Giggsy’s goal was better than my stunner in Rio
HOW can you score one of England’s most iconic goals, yet still be left with a slight sense of disappointment?
Let me explain. Whenever England play Brazil, I’m taken back to the Maracana in June 1984 and the night people say I beat the world’s greatest football nation at their own game. It is something I’ll never, ever forget.
I’d dreamed as a young boy growing up in Jamaica about lining up against those famous yellow shirts in the venue that had been home to Pele, Garrincha and Jairzinho; it didn’t matter that their fortunes had dipped in the mid-1980s: this was Brazil.
Yet I’ll never forget feeling underwhelmed when I was confronted by the reality.
Though there was a capacity of 80,000, it was half-full for an end- of- season friendly and the Maracana, which was in a state of disrepair, didn’t hum with the intensity I remember the Azteca Stadium had for the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against Argentina.
It didn’t match the picture I had in my mind of how it would be. The goal, on the other hand, was something I could never have predicted and I know how special it was, given how many people still talk to me about it.
There is certainly more appreciation for it now than there was at half-time! I’d put us in front 10 seconds before the break and, like every player, I wanted to bask in some euphoria for the next five or 10 minutes.
Yet when we got back into the dressing room, there was barely a flicker from Bobby Robson, who was trying to change the tone of his team talk now that we were in the lead, while the rest of the team were getting drinks or going to the bathroom.
I was sitting on a bench on my own, wondering: ‘Why is nobody saying anything about the goal?!’ I also found out subsequently that nobody had seen it on TV, either, as ITV had lost its feed and fans at home were staring at a black screen. So if anyone tells you they saw my goal live, they aren’t telling the truth!
Did it change my life? Absolutely not. Joining Liverpool in 1987 changed my life.
I’d also say it wasn’t my best goal as, ultimately, it was a meaningless friendly. If it had been a World Cup semi-final, I think the attempted tackles would have had more bite!
Yes, it may have been aesthetically pleasing but all it meant was we won in Brazil for the first time. It didn’t have the same impact on the team as Ryan Giggs’s goal for Manchester United against Arsenal in the 1999 FA Cup semi-final replay.
That is what football is about: impact. People often wonder whether there will be a point in the future when we really will play football like Brazil, particularly when you think we have got a bunch of young players who are so technically gifted. We have moved away from what English football used to be about — aggression, tackling, fighting — and some of the individuals who are coming through look like they have got all the tricks in the world.
But it is crucial we remember becoming the best team in the world has got nothing to do with individual brilliance or tricks. We have an obsession with wanting to play like Brazil, but really, shouldn’t we want to emulate Germany?
We are teaching kids to be comfortable on the ball but having one touch that makes a difference, an impact, is far better than having 500 for the sake of it.
Germany win senior tournaments because they understand football. They didn’t win the Under 20 World Cup but you can be sure their Under 20s will get exposure to Champions League football more quickly than our boys will.
Until our clubs have a commitment to accelerating the development of these players, we will never have an England team who consistently play at the deep end of tournaments.
We don’t want all their triumphs this year to become meaningless.
Trickery is fine but truly great play must have a real impact...we should be looking to emulate Germany, not Brazil