All To Play For - A Very British Football Redux TL

[Anubis]

It's all kicking off now! I'm ready for the final of Italia 90!

 

[QTXAdsy]

Chapter 53
Eternal Heroes In The Eternal City
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After a World Cup that had seen what many could argue at that point of being the poorest World Cup in terms of lack of goals and many fouls cards being shown, it would finally come to an end here in the eternal city of Rome in which many had had hoped the final would be between the two favourites West Germany and hosts Italy; neither of which though made it much to the disappointment of many due to them being the two teams in this World Cup that had managed to put on a show and instead the final would be between Argentina and England - the two teams that some would argue had been very lucky to get this far and who not many (mainly the still mourning Italians) wanted for the final. While some football romantics (perhaps mostly salty Scottish, Welsh and Irish supporters might say) would point out that England's way to the final had been one of luck, Argentina's journey to get to the final was perhaps not only of crazy amount of luck but one of being grossly unfair and being that of one sick joke.

The Argentina team of 1990 was far from the vintage side four years ago that dazzled millions that seemed to rely heavily on a troubled Maradona who was at this time beset with his well documented lifestyle of drugs and drink and things had gone badly wrong for the World Champions when they lost to Cameroon of all teams in the opening round and if not for a such a set of results going their way and the benefit of the best ranked third placed teams (in which Argentina finished in said position) then the champions would have been on the first flight home. Then came the knockout stage in which Argentina were first to play arch rivals Brazil in which somehow they managed to win 1-0 despite not being all that good, they then faced Yugoslavia in the Quarter-finals in which finished after a dire and gruelling one hundred and twenty minutes, the game would go the penalties and in that, Argentina came out on top.

Their negative and being hugely lucky at how they had gotten this far had not won them many fans, even somewhat been viewed as the tournament villains but that was nothing compared to the latter tag being attached to them when they played the host nation in the Semi-Finals. Played in Maradona's adopted city of Naples, Argentina would prevail over the host nation and with it, an uproar of anti-Argentina sentiment over what they felt was that their destined place in Rome was denied with all their anger directed at one Diego Maradona who just by a crazy set of circumstances was the one to score the penalty that would take Argentina to the final and with it perhaps even his bond with the (southern) Italians. They might have made the final but it came with a consequence with their team being racked with suspensions and injuries which meant that they were nowhere near their best to play in a final.

Bobby Robson just before the final
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While the Italians had no love loss for the Argentines, that didn't mean to say that they were going to throw in their lot by supporting England in which the negative feelings about Heysel and the country's hooligan football problem had led much of the Italian public to have, at best, a lukewarm reaction for having the English make it all the way to the capital city in which privately, it had been hoped that they would not have to have their supporters converging on Rome but alas, here they were. That said, the English supporters were frustrated to hear that they were only given ten thousand tickets with the vast majority going to either Italian locals or Argentine supporters and even then with the fear if violence, the English supporters would be heavily sectioned off from the spectators as if they were wild animals. To put it bluntly according to one Italian TV sport pundit would sum up the final pre-match as follows - A pity that both sides couldn't lose.

To add to all this, this would not be the first time that England would be playing in a final in Rome for ten years prior, England would come so close under Ron Greenwood but alas lost to West Germany and that was nearly exactly ten years ago so who was to say glory would finally happen for England? Bobby Robson though had wisely not allowed his players to see anything in the press from back home encase it might affect their minds going into this game, though he did allow for the players to see footage from across the country of various street parties showing what their World Cup run meant for everyone in England. On the bus during the final approach to the Stadio Olimpico, they could see a big police presence as England fans made their way to the stadium with Argentinian supporters being separated away from them in fear of a riot taking place, the tension was there for many as it seemed that the rivalry between to the two nations was evident. What was perhaps the thing that all the England players there would remember was just how quiet everyone was on the bus, even the happy go-lucky Paul Gascoigne was quiet on the journey to the stadium as this game seemed to be one that some of the players would've actually prayed for as this was going to be the biggest game of their lives whatever happened here.

