Anthony McIntyre ⚽The best soccer match I have ever had the pleasure of watching was between France and Argentina in the 1978 World Cup group one stage. 

Cage 11, a black and white television, the soccer afficionados crammed in front of it at the end of the hut. It was fantastic flowing football, graced with a sensational goal - best of the tournament - from the boot of Leopoldo Luque which saw the South American side emerge as 2-1 victors. 

Luque would later speak of an incident while preparing for a game later the same evening against Hungary. He had a chilling conversation with a member of the far right junta that ruled the country. The official suggested that it could be a game of life or death. It unnerved him. Luque had just heard that a close friend's brother had disappeared. His body would later be retrieved from the River Plate, weighed down by concrete, a common fate for those critical of the regime. 

That was the atmosphere in which that World Cup was played. The Nazi embracing military dictatorship was as enthused about murdering its opponents as it was about winning the tournament. Even though the Monteneros guerrillas had said they would observe a six week ceasefire to facilitate the finals, for the regime it was business as usual - torture, murder and disappearances. Sure, why not? Henry Kissinger had given it the green light but recommended doing it quickly, much like Chile had done with his endorsement in 1973. 

While last weekend's World Cup final in Qatar between the same two protagonists was never expected to live up to the quality of the 1978 game, it proved to be the best of any final in the competition that I have watched. And that is quite a few, stretching back to 1970.

Although I did not see any of the games in the group stages, from what I heard and read neither side throughout the competition seemed convincing. The France matches I managed to catch left me feeling this was a pedestrian outfit, dull and maybe not worthy. Argentina, well they looked as if they had downed a night cap at the start of each match which led to them falling asleep late on in the game just when the opposition knew they had to get up before they shit the bed. What they should have learned against Holland, they failed to. It could have cost them the crown. 

The only thing favouring Argentina was that they had performed better in the semi-final against an ageing Croatia than France had against a Morocco side that played much better soccer.

On the night the Argentinians looked majestic for about 70 minutes . . .  until the night cap kicked in. France woke up and a good final became a great one. It seemed game over. The Argentinians were shell shocked, on the ropes and waiting for the bell to save them. It looked like the bell was only an offer of a respite, that defeat would still be snatched from the jaws of victory.

It is a measure of the character of the French that they managed to get things back on an even keel in a two minute spell of Mbappe mettle. Then Argentina showed their own fortitude. It has been said that true champions get up when they know they can't. Argentina like a phoenix arose from the canvas and soared into soccer history. What France did in the closing stages of normal time, Argentina managed throughout extra time. They were the better team. Heart stopping stuff, my wife and I were on the edge of our seats, our son in town attired in his French top. At 2-0, I texted him asking if he wanted me to send down my Argentina top. No reply.  

This will be remembered as Messi's tournament. He did not have to do the amount of heavy digging that Diego Maradona was called upon to perform during the 1986 competition when he dragged an average Argentina across the line, but he stepped up to the plate when the chips were down. Two goals in the final, crowning an illustrious career, ensuring his place as primus inter pares on the pantheon of soccer greats.   

Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

Best Ever

Anthony McIntyre ⚽The best soccer match I have ever had the pleasure of watching was between France and Argentina in the 1978 World Cup group one stage. 

Cage 11, a black and white television, the soccer afficionados crammed in front of it at the end of the hut. It was fantastic flowing football, graced with a sensational goal - best of the tournament - from the boot of Leopoldo Luque which saw the South American side emerge as 2-1 victors. 

Luque would later speak of an incident while preparing for a game later the same evening against Hungary. He had a chilling conversation with a member of the far right junta that ruled the country. The official suggested that it could be a game of life or death. It unnerved him. Luque had just heard that a close friend's brother had disappeared. His body would later be retrieved from the River Plate, weighed down by concrete, a common fate for those critical of the regime. 

That was the atmosphere in which that World Cup was played. The Nazi embracing military dictatorship was as enthused about murdering its opponents as it was about winning the tournament. Even though the Monteneros guerrillas had said they would observe a six week ceasefire to facilitate the finals, for the regime it was business as usual - torture, murder and disappearances. Sure, why not? Henry Kissinger had given it the green light but recommended doing it quickly, much like Chile had done with his endorsement in 1973. 

While last weekend's World Cup final in Qatar between the same two protagonists was never expected to live up to the quality of the 1978 game, it proved to be the best of any final in the competition that I have watched. And that is quite a few, stretching back to 1970.

