YOU CAN MAKE A DRAMA OUT OF A CRISIS...
SPAIN were thrown into turmoil on the eve of the World Cup after manager Julen Lopetegui was axed.
Here, Record Sport recounts a few dramas that have dogged the biggest showpiece.
Skipper Roy Keane left Saipan before a ball had even been kicked after a blazing row with boss Mick McCarthy. The Manchester stalwart walked his dog at home while McCarthy led the Irish to within touching distance of the quarter-finals in South Korea and Japan.
He’d led his nation to glory in 1986 but Diego Maradona was sent home from the United States eight years later after failing a drugs test.
The then 33-year-old, who had already served a 15-month FIFA ban after testing positive for cocaine, was dropped from the squad by the Argentina Football Association when it was revealed a urine sample taken following a 2-1 win over Nigeria contained traces of five variants of the banned performance-enhancing stimulant ephedrine.
Maradona, whose wideeyed celebration after scoring in a 4-0 win over Greece raised eyebrows, claimed he had taken medication to treat cold and allergy symptoms but to no avail.
Skipper Bobby Moore was at the centre of one of the biggest conspiracy theories the World Cup has seen when he was arrested after being accused of stealing a £600 bracelet from a hotel shop in Bogota, Colombia, on the eve of the finals in Mexico.
A bemused Moore was held for four days but never charged and was freed to lead England’s failed defence of the trophy after Prime Minister Harold Wilson got involved. It has since been claimed the real thief was a woman.