Big Sam: Scoring must be England’s goal
was Jairzinho, who was a handful. He was three inches taller than myself, but in those days you could get away with the first tackle being tough.
“I remember coming in and hitting him with a strong challenge, and we both ended up flat out on the pitch. He got up and shook his fist at me shouting, ‘No, no, no.’ The next time I went forward he hit me with one as well. He was sharp and strong. They were all top, top players.
“It’s only my opinion, but that Brazil 1970 team is the best ever to play the game. They were good at keeping the ball, they were strong, quick, athletic; and they were physical. I have never seen a better side.”
England were knocked out in the quarter-finals, squandering a 2-0 lead after the mistake of substituting Bobby Charlton, resting him for the semis.
“I watched the final on television, and that was a decent game too,” says Cooper.
“I do think we would have given Brazil a better game, and actually Italy played well in losing 4-1. “We’d have learned from the first game, that although they were a great team we had the capability to cause them problems.”
There is one final memory for the blazingly talented and eternally modest Terry Cooper.
“Years later Pele came over to
SAM ALLARDYCE has warned England that they must conjure up more goals on the big occasions if they want to win the Euros next summer.
Former England boss Allardyce believes that with the 2020 tournament delayed by Uefa for a year due to the coronavirus crisis, England must use the extra time to produce an additional supply-line of goals from open play.
England were top scorers in their 2020 qualifying group, scoring a hefty 37 goals on the way to the Nations League Finals last summer.
London and they wanted to get as many lads as possible who played in that 1970 game to go and meet him,” he says.
“After the 1970 match I had swapped shirts with Brazil’s captain Carlos Alberto, and I took it up hoping to get Pele to sign it.
“There was chaos, bodyguards everywhere. I went towards to him, and he recognised me through the crowd, and said, ‘Ah, Cooper. How are you?’
“I thought that was brilliant.”
But once there, they struggled and managed just one in two games – a common theme for England at major tournaments.
“Everyone was looking forward to the Euros this summer but I had big fears about Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford being able to deliver the goals if England made it to the latter stages,” says Big Sam.
“Scoring from open play hasn’t been a problem in qualifiers. But everyone got swept up in the euphoria of reaching the semi-finals at the lastworld Cup.
“More than 75 per cent of England’s goals in Russia came from set-plays, so there is a fear that we don’t have enough goals from open play, especially in the big games.
“It’s great having set-pieces as a major threat – but you don’t want it to be your main weapon.
“England’s squad is as strong as anyone’s in Europe – but when I’m looking at goals, after Harry Kane... who is the proven scorer?”