Australian Way June 2014 - Talkabout World Cup

Talkabout
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✈ 123 WORLD CUP / MIGHTY MOMENTS
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✈ 143 TECHNOLOGY / WI-FI HI-FI
Socceroos celebrate
after scoring against
Uruguay and qualifying
for the 2006 World Cup
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES
hunting the
holy
holy grail
grail
Glorious goals, unimaginable upsets and the occasional bit of angst
and controversy – over 19 editions of the FIFA World Cup, we’ve seen it
all. Ahead of this month’s event in Brazil, GlenN Cullen looks at 20
defining moments of the most widely viewed sporting event in the world.
J U N E 2014 Q A N TA S 1 2 3
Diego Maradona’s
“Hand of God” goal
in 1986; Uruguay vs
Argentina at the first
World Cup (left)
The Lions of Cameroon,
down to nine players, beat
defending champions
Argentina in 1990
#7
1986
#9
1990
#11
1994
Diego Maradona
celebrates his second
goal against England in
1986 – this one scored
with his boot
#1
1930
Roberto Baggio (left)
misses a penalty and
hands Brazil the 1994
World Cup
01
The game begins
cheeky one-two with Giuseppe
Giannini, Baggio slalomed through
the Czech defence, finally piercing
two players and the keeper to
score a silky goal.
There were 93,000 people
packed into Montevideo’s
Estadio Centenario to see home
side Uruguay get the ball rolling in
the first World Cup final of 1930.
Much to the delight of the home
nation, Uruguay beat Argentina
4-2 to clinch the title.
02
National pride
After being thrashed 8-3 by
Hungary in their pool game, few
people gave West Germany a
chance when the teams matched
up again for the 1954 decider. It
was one of the greatest upsets
of the tournament, the amateur
West Germans holding on for a
3-2 win against their professional
opposition. The “Miracle of Bern”
allegedly inspired a new-found
optimism in postwar Germany.
03
A legend is born
He was the youngest player at
the tournament and missed the
first two games through injury,
but 17-year-old Pelé still stamped
himself as a potential superstar at
the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. His
first goal in Brazil’s 5-2 final win
1 2 4 Q A N TA S J U N E 2014
11
Baggio’s botched
kick
#8
1986
Pelé comes of
age in Stockholm in
1958 (both images)
#3
1958
THE YOUNGEST PLAYER AT THE TOURNAMENT,
17-YEAR-OLD PELÉ STAMPED HIMSELF AS A
POTENTIAL SUPERSTAR AT THE 1958 CUP
against Sweden was sublime:
chesting the ball, flicking over and
volleying home on the same foot.
04
Korean surprise
Trumping West Germany’s upset
in ’58 was North Korea’s stunning
dispatch of Italy from the 1966
group stages 1-0. The losers had
rotten tomatoes thrown at them
at Genoa airport when they
returned to Italy, while the North
Koreans were treated as heroes
after making the quarterfinals.
05
Banks for the
memories
Gordon Banks’ diving save from a
tracer-like Pelé header in Mexico
in 1970 will go down as one of the
best moments for a goalkeeper at
a World Cup. Even the Brazilian
couldn’t fathom how he blocked
the ball at the right post. Despite
Banks’ heroics, England still lost
the match 1-0.
06
The irresistible
game
Attack vs defence. Passion vs
pragmatism. Artists vs artisans.
Attach what labels you wish to
the 1982 second-round match
between Brazil and Italy,
but one must be “true classic”.
The ultimate contrast in styles
featured Brazil’s “beautiful
football” and Italy’s watertight
defence. Azzurri striker Paolo
Rossi would prove the difference
in a 3-2 victory for the Italians.
07
Talk to the hand
With the score locked at 0-0
against bitter rivals England (the
1982 Falklands War had resulted in
British defeat of Argentina) at the
1986 World Cup, Diego Maradona
put his hand up for Argentina –
quite literally. Even the La
Albiceleste legend conceded his
icebreaking quarterfinal goal
wasn’t exactly by the book.
“A little with the head of
Maradona, a little with the
hand of God,” was his recollection.
The most controversial goal in
World Cup history.
08
Divine double
Only Maradona. In the very
same match, just four minutes
later, Argentina’s little general
scored a spellbinding individual
goal. Starting in England’s half, he
weaved his way upfield, ditching
four opposition outfield players
before blasting diagonally past
goalkeeper Peter Shilton to give
his side a 2-0 lead. Voted FIFA’s
World Cup goal of the century.
09
Out of Africa
Minnows Cameroon, comprised
largely of amateurs and French
lower league players, caused the
biggest upset in modern football
when they downed defending
champions Argentina 1-0 in a 1990
pool match – with only nine men
in a clash that ushered African
football onto the world stage.
10
Baggio’s brilliance
After a subdued first half, Italian
maestro Roberto Baggio stepped
up in style in a group game against
Czechoslovakia in Rome at the
1990 World Cup. Following a
Four years later came football’s
cruel riposte. In the penalty
shootout of the 1994 final, Baggio
scythed his shot over the crossbar,
Brazil claiming the Cup off the
back of his miss. That two of his
teammates also failed to net their
spot kick attempts seemed to
matter little as the ponytailed
playmaker carried the burden of
the Azzurri’s dashed hopes.
12
Saudi sensation
Saeed Al-Owairan earned the
moniker of the Middle East’s
Maradona after his extraordinary
one-man goal in 1994 against
Belgium. The Saudi dynamo
controlled the ball from his
own half, stood up five players
and then shot past the keeper to
help his side defeat Belgium and
progress to the second round. 