In regards to the press, the English tabloid press who had prior to the start of this World Cup had it in for the team and Bobby Robson were now suddenly saying of how wonder Robson and his team was and that Robson should be given a knighthood; hard to imagine such things would have been said before a few weeks ago but then again given how cruel and even two-faced the press could be, one honestly wouldn't be all that surprised at this though Robson knowing that he had the last laugh and being the decent man he was just smiled and said nothing (Paul Gascoigne would instead do the honours by boasting that they would win the cup). All the same though, the England manager knew that not matter how ropey this Argentina team was, they will still going to be a difficult team to try and rip their eight year long grasp of the World Cup from their hands.

England fans in Rome for the final
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As the two teams walked out onto the field, Bobby Robson shook hands with his Argentinian counterpart Carlos Bilardo and in the man's eyes, he saw nothing but grim determination for his team to win this final and much like Robson, this was to be his final game too in charge of the national side. One of them at the end of this would end his international manager career as a hero in their respective country and one would end up with nothing but a collection of 'what if' moments surrounding him; losing a final was never a good thing as no more so was that than the final of a World Cup. Robson found it rather oddly fitting that fate had brought England and Argentina together again for the first time since they were both in the final in Spain back in 1982 in which Argentina won that one and with the exception of just a handful of players on both sides, there were very little of original teams then in what didn't really meant that this could be a rematch with all the same players then.

Ideally to Robson in that in fair world that this would be England's moment of glory and end a decade of many so near yet so far stories with long overdue victory here in Rome. However, the England manager had grown to learn that football was never really fair, it would either come down to luck or skill in what this game was to be the tenth encounter between the two sides. Indeed, the past encounters had mostly been filled with such controversy and dubious situations that it even wasn't decided upon how many games the two sides had actually played since they first met in 1951 with the Argentines saying that there had been eleven games played between the two. Whatever the reason, some predicted that this final would be a tense or fearsome affair.

The England manager was well aware of the unique intercontinental rivalry that existed between his countrymen and the Argentinians and had hoped for the game to be played in a fair manner, though the weight of history of the rivalry seemed to make it highly unlikely and when Robson looked over towards were the the mass ranks of England fans were housed, or more like secured, with large amounts of Italian police keeping them away from the other spectators in the ground which he felt was unfair to treat them like savages. Sadly though the reputation they had brought on them was their fault with their hooligan behaviour showed that the Italians weren't taking any chances. Then again, it was just another factor in just how this World Cup had been with much police presence following the England fans like a bad stench.

Maradona's angry reaction towards the Italian crowd jeering the Argentina national anthem
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From the moment the Argentinian anthem was being played, the pent up hatred for Argentina boiled over as it was jeered and whistled relentlessly by the largely Italian crowd with their venom being aimed at the much reviled Maradona with the camera panning past him famously cursing the Italian crowd for this. Strangely for Robson, as much as he'd thought of him as a player past him prime and how very lucky Argentina had been to get this far, he couldn't help by feel sorry for Maradona and his teammates as they stood there getting jeered at during their anthem and he turned over to look at the England fans in the ground hoping that they weren't joining in this hatred...alas, they were indulging in it as well. Despite that rather ugly opening, it was hoped the football might be better as the game began that things would be better as after all, it was a derby game that had a lot of pride at stake and yet for many other nations looked on the rivalry with a sense of bemusement as no one could quite understand what it was that made two nations on either side of the planet be such rivals.

Nonetheless the early parts of the game didn't fill many with hope as a range of fouls start taking place almost from the offset with it looking like everyone had a score to settle with someone on either side. One such encounter that many were curious of seeing was Terry Butcher locking horns with Maradona once again as the last time they had met back in the 1982 final and both being one of the few remaining from that game eight years ago and both captains for this game. Clearly the England captain was wanting to put Maradona in his place with Butcher putting on a brilliant game to deny the Argentine captain any chance of pushing forward to find a goal, though it was Argentinian star player who did get the first shot on target from a long range out in the seventh minute, though Shilton managed to save it comfortably, much like Butcher, Shilton was another surviving of the 1982 encounter and this being his last game was going to make sure that he wasn't going to end his career on a downer.

