a draw to progress on goal average.

I have to admit I shed a wee tear at the end of that game, sitting in former Dunfermline captain Dave McNicoll’s house watching the game wearing Dave’s Scotland U/21 shirt.

The group games were memorable for two things . . . the first was when a Zaire defender charged out of his defensive wall at a Brazil free-kick and booted the ball up the park. The only thing wrong here was that Brazil hadn’t yet taken their kick.

The other was Billy Bremner’s incredible miss from one yard out against Brazil.

COULD WE WIN?

However, the appetite was well and truly whetted and, come 1978, some factions of the Tartan Army actually thought we could win the thing!

However, a combination of brilliance from a Peruvian OAP called Cubillas (1-3) and a no-show against minnows Iran (1-1) meant we had to beat Holland by three clear goals to progress.

Some reckoned the Dutch were the best side in the world at the time, but Scotland, typically, raced into a 3-1 lead . . . and the dream was on.

Dreambuster Johnny Rep brought a bit of reality back into proceedings with a screaming 30-yarder to take Holland through and send us home once again on an early ticket.

The disgrace of winger Willie Johnston failing a drugs test after the Peru game was tempered slightly only by the brilliance of Archie Gemmill’s solo goal against the Dutch.

The Dutch went on to the final, where, playing with their shirts inside out due to a sponsorship row, they lost to hosts Argentina.

“TOE-POKE” GOAL

Optimism was still rife when we again qualified for the finals in Spain 1982, but we, cringingly, got off to bad start when the squad appeared on Top of the Pops (see top of page).

However, with the legendary Jock Stein at the helm — and Dundee United boss Jim McLean as his No. 2 — it was reckoned we could do what we hadn’t done before — qualify from the group stages.

But it was not to be.

Despite impressively opening the campaign with a 5-2 demolition of New Zealand, a 4-1 defeat by Brazil was memorable only for Dundee United’s Dave Narey’s famous “toe-poke” goal.

That three-goal deficit was to prove crucial as a 2-2 draw with Russia in the final game saw the Soviets progress and Scotland, yet again, were using up their early-bird tickets to fly home.

The competition, though, was full of controversy and shocks.

Minnows Algeria provided the first shock when they beat reigning European champions West Germany 2-1. This memorable game resulted in the controversial match between West Germany and Austria during their final group game. As Algeria had already played their third match the day before, the Germans and Austria knew that a win for the former by one or two goals would qualify them both, while a larger German victory would qualify Algeria over Austria.

The two Germanic teams went into an unspoken agreement and, after West Germany scored after 11 minutes of furious attack, just kicked the ball around aimlessly for the rest of the game to the chants of “Fuera, fuera” (“Out, out”) from the disgusted Spanish crowd.

An amazing incident also occurred during the game between Kuwait and France.

As “Les Bleus” were leading 3-1, France defender Maxime Bossis scored a goal vehemently contested by the Kuwait team, who had stopped play after hearing a piercing whistle from the stands which they thought had come from the Soviet referee.

Play had not yet resumed when Sheikh Fahid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, brother of the Kuwaiti Emir and president of the Kuwaiti FA, rushed onto the pitch to give the referee a vociferous piece of his mind.

The visibly-shaken ref counter-manded his initial decision and disallowed the goal to the understandable furore of the French. Bossis, though, scored another valid goal a few minutes later and France won 4-1.

The semi-final between France and Germany was an unforgettable confrontation. After both scored early in the game, the closely-fought match continued until the middle of the second half when a long through ball sent French defender Patrick Battiston racing clear towards the German goal.

As Battiston prodded the ball past the keeper towards goal from inside the German penalty area, keeper Harald Schumacher hurled himself at the Frenchman, foot forward and high, knocking his opponent unconscious and breaking two of his teeth.

The ball went just wide of the post and Dutch referee Charles Corver awarded a goal-kick, to the vociferous astonishment of the French.

Play was interrupted for several minutes while Battiston, still unconscious, was carried off the field on a stretcher.

Schumacher, unbelievably, did not even receive a yellow card

There were no more goals in normal time and the teams scored two each in extra time to take the game to penalties.

As fate would have it, the villain was to turn hero as France defender Maxime Bossis emerged as the unlucky player as his kick was parried by Schumacher for West Germany’s 5-4 victory.

The final was an anti-climactic, one-sided affair between an inspired Italy and an exhausted German side. The outcome was never in doubt, the Azzurri building a 3-0 lead before West Germany hit a consolation goal seven minutes from time.

RIFT WITH BOSS?

Scotland’s participation in 1986 in Mexico (awarded the finals late in the day as first-choice Colombia couldn’t fulfil criteria) seemed over before they left the British Isles.

Our best player by a mile, Kenny Dalglish, was deemed unfit to travel, despite rumours suggesting he had a rift with team boss Alex Ferguson.

The finals were a real non-event for us, going down to one-goal defeats against Denmark (1-0) and West Germany (2-1).

With three out of the four qualifying, we seemed to have a good chance in our final game when Uruguay’s Jose Batista was sent off in the first minute for scything down Gordon Strachan.

However, again we were out well before the fat lady sang as we stumbled to a goalless draw.

That year was memorable, though, for Diego Maradona’s “Hand Of God” goal against England, before scoring a “legitimate” goal when he beat five players in a mazy run from the halfway line.

“Gaun, yersel’, Diego,” was the cry from north of the border.

They then went on to lift the trophy by beating the Germans 3-2 in the final.

FLAWS TO LIGHT

Italia 90 brought to light our flaws when playing against so-called weaker nations, and Scotland kicked off the finals with a dismal 1-0 defeat against Costa Rica.

We gained some pride with a 2-1 victory over Sweden, but were sent home early once again when old rivals Brazil beat us 1-0 in Turin.

In the Rome final, a Brehme penalty with five minutes to go against Argentina gave West Germany their third success.

BRAZIL — AGAIN!

We didn’t qualify for America in 1994, and it was mainly a non-event, witness the goalless final between Brazil and Italy. Brazil lifted the trophy, though, courtesy of a 3-2 penalty shoot-out success.

Scotland were back in the big time in France in 1998 and, guess what, we were drawn with Brazil once again in the group stages. We met in the opening game and even had the audacity to equalise through a John Collins penalty, but Brazil, predictably, pulled away to win 2-1.

Scotland scraped a 1-1 draw with Norway, but Morocco showed just how far behind the rest of the world we had fallen when they hammered us 3-0. Indeed, it was three going on six.

DECLINE CONTINUED

Scotland’s decline on the world stage continued as we failed to qualify for the 2002 finals in Japan and South Korea.

And it hasn’t got any better as we are not in Germany this month.

However, one can always reminisce . . . now, where’s that video of wee Archie going on his mazy . . . ?