J U N E 2014 Q A N TA S 1 2 5
WORLD CUP
#12
1994
Saeed Al-Owairan
scores for Saudi
Arabia against
Belgium, 1994
13
Tragic
repercussions
#17
2002
Andrés Escobar had never scored
an own goal in his senior career
until Colombia’s must-win World
Cup match against hosts USA in
1994. It was his first and last. The
fancied South Americans were
bounced out of the tournament
by the subsequent defeat; Escobar
was shot and killed in a nightclub
carpark on his return to Colombia.
14
Owen goal
#14
1998
Michael Owen came of age in 1998
with his blistering second-round
strike against Argentina. The
18-year-old still had plenty to do
after a lovely ball from David
Beckham put him in space, but
that he did; shrugging off one
pursuer, rounding another and
finishing in style. Alas, the match
ended in heartbreak for England,
who had Beckham sent off before
it lost on penalties.
David Beckham (above);
Ronaldo (right); John Aloisi
sends the Socceroos to the
2006 Cup (below)
#18
2006
15
Dramatic licence
Rivaldo won few friends in the
semifinal against Turkey in 2002,
with one of the more ludicrous
acts of simulated injury seen on
a football pitch. When a ball was
kicked innocuously at his leg while
waiting to take a corner, Rivaldo
collapsed clutching at his face.
While fined for his theatrics, Brazil
won both match and tournament.
16
Hosts with the most
ALOISI: SENDING THE
SOCCEROOS TO THE WORLD
CUP FOR THE FIRST TIME
SINCE 1974
In five previous World Cups
South Korea hadn’t won a game;
co-hosting the tournament in
2002 they won over a nation.
Surprise pool winners, the Taeguk
Warriors put the world on notice
with an epic golden-goal 2-1 win
over Italy in the round of 16.
Physical and controversial it may
have been, yet the South Koreans
showed it was no fluke when they
scraped past another heavyweight,
Spain, on penalties to make the
final four (losing 1-0 to Germany).
17
Don’t call it
a comeback
A sub-par Ronaldo was off his
game in the 1998 World Cup final,
Brazil losing 3-0 to France the day
after he reportedly suffered an
epileptic fit. But one of the most
devastating strikers the game has
seen would not be denied four
years later, destroying Germany
with both goals in the Yokohama
decider in 2002.
18
Johnny on the spot
Yes, this wasn’t part of the main
event, but after three decades in
the World Cup wilderness, every
Australian sports fan would
forgive us for squeezing this in.
With the Socceroos and Uruguay
locked at 1-1 after extra time in the
two-legged 2005 play-off series,
the final 2006 qualifying spot went
down to penalties at Sydney’s ANZ
Stadium. Ahead 4-3, John Aloisi
stepped up to the mark. The
former La Liga striker snapped his
left-foot shot over goalkeeper
Fabian Carini, sending 82,698
spectators into delirium and the
Socceroos to the Cup for the first
time since 1974.
19
One butt, no ifs
With a goal in the 2006 final,
the scene was set for silky-skilled
three-time world player of the 
WORLD CUP TALKABOUT
# 20
2006
ZINEDINE ZIDANE
UNLEASHED ONE OF THE
LEAST EFFECTIVE HEADBUTTS
SEEN IN SPORT
year Zinedine Zidane to bow
out with a fairytale World Cup
for France. But after 110 minutes of
absorbing football, things turned
sour. Riled by Italian player Marco
Materazzi, Zidane unleashed one
of the least effective headbutts
seen in sport. He was sent off and
France lost in a penalty shootout.
2006 Battle
of Nuremberg:
Portugal vs the
Netherlands (and
above); Zidane
headbutt (left)
20
Pitch battle
Four send-offs, 16 yellow cards
and a booking every five and a half
minutes. Portugal was victorious in
the second-round clash with the
Netherlands in 2006, however,
“The Battle of Nuremberg” will
be remembered as one of the
most brutal ever witnessed.
#19
2006
Ange Postecoglou
Coach Class
nge Postecoglou wants
to go platinum. And with
so much talk still about
Australian football’s
“Golden Generation” –
a side that peaked in the
mid-2000s with such
international stars as
Harry Kewell, Mark
Viduka, Tim Cahill
and Lucas Neill – who
could blame the Socceroos
coach for aiming higher?
“We did have a fantastic
group of players who served
us well at the highest level,
but now there’s an opportunity for another group of
players to take us to an even
1 2 8 Q A N TA S J U N E 2014
higher level,” Postecoglou
says. “If we are going to
become a force in football,
the hardest sport in the world,
we can’t be looking back. We
need to be creating better
teams, every time.”
So far, he’s walked the
talk. Postecoglou has shown
a penchant for fresh faces;
a band of footballers in their
early 20s, including Mat Ryan,
Tom Rogic, Tommy Oar,
Curtis Good and Jason
Davidson have already
featured in his side. With
players of their ilk, the coach
hopes to form the next great
generation of Socceroos.
Australia could have
scarcely managed a tougher
pool in Brazil for their first
serious examination: South
American heavyweight Chile
(June 13), 2010 runner-up the
Netherlands (June 18) and
defending champion Spain
(June 23). Wry judges have
suggested it’s a draw that
actually works in the new
coach’s favour – the lack of
expectations giving him a
blank canvas on which
to work. But the two-time
A-League-winning mentor
with Brisbane Roar knows
the results-thirsty Australian
public a little better than that.
“People understand what
kind of phase we are in, but
I won’t take liberties with
that.” Instead, he wants to use
the Brazil experience to build
for next year’s AFC Asian
Cup, to be held in Australia
for the first time (January
9-31). The expectations will be
substantial. “I’m driven for us
to perform well at the World
Cup and the Asian Cup off the
back of that. If people see a
team building, the promise
of a new era, I’m sure they
will get behind it.”