After fifteen minutes of play, the score remained at 0-0 and other than a close shot on target by Lineker the previous minute which Goycochea had to make a mad save to deny England taking the lead, the game had been a dull one with tackles taking place with only one yellow card being shown (that being Dezotti in the fifth minute of the game). The weight of history clearly weighing on both teams and even the Mexican referee was trying his hardest to keep the game flowing as best he could, though he was clearly having his work cut out with how cynical this game was turning into. Then again considering how the games had been in this World Cup had been, no one could really be that surprised of how the final was going. The only ones who seemed to be trying to find a goal on either side were Maradona, Lineker, Platt and Dezotti who now had two shots on goal between them and was the only thing for those wanting goals in this final could cheer for, yet in the thirty fourth minute, Butcher made a crunching tackle on Maradona sending him to the ground and the England captain smiled that he had at least managed to stop Maradona, however he would get the second yellow card of the game and Butcher knew he had to be careful, but he hoped that it game the Argentinian captain a warning that Butcher wasn't going to get outsmarted this time round.

The England team lining up for the final
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For the Mexican referee and his constant attempts to try and get the game flowing, the amount of fouls were making it really difficult for this game to find some momentum and viewers at home had to wonder when something good might happen. Sadly, nothing happened in a rotten first half that saw both sides booed off by the mostly Italian crowd and scattered amount of English and Argentine supporters around the stadium for what had been a truly dreadful final so far and Robson looked over to Bilardo with both managers shaking their heads both sharing a shared feeling of how bad this game had been. As much as they both wanted to win this game, they knew a World Cup final had to be better than this. As the teams headed up down the tunnel, no one really knew who'd come out on top...

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Both managers during the halftime team talk had gotten right into their players telling them not to fight but play a good game of football and for the start of the second half for Argentina, Ruggeri was brought off for Pedro Monzón to come on to hopefully have a cool head for the second half and thankfully for everyone else, better football did start to get played with England mostly. The men in white began pushing Argentinian back into their half were it was looking like that they might score first with Gascoigne proving to be the driving force in attack as he evaded lunges from the likes of Lorenzo and Serrizule before he fired a shot on target in the forty-ninth minute that came ever so close to open the scoring for England, but cannoned off the crossbar and out for a goal kick for Argentina. The other England player causing trouble for Argentina was Lineker who being helped by Peter Beardsley were getting themselves into good areas to strike home for a goal.

In the fifty-sixth minute, Beardsley tried his luck from a corner kick by heading it towards goal by the Argentine keeper punched it forward towards outside the penalty box in which Lineker managed to get himself onto the ball and with a little shimmy on Serrizuela, he found a large gap in the Argentine defence and with his chance, he slotted it low and despite Goycochea diving he right way, it just went under his body and to the dismay of Argentina, England had gone 1-0 in front. For the Italian police keeping an eye on the now celebrating England fans, they didn't know what was more dangerous, an English man drunk on victory or raging in defeat. They didn't have any idea who to cheer on in this game. That said, England's opening goal but Bilardo's men flying out of the traps as they began looking for an equaliser with Maradona leading the charge as it was Argentina's turn to push the English into their own half.

For Robson, he'd hoped that his side would begin to turn the screw on Argentina and add to their lead, but now it was looking perilously clear that their lead might be cancelled out before they'd know it, credit for the men in blue as they didn't want to give up the World Cup to the English of all opponents. That said, Argentina would nearly equalise just five minutes later when Maradona managed to outrun Des Walker before taking off down the left side of the England flank and it looked like he was about to score a wonderful goal, however Butcher blocks his way and he is forced to cross it over towards Dezotti who gets himself into a great area inside the box and thumps the shot on goal in which Shilton goes the wrong way but yet the ball hits his feet and the it heads up and lands out of play and many Argentinian players look on dismayed, no more so than poor old Dezotti himself who can't believe his attempt has gone a miss for Argentina and a corner kick next up came to nothing as Mark Wright easily cleared it sending the ball back up the field.

