Six, Didier Six

Day -829. WorldCup2018.

With Aston Villa languishing at the bottom of the English Premier League, doing their best to play the part of the worst team to ever grace the league, my excitement at the prospect of watching them on TV on a Saturday or Sunday morning has greatly diminished, or more accurately, completely evaporated. The team's woes have been the subject of much discussion this season. But no matter how big of a club they may be, their great history will not save them from the present predicament. Selling off their best players  and using the money generated to buy a motley crew of young players, mostly from France, is a recipe for disaster, or at least relegation which may only be the beginning of the disaster.

But this is about the World Cup and, it being Sunday, it's time for another memory with a comical twist. The memory came to me while I tried to ignore Aston Villa's current plight. Attempting to keep them out of my head may have subconsciously brought up more deeply buried memories of a happier time.

In 1984, a few months after France's magical team had won the European Championships, Villa signed the a considerably more successfully French player than the current crop, winger Didier Six. In October 1984 he made his debut against Manchester United. Before live English football in Malta, we all looked forward to Big League Soccer with Brian Moore on Tuesday evening. I had heard about Didier Six and his impressive debut but watching it after already knowing the result didn't take away from the excitement of watching what this exotic foreign (and French at that) player could do. He set up the first goal for Peter Withe and Villa had a new hero. In the early 1990's when Jurgen Klinsmann signed for Tottenham it was big news to have a hugely accomplished foreigner play in England. So in 1984 to have a player who was a part of that incredible French team come to Villa was a massive coup. Sadly, the rest of the season kind of fizzled out for him, as did Villa's season. He played 16 times, scored two goals and moved on at the end of the season.

The link to a World Cup is coming. Six playing for Villa led me to think back to Spain 1982.

In the 1982 World Cup, Six scored a goal of quite incredible technical ability for France against Kuwait. The video is below. This goal then reminded me of one of the most bizarre World Cup moments.

France were 3-1 up against Kuwait when Alain Giresse scored number four. But the Kuwaiti players didn't like it because they said they stopped when they heard a whistle, possibly from the crowd but definitely not from the referee. The President of the Kuwaiti FA, Prince Fahid, was even more upset by the goal than the players. From his seat in the stands he signalled to his players to leave the pitch. He then left the stands and reappeared on the touch line arguing with the referee. When all the commotion had died down (and it went on for a while) the Prince left the pitch applauding (himself maybe or the referee) and the referee signalled that play would re-start with a drop-ball as the goal had been disallowed. The French were furious but got on with the game as there didn't seem to be any French prince to battle in their corner. They settled the argument in a more flamboyant French way by scoring a 4th goal, again.

I re-watched footage of Prince Fahid leaving the pitch amongst a throng of police officers and officials and within the crush of bodies I noticed somebody holding up a briefcase. My conspiracy theory brain wondered what was in that briefcase and why somebody would be carrying it around at time like that. Was the holder part of the Prince's entourage? I couldn't tell.

In the aftermath, the referee was banned by Fifa and Prince Fahid fined $11,000. Watching all this unfold as a young boy not long into my first World Cup was fascinating. What was Kuwait? Where was Kuwait? I seem to remember my brother making some comment about them bringing camels on to the pitch next. Didier Six in England was still to come. For now Kuwait, princes and the thought of camels all seemed very exotic.

There is footage of the whole incident and all the goals from the match. But as I wish this to be a happy football memory and it all started because of the joy Didier Six's appearance for Villa brought to me for a brief Big League Soccer moment, I have here his glorious goal.

Next week I may have to keep up this train of thought (and memories) with the story of another big European star who signed for Villa in 2000. Sadly, the Belgian striker Luc Nilis had a career-ending injury in his third match in England and we will never know if he would have been Villa's greatest signing.