Most players would have bottled that penalty... yet it sums up Davie as a man
JIM BETT ON THE BITTER-SWEET MOMENT THAT TOOK US TO WORLD CUP FINALS–BUT SAW JOCK STEIN DIE
THE HOPES of a nation rested on this one swing of his left boot, one shot at glory. One chance to score the goal that would take Scotland to the 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico.
Wales were in the box seat thanks to a typically predatory Mark Hughes’ first-half strike.
And then came the moment when David Phillips was harshly j udged to have handled the ball in the box.
As thousands of fans held their breath, up stepped a man with ice in his veins.
Davie Cooper, a second-half substitute for Gordon Strachan, fixed his eyes on Neville Southall’s goal, took six steps – and stroked the ball firmly into the left-hand corner.
It was a moment that sent the Tartan Army, thousands of them crowded into Cardiff’s Ninian Park, into a form of football rapture.
But it was also a night when a giant of the game fell – Scotland manager Jock Stein collapsed and died of a heart attack as the final minutes ticked away.
For former Rangers star Jim Bett, the bitter-sweet memories of that poignant night remain pin sharp.
And they come flooding back when he recalls the key contribution of former Ibrox team-mate Cooper, who died tragically young 20 years ago on Monday.
“That moment probably summed Davie up for me,” said Bett. “Most players would shy away from the responsibility of a penalty when so much was at stake and he had not been long on the park having started the game on the bench.
“But Davie was happy to take the penalty. He was just that type of guy. He was quiet, unassuming, but he had a lot of bottle.
“He had to. He was the kind of guy who was kicked up and down most weeks yet he was always wanting to try something with the ball at his feet.
“He used to always say that he didn’t care about tactics, about working back, about any of that stuff – all he wanted to be regarded as was an entertainer.
“I played right behind him and I’d have to say that is exactly how you would describe him. It was a really surreal night in Cardiff. We didn’t actually know what had happened to Jock.
“We were all aware of the commotion going on in the dug-out and that he had collapsed but we had no idea just how serious it was until we got into the dressing-room. It was a dark night for all of us.”
That night at Ninian Park seemed like an irrelevance given what followed but when Scotland did go onto Mexico under Alex Ferguson, there was no real place for Cooper.
He made the squad but featured only briefly but Bett believes that a player of Cooper’s talents would be among the first on a teamsheet today.
“He was a home buddy,” said Bett. “He loved nothing better than playing on a Saturday and then going for a bite to eat at his favourite Italian in Hamilton and having a few drinks. That was all he wanted.
“He would never entertain talk of a move abroad even although it was suggested to him a couple of times.
“Graeme Souness used to say that he would be world renowned if he played in Europe but Davie was having none of it.
“If you look at the way the game has moved on in the last 20 years, a guy like Cooper would be a wanted man. He was just a genius with a ball at his feet – and I don’t say that lightly.
“He just loved to play football. He didn’t like the tracking back, the defensive, donkey work – but he got away with it because he could change a game in an instant.
“I don’t want to make comparisons about who he would be like in today’s market, but suffice to say that I reckon he would be up there with the very best.
“And I believe that he would be playing in one of the top five leagues in Europe because they would have come calling for him, that’s for sure.”
Bett and Cooper were room-mates during their time with Rangers and Scotland and 53-year-old Bett, who is still settled in Iceland with his wife and family believes that Cooper and former Aberdeen winger Peter Weir were the most influential players of their generation in that position.
“They were magical and I don’t just say that,” he said. “Peter was one of the most underrated players I have ever played with.
“He was an exceptional talent and so was Davie. I think everyone who saw Davie play would accept that his left-foot was magical. He could do things with the ball that you couldn’t imagine but Peter was equally impressive.
“I don’t think either of them got the recognition at international level that they really deserved.
“When we got to Mexico in ’86, Ferguson changed the system and one of the fall-outs from that was that there just wasn’t room in it for Davie, which was a shame.
“I often think that given a decent shot at it that he could have made a much better impact. It was him that got us there after all.”