Lineker celebrates getting England's first goal in the final
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To add more to Argentina's woes, Dezotti's scare got England back on track as they began pushing players forward with Gascoigne putting up an absolute monster of a performance that amazed viewers of how this unknown player was driving this team on. Many had hoped that the short man in the dark blue shirt, Maradona, would light up this final yet he was being upstaged by the colourful Geordie who would then in the sixty-fourth minute pulled of on the tournament's most memorably moments. Gascoigne would come face to face with Maradona with the England player on the ball and saw behind Maradona was teammate Gary Lineker and though he was planning to pass to him, he decided to try something cheeky...he threaded the ball through Maradona's legs catching him off guard and before he could realise what had happened, Lineker had gone out on the run with the ball down the field.

Gascoigne smiled to himself, how many could say they'd nutmegged Maradona? It was a moment that would get a roar of approval from the English supporters in the ground and watching on TV and perhaps even more so from the largely Italian crowd who were more than happy to take great delight for some misfortune for the star Argentinian they wanted to see fail. Not everyone was amused by the Englishman's antics though as just a minute later, Monzón let his frustrations out on such school boy antics that he went on Lineker's right leg that sent him hitting the deck and the referee had no choice but to show a red card to his stunned face. Maradona led his countrymen in protest over the tackle but nonetheless, Monzón was ordered off and the poor Argentinian player would gain the dubious reputation for being the first person to be sent off in a World Cup final.

In hindsight, giving how bad tempered the game had been, a sending off was bound to happen sooner or later but now the emotions would reach new heights in this already heated rivalry as the referee ordered for the game to carry on. Despite the Three Lions still holding onto their lead, things weren't all quite that good for the English as Bobby Robson and the rest of the team could see Linker now limping along so much that it looked like the England manager would have no choice but to take him off, but yet Linker motioned at Robson not to do anything as he decided to carry on. Reluctantly, Robson would hold back on making a change and just hoped that he wouldn't come to regret keeping him on.

"It's not a red card!" Maradona and his teammates confront the referee over the red card
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Both sides now looked weary and battered from all this play with Bilardo fearing the worse for his side, bad enough to lose a goal but to have a sending off to add onto what was looking to be a hopeless situation? He had to wonder if referees would forever be on the side of the English as what had happened in 1966? Despite his fears, the ten man team decided to rally round and put their frustrations to one side and attack the English yet again and to the horror of the English, Argentina began playing much better with them now playing a team game, rather than rely on Maradona as they might've done before an even though they were a man down, they could've had 18 players on the field given how much England was being pulled apart now all over the place. In the seventy-eighth minute and with time now starting to run out, England had now adopted an ultra defensive approach with all the chances going for Argentina and one would say on merit of play, they deserved a goal with their work ethic and in that minute, Trogli would pass the ball towards Maradona positioned in the box and with perhaps the weakest shot he'd ever done, he'd knock the ball into the bottom right of the goal in which Shilton just managed to knock it away however it was a poor effort in which the ball found it's way over towards Jorge Burruchaga running up behind Maradona in which all he had to do was tap it in past Shilton and surely the equaliser that Argentina wanted. However things turned into agony for Argentina in which the offside flag was up with it turning out that from replays Maradona was in a offside position.

The England fans roared in delight and while it clearly was offside, that wasn't how the Argentine players saw it for being so determined to get a goal back in anyway possible that they had failed to notice this and instead Maradona led several of the players to confront the sheepish Polish linesman thinking that the English were going to rob them once again with the sending off from not long ago already making them on edge. The sorry scene wouldn't last long as the referee had to pull them back to get on with the game. That all said though, the tension as the game was now entering the final ten minutes was starting to get to the players and this was now concerning for Bobby Robson, most especially as he looked over at Gascoigne who was clearly rattled by that disallowed goal and was now starting to lose his composure. In the eighty-second minute, frustration got the better of the poor English player as he made a lunging tackle on Basualdo right near the Argentine bench and sent him crashing to the ground. His teammates gathered round the referee wanting action to be taking place on Gascoigne and as the referee rushed up towards him, he feared that his World Cup would be over too.

