This Week - 2 June - 8 June
World Cup hammerings, a classic that didn't leave a legacy and a surprisingly large time spent on Le Tournoi
Good morning everyone.
With the season now officially over it is time to shut down from the daily grind and reminisce about those summer days long gone. Mac Millings is back on This Week as we chose seven more stories from football history that match the dates from the week ahead.
2 June - As will become clear, Mac has a thing for Mexico ‘86 and his first selection is an absolute demolition of Hungary by the USSR. Mercifully, just on the football pitch on this occasion.
3 June - Andy Gray observed him addressing the ball as if he was going to go for goal from that far out but still thought that Roberto Carlos was having us all on in 1997. He wasn't and everyone - from schoolboys to the England team at their camp - immediately tried and failed to do the same.
4 June - Who knew that Le Tournoi would be so nostalgic? Mac selected the following day’s game between England and Italy and in particular, the majestic performance of Paul Scholes.
5 June - The 2002 World Cup had started with a big shock when Senegal defeated the champions France but we had seen bigger than that on the opening day before. However, when the USA raced into a 3-0 lead over dark horses and the flair team of Euro 2000, Portugal, it was clear that this was indeed the World Cup but not as we knew it.
6 June - You don’t see goals like this anymore eh? Well, literally no because we no longer have stanchions. Trevor Brooking didn’t mess about with this banger in 1981 and it looks glorious as a result.
7 June - A World Cup classic from 1970 next and chosen, not only for all the obvious reasons, but because many writing about it at the time fully expected to see the two sides face off again in the Final and battle it out over the course of the decade. It worked out well for one side but a catalogue of disaster in the next round sowed the seeds for a neurosis that still exists to this day.
8 June - Mexico again but back to 1986 as Mac wraps us up with another six goal exhibition, this time from Denmark who looked set to rip the whole place up. Steady on boys, there are no prizes given out that early…
We hope you enjoy the reflections, riffs and debate on these selections. There are now ten episodes in the bank and we are just getting started. You can subscribe to this and the main weekly show two days early and ad-free for just $3.99 a month (or 74p a week if you prefer that).
Have a great week,
Martyn