Although I did not see any of the games in the group stages, from what I heard and read neither side throughout the competition seemed convincing. The France matches I managed to catch left me feeling this was a pedestrian outfit, dull and maybe not worthy. Argentina, well they looked as if they had downed a night cap at the start of each match which led to them falling asleep late on in the game just when the opposition knew they had to get up before they shit the bed. What they should have learned against Holland, they failed to. It could have cost them the crown. 

The only thing favouring Argentina was that they had performed better in the semi-final against an ageing Croatia than France had against a Morocco side that played much better soccer.

On the night the Argentinians looked majestic for about 70 minutes . . .  until the night cap kicked in. France woke up and a good final became a great one. It seemed game over. The Argentinians were shell shocked, on the ropes and waiting for the bell to save them. It looked like the bell was only an offer of a respite, that defeat would still be snatched from the jaws of victory.

It is a measure of the character of the French that they managed to get things back on an even keel in a two minute spell of Mbappe mettle. Then Argentina showed their own fortitude. It has been said that true champions get up when they know they can't. Argentina like a phoenix arose from the canvas and soared into soccer history. What France did in the closing stages of normal time, Argentina managed throughout extra time. They were the better team. Heart stopping stuff, my wife and I were on the edge of our seats, our son in town attired in his French top. At 2-0, I texted him asking if he wanted me to send down my Argentina top. No reply.  

This will be remembered as Messi's tournament. He did not have to do the amount of heavy digging that Diego Maradona was called upon to perform during the 1986 competition when he dragged an average Argentina across the line, but he stepped up to the plate when the chips were down. Two goals in the final, crowning an illustrious career, ensuring his place as primus inter pares on the pantheon of soccer greats.   

Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

8 comments:

  1. Best ever was Chelsea v Bayern in 2012 CL Final. Unbelievable right up until the last penalty. Even more so because we put Messi and his UEFAlona cohorts out at the Nu Camp while down to 10 men from the first half, sweet revenge for the Scandal at Stamford Bridge a few years previously when Hiddink was our gaffer.

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  2. Last night's game was pretty good ;-)

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  3. Caught the end of it and it looked to be a great game

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  4. I am the first to admit to been the least unbiased person in football, that is why I support and fought for my team back in the day. As many blogers will be aware I'm a Man Utd fan and for me, surprise surprise, the most tense game in recent years was the 1999 European Cup final when United beat Bayern by two goals to one. A right bowel opener that game was, they hit the post and crossbar before two subs Teddy and Ole put the German side to bed.
    The best game of all was Man Uniteds destruction of Benfica, watched as as kid on an old black and white in 1968, when the picture would work, and the most terrifying moment was late in the second half when Eusebio lost his marker, Nobby Stiles, who had done a great job holding him all night. At that point it was one each, Graca having equalised for them, Eusebio shot, a shot which no Goalkeeper should have stopped but Alex Stepney did just that.

    Into extra time and it was one way traffic with Georgie breaking lose to beat Henrique in Benficas net.

    This is not a biased opinion but an objective, overall view of footballπŸπŸπŸπŸπŸΊπŸΊπŸΊπŸ˜‰πŸ€£πŸ€£πŸ⚽️⚽️⚽️

    Caoimhin O'Muraile

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    1. I see a 15 year old girl was hit on the head at the City-Liverpool game Caoimhin by a bottle filled with coins and reported to have been thrown from the Liverpool fans section. The person responsible for this has no place in a soccer stadium.

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  5. I couldn't agree more Anthony, even back in the day there were lines drawn except for the out and out nutters who, it would appear, are still with us.
    Fans of various clubs, and, I hate to admit this but it is true, Man Utd, new generation,have made songs up about Hillsborough. I refuse to endorse or write the words, but somebody somewhere be it in Greater Manchster or Merseyside are determined to keep the pot boiling.
    A bottle on its own is bad enough, but filled with coins it becomes a murder weapon. This animosity between Manchester and Liverpool appears to be spreading outside the traditional boundries of the two red teams. Now City are on the bandwaggon, fuelled by the action of a small number responsible for this incident. The question is, how long before Everton become embroilled?
    Already when FC United play Marine it is classified relatively high risk fuelled one year when the Marine players celebrated a goal by pretending to be airplanes. It was the anniversary of Munich! A full scale pitch invasion was averted by some veteran fans from the seventies urging younger FCUM fans not to respond. That was when we played at Gigg Lane.
    I hope the 15 year old girl is not seriously hurt.

    Caoimhin O'Muraile

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  6. Merry Christmas Quillers! Hope your new year is better than the last one too!

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