As the referee came up to him and dug in his pocket for a card, Gascoigne felt his heart stopped thinking it would be a red, but to utter disgust of the Argentinians and the relief of the English, the referee only showed Gascoigne a yellow card for his actions; cue the now iconic tears of relief from Gascoigne with Linker calling over towards Robson on the bench saying to him to 'have a word with him.' Like how unpredictable the game was becoming, the momentum suddenly swung back into the favour of the English as Argentina now were the ones losing their composure thinking that the Englishman got off to lightly while as a consequence, England now pushed forward to find the late second goal to end this game.

Gazza's tears of relief that he is not sent off
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The previous dull and dour encounter that this game had started as was turning into a heart stopping finale with no one knowing who would find the winner and in the 84th minute and still carrying an injury, Linker decided to push on with one last effort as he finds Platt nearby inside of the box and he is about cross the ball over towards his teammate in the box but he is brought down by Roberto Sensini in a foul which leads to the Mexican referee to blow his whistle and point to the sport for a penalty. The Argentine players were furious claiming that Lineker had dived but this was dismissed with Maradona getting booked just a minute later. In the end and despite carrying an injury, Lineker delivered to send the keeper the wrong way and put England 2-0 in front and surely now on course to winning the World Cup. With it then only dawning on the fact that they were on the verge of losing, the Argentine players all lost the plot with the final minutes of the game became bad tempered with Argentina then being reduced to nine men after Dezotti would get a second yellow card that of course turned into a red card due to a coming together between him and Wright with just two minutes of the game left to go and he would end up strangling poor Wright who had been trying to waste time and run the clock down.

This would all lead into the final few second of the game turned into a brawl that had been building up after all this time in which was so crazy that no one quite remembering when the final whistle had blown but in the middle of the confusion, it had happened...England had won the World Cup again at long, long last. Some of the England players collapsed in tears, overcome with emotion at what they had just done. Butcher and Walker and Shilton ran to the centre circle to join the rest of the England team, wearing huge smiles of disbelief and triumph and of course up on the terraces, the England fans celebrated like crazy that they had defy the odds to come out as World Champions and no one was more delighted than Bobby Robson who in a touching moment would comfort a overemotional Gascoigne to tell him how proud he was of him as in a farther/son relationship. Robson's final game as England manager had ended on the biggest high he could have ever hoped for.

The Argentine players eventually calmed down to collect their losers medals but everyone will remember the tears Maradona soon showed as he and his teammates watched on with despair as Butcher lifted the cup that for so long had been in their grasp all this time and now they had lost their crown. To lose the World Cup to the English after all this time was a real bitter pill to swallow with just the sight of delighted Englishman running towards their fans with the cup seemly pouring more salt to the wounds, though Maradona knew that revenge would be on their minds should they face off again. Not that any Englishman cared for what he and the rest of his countrymen felt at that moment for instead that that night, utter delirium followed all over England.

Maradona's own tears following the end of the game​

All around England, street parties lasting well into the early hours of the morning and after all the trouble and pain that English football had suffered all this time, it was well deserved and as the sun rose the following moment, it was if English football had been reborn and renewed. The players would only find out for themselves first hand of what they had done when they arrived back at Luton Airport, thousands gathered to salute their heroes as they went on an open top bus parade. Wining the World Cup gave the English a place at the World Cup in 1994 and with English clubs now allowed back into Europe following the Heysel ban, the 1990's had arrived and it was up to anyone what happened next. That wasn't all though, the tabloid press who had wanted Robson out were now leading a campaign for him to stay on but Robson being dignified as ever would say that he was proud of what the players had done and was looking forward for his new job at PSV though his captain Terry Butcher would have a shot at the press calling them out on being utter hypocrites for saying they loved Robson when almost every rightminded English football fan knew otherwise.

Unsurprisingly, these comments were never mentioned in the press probably out of trying to cover their tracks. Speaking of Butcher, both he and Lineker (who had won the golden boot of that World Cup) would be awarded CBEs from the Queen with the rest of the team being awarded OBEs though it was Robson who received the highest honour of being awarded a knighthood for his services for football; an honour that after everything that had happened to him was greatly deserved. The question of who would fill the boots left by Robson would be a question that the FA would have to act sooner than later about but for now, it was time for England to enjoy the moment and look forward for a brighter and positive future that would bring an end to the dark days of the 1980's for English football.

