Ray Wilkins

Day -71 WorldCup2018

Ray Wilkins passed away today. I don't mark the death of every footballer but Wilkins was a player from my early days of watching football who struck me for his gentleman-ness more than his football ability. My memory of him was that he was too nice to be a footballer.

He must have been a pretty good footballer because he played 84 matches for England. And he scored a memorable goal for Manchester United in the 1983 Fa Cup Final.

But my other memory was of him playing for an abysmal England team against Morocco in the 1986 World Cup. My Dad had let me stay up until midnight (or woke me up at midnight?) but my excitement at being able to be up late like my older brothers quickly turned to boredom. It was turgid. Terrible. And at one point Ray Wilkins got sent off. I couldn't remember what it was for so I had to look it up. It looks like he was guilty of lazily throwing the ball in the direction of the referee who took offence to Wilkins' petulance. On a day of sadness a bit of humour can be helpful. Today it is provided by Paul Mariner. The England number 9 went over to console Wilkins and who else is thinking: was Mariner so hot and bored at half-time that he forgot to put his shorts back on again?

RIP Ray.

Cristiano Ronaldo: take a bow

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But can he do it on a hot summer's night in Russia, with the weight of expectation of Portuguese people all over the world on his shoulders? Today was Cristiano Ronaldo's day, a day on which he scored what has been described as not only the best goal in Champions League history but one of the best in football ever.

Juventus' defender Andrea Barzagli called Ronaldo's bicycle kick goal against his team a "playstation goal". It really was the kind of thing you only normally see in a Harlem Globetrotters' football equivalent show. But it was even better than that. Even the greatest exhibitionist, relaxed with no competitive pressure, could not match the level of athleticism.

Love or hate him, or really have no time for him you've got to respect that he is one of the greatest footballers ever.

England, Mexico '86

Day -73 WorldCup2018

Yesterday I mentioned how I have surprisingly limited memories of the 1986 World Cup. Today I went through all the results and there are many, many matches in the first round that I never remember happening. You may think this is surprising as it was a long time ago and there are a lot of matches at a World Cup. But then you forget that I remember details about a particular save or a shot cleared off the line from specific matches over the years.

This blip must be because of the time difference. The 1982 and 1990 editions were both in Europe so there was no reason not to watch it all. Still, one of my favourite matches of all time happened in 1986: Brazil-France. And then there was the Gary Lineker match. I had stayed up very late one night to watch England play Morocco. It was a terrible 0-0 draw, with the most significant event being Bryan Robson dislocating his shoulder again. England had lost their first match to Portugal which left them needing a win by three goals against Poland in their last group match. The irony is that I have a good memory of the 3-0 England win but I didn't watch it. I remember hearing car horns as I fell asleep, which in Malta means that either England or Italy won. And the next day I heard about the Lineker hat-trick. Gary Lineker had made it at the World Cup and all of a sudden England looked good.

In the last sixteen they brushed Paraguay aside, 3-0. And now I was really dreaming. Next was Maradona and the hand of God goal, followed by the goal of the football god.

Josimar!

Day -74 WorldCup2018

After the euphoria of my first World Cup in1982 and the realization that from that point on I may be living my life in 4 year cycles, there are lots of gaps in my memories when it comes to Mexico 1986.

The simple explanation, and the only one I have, is that I was four years older and end of year school exams were that much more important. Whereas in 1982 I had to fight for the right to stay up late, in 1986 I had to prove that I was all ready for my exam the next day. I was probably not very good at convincing my parents of something that I knew not to be true. There was also the time difference issue.

Like with many moments in life there are odd, random events we remember, or people. In 1986 Josimar stuck with me. Brazil weren't quite as enthralling as the 1982 version but they were still fascinating to watch. And they had Josimar who scored two outstanding goals. He also sounded like the name of a Maltese house owned by Joseph and Mary (Maltese readers will get it).

Josimar's first match for Brazil was against Northern Ireland in Brazil's last group match when the regular right back was injured. He scored a memorable goal and in the next match, in the last 16 against Poland, he scored another beauty. Those were his only two goals in his career for Brazil.

It's hard to pick which one to share. But, as a marketing line would go, if you like what you see here why don't you check out another great Josimar goal. I picked the Northern Ireland goal because I remember how wow-ed I was by watching the speed and flight of his shot. I don't think I watched the Poland match live.

Josimar: he doesn't score tap-ins.

Ibra comes to LA

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Too late. Too tired. I'll be back at it tomorrow. If you need something to read about Zlatan's incredible LA Galaxy debut today was pretty incredible. But I guess that's Ibra.

Panini album, Mifsud style

Day -76 WorldCup2018

Good night and good bye Malta. See you soon. But please do me a favour and stop being in the news for match fixing allegations. Even a friendly against Finland can't go by without suspicion. A 5-0 defeat is bad enough.

On a final note of Malta memories: as the World Cup Panini sticker goes on sale below is an example of the home made version in the Mifsud household.

 

World Cup with no British refs

Day -77 WorldCup2018

Fifa announced the list of referees for the World Cup today and for the first time since 1938 there is not one British name on the list.

Is it just me that sees the irony in this, or am I making up the irony? The International Football Association Board which determines the laws of football and any changes is made up of representatives of the football associations of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, together with Fifa. This goes backs to the days when football started and it was the British who wrote the rules. The referees enforce these rules but not one of them at football's showcase event are from England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

The IFAB recently recommended the use of the controversial video assistant referee (VAR) in at Russia 2018. But again, none of the referees from the associations that introduced VAR to the World Cup are going to be a part of its' introduction to the World Cup.