This Time, more than any other time - memories of Espana 82

This written for the Maidenhead United programme for the 2019 preseason visit of Kuwait

One football fact everyone knows about Kuwait is that they played in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, in England’s group to boot. Resisting the obvious option of reviewing the Kuwaitis’ rather infamous footnote in World Cup history I thought I’d look back on the tournament. 

England’s qualification is worthy of another article altogether, suffice it to say they qualified for their first World Cup since 1970 along with other home nations Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

Even before a ball was kicked all three countries generated excitement with their world cup songs. England boasted not just a classic A-Side in “This Time” but also something worth flipping over for in “Fly the Flag”. Two tub thumping anthems. Scotland took a more esoteric route to the top ten with “We Have a dream”, actor John Gordon Sinclair taking the lead role. Northern Ireland went with the more predictable Dana to sing “Yer Man” which was also the name of the mascot who garnered controversy for being depicted with a cigarette and a bottle of beer, as did England’s Bulldog Bobby which some felt encouraged hooliganism.

On the pitch England got off to the best possible start when Bryan Robson gave them the lead over France in just 27 seconds, a goal which heralded comfortable qualification for the next stage winning all three group games over the French, Czechoslovakia and Kuwait. 

Scotland stunned the world when a David Narey toe poke from distance gave them the lead against Brazil, but the game ended in a 4-1. This combined with conceding two consolation goals against whipping boys New Zealand in a 5-2 win meant a late Graeme Souness equaliser in the final match against the USSR wasn’t enough to avoid the customary early trip home. 

Havin drawn their first two matches against Honduras and Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland overcame long odds to beat the host nation Spain with a Gerry Armstrong goal to reach the next stage. Elswhere Italy only just squeezed through ahead of Cameroon on goals scored whilst Austria and West Germany played out the notorious Anschluss match as a 1-0 win for the Austrians to ensure Algeria would miss out on goal difference. This event meant in future tournaments the final group matches would be played simultaneously to minimise the chance of collusion.  

The second phase saw four groups of three play off for the semi final spots. Poland led the way in Group A whilst in Group B, thanks to Northern Ireland’s exploits, England had to contend with both the Germans and Spain. Having held the former to a goalless draw, a win was required against the latter, but despite the return from injury of Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking, Ron Greenwood’s men could not break the deadlock so went home unbeaten. Billy Hamilton did his best to keep Northern Ireland in the competition, scoring a brace in a 2-2 draw with Austria but France beat them comfortably to win Group D reach the semi-finals. This left Group C and an appetising sequence of matches. Firstly holders Argentina were toppled by defeats to Italy and Brazil, with Diego Maradona finishing the latter match early courtesy of a red card, then in one of the most exciting matches I have ever watched on TV, a Paolo Rossi hat trick knocked out Brazil by the odd goal in five. This was a match worthy of the final, Brazil joining the ranks of “best team never to win the World Cup” alongside the likes of Hungary 54 and Netherlands 72, with iconic players such as Socrates, Junior and Zico trying but ultimately failing to emulate the Jogo Bonito team of 1970 with their free flowing style.

Rossi scored two more in a comfortable semi-final win over Poland whilst the other tie proved to be one of the most controversial in World Cup history. Inspired by Michel Platini, and backed up by the talent of Jean Tigana, Didier Six, Dominique Rocheteau, and Alain Giresse, France looked to be heading to the final when they led 3-1 in extra time. However the French had been weakened when substitute Patrick Battiston was stretchered off following an awful challenge by German goalkeeper Toni Schumacher. The referee bizarrely saw no foul, when everyone watching thought a red card was in order, and eventually West Germany levelled the match at 3-3 going on to win in a sudden death penalty shootout.

Thus the final saw neutrals rooting for Italy, led by veteran keeper Dino Zoff, and they won comprehensively 3-1, Rossi scoring his sixth goal of the tournament to win the golden boot, followed by Marco Tardelli’s iconic celebration for the second.

All in all an unforgettable World Cup for your then nine year old writer to watch, with classic goals and controversy to ensure four years would feel like an age until the next tournament.