The England team with the World Cup at Luton Airport following their arrival back home

Final results of the Knockout stage of the 1990 World Cup

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And thus, 1990 is over and just like in the old TL, England are champions! So yeah, I have made a few changes here and there to tidy it up but it is mostly the same and now we can look forward to Euro 1992 next. Before anyone asks anything, yes, I have decided that much like in the old TL, that tournament will see an early expansion to 16 teams here though there will be a few tweaks to look out for.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this update and will look forward to seeing you all soon in the next update, until then, cue that wonderful tune from Italia '90!

 

[QTXAdsy]

Chapter 54
Small Is Beautiful...Somewhat

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Back in 1984, of the eight places that were there for the participating nations, there were actually only four that did take part. It wasn't because of any withdraws or anything, but that the United Kingdom had taken up half of the spaces in the group with it's four Home Nation representatives taking part and many accused the UK for having an unfair advantage for this and giving that one of the nations, Northern Ireland, won that year's tournament had only led for the ugly debate of having one UK team would raise it head again which made the Home Nations shudder. Neither of them wanted to lose their independence but they knew that there had to be a way to make a compromise for UEFA based tournaments. It is unclear just what football organisation came up with the idea first but the four Home Nations would soon fire back with the idea of perhaps expanding the European Championship to sixteen teams in future. Rather than dismiss the idea, the British proposal did catch wind and Northern Ireland's victory at Euro '84 caught the imagination of the so called 'smaller' nations in Europe who thought if the Northern Irish could do then so could they.

Plans to expand it for Euro '88 were seriously discussed but it was decided that it was too early to get the infrastructure to be ready in time so in the game, the eight team format would carry on for one last tournament before it would go ahead with sixteen teams for Euro '92 and the timing couldn't be more perfect due to events outside of football. At the start of the decade, the Berlin Wall, which had divided the two Germanys for many decades, would finally collapse which not only saw the return of a new reunited Germany team and perhaps most of old, the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The 1990's, at least for the start of the decade, looked liked it was to be a decade of freedom but the map of Europe would change and with it, newer teams were starting to emerge which meant that nations like Ukraine and Belarus would have their own national sides to play following their independence from the USSR.

Frustratingly though, the Soviet Union would having qualified for it fair and square in the first place would still play at the tournament for one last time under the name CIS and those eastern European nations would have to wait a little longer to emerged onto the football world. With the expansion of the tournament, Sweden had to use eight, rather than four, stadiums and with it being the largest expansion of the tournament yet though it must be said that many of it's stadium barely passed UEFA's checks with some in the Swedish government even seriously considering having it jointly hosted along with Denmark due to cost however the idea of co-host would not become a thing until a few years later but that is another story. With it being the first expanded tournament, the irony of it's tagline of 'Small Is Beautiful' was not lost on anyone.

List of stadiums for Euro '92​

While there were more European Nations in this tournament than before with some making long awaited returns to the football stage, it did see all four Home Nations qualifying which was made things more ironic as their proposal was put forward to allow more teams to qualify, however in the end the ones who'd benefit it the most would be themselves. Nonetheless, many of their supporters were excited to be playing in Sweden which funnily enough had been the same country back in 1958 that had first seen all four Home Nations playing at it and even though they say lightning doesn't strike twice, it most certainly did here. Though England would go into this tournament as one of the four seeded teams, not to mention fancying their chances with them being World Cup winners and all, Wales that would have the honour of playing in the opening game of Euro '92 against Sweden in Solna. After a rather disappointing World Cup in Italy, the Welsh were itching to make amends.

Despite the stadium being able to hold up to forty thousand people, the stadium was only half full with many only there to watch the hosts and a mere three thousand of that crowd were Welsh who had all made the journey to Sweden to follow their team. Welsh manager Terry Yorath had to wonder why there was such small support here with being the host nation, though his own thoughts were either tickets were expensive, wrong time to play a game or that the locals didn't really care for football, then again after how Sweden flopped at the last World Cup, who could blame them? Eventually the game would begin and much to the dismay for the Welsh and joy for the Swedes, the game was going the way of Sweden as they began to play quite good and had nearly manage to score a goal in the 6th minute after Eric Young had accidently left himself open for an attack for Brolin to take the advantage and try to score from 15 yards from the goal but thankfully Neville Southall managed to knock it over the bar and keep the score goalless. Nonetheless it wasn't looking to be a good game for the Welsh.

Yorath could only watch with some sorrow for poor Ian Rush who was clearly being marked out by the Swedes to try and prevent him from scoring and the poor Liverpool player just can't seem to find his footing in this game, however on the other end of the spectrum a young eighteen year old Ryan Giggs is putting on a good show that is helping to give him a bit of attention and his work on the left midfield trying to cross balls towards either Rush or Saunders is very much admirable. However in the twenty-fourth minute, Sweden, after pushing the Welsh back, get themselves a corner kick and despite many red shirts in the box, the finds itself near the head of Jan Eriksson who headers home the ball and gives Sweden not only their opening goal, but the goal that begins the tournament. In someway or the other, one would argue that Sweden deserved going in front for making a good effort at trying to win the game, though some would feel Wales should get something from this game and the poor Welsh fans situated on one corner of the stadium look on with crushing disappointment and hope their great return to tournament football doesn't get any worse.

Sweden celebrate getting the opening goal in their game with Wales
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After that goal, Sweden look to be in control with them trying to find a second goal that could kill this game off fairly soon yet despite Swedish pressure, Wales hold back the lines and soak up the pressure with the odd break away from the likes of Rush, Saunders and Giggs but those sort of moments are few and far between. To the relief of the Welsh and disappointment for the Swedes despite everything they've thrown at Wales, the score still only remains 1-0 for the hosts and Yorath will have a lot of work to do if they are to get anything out of the second half and begins to wonder if that speech he made to the players was really that useful and if they lose this, it will make him seem rather foolish. Either, he'll have to drop the tried and tested 4-4-2 formation and bring out something different and as the teams enter the tunnel, he might just have an idea...

For the second half, Wales are playing in a different formation of 4-3-1-2 with Rush being pushed back into the role of shadow striker with Saunders and Mark Hughes (now coming on to replace David Philips for the start of the second half) playing together up the field while at the back, Andy Melville finds himself playing in an unfamiliar sweeper role that raises a few eyebrows. Nonetheless, the difference in the team is almost immediate as Wales start pressing forward and in the 48th minute, Saunders strikes at the Swedish keeper, Thomas Ravelli, from the left and the keeper knocks the ball to the right and can only see Hughes race towards the ball and fires the ball towards goal. However he puts too much power on the ball and sends the ball way over the bar and another chance goes amiss for Wales.

Then in the fifty-eight minute, Rush has to get by the likes of Thern and Ingesson and proves that age is not a problem for him as he gets around with neither of them stopping him and the Welsh bench cry out for him to keep moving forward and he passes towards Saunders who with a thumping strike of his right foot, sends the ball hitting the roof of the net and celebrates running all the way over to the Welsh bench to celebrate his team's equaliser goal and the Welsh fans in the ground can only celebrate to their hearts content, now could they get another goal? The game has become a classic case of turning on it's head with the Welsh now looking more confident in their turn to try and get a goal and the Swedish crowd can only watch with now a growing sense of worry and dread.

Rush before scoring Wales' goal
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Despite Wales' pressure, it isn't enough to beat a now dogged Swedish defence who hang onto the record a 1-1 draw which just about gives both sides confidence about their chances going forward. Wales in their second game would come good with that opening point by getting a victory over what would be a hapless Greek team with Ian Rush scoring the only goal of the game in which looked as though they would be going through mainly over the fact in the other group match, Sweden had suffered yet another 1-1 draw with the Czechoslovakians which pretty much opened the group for anyone to have a shot at qualifying for the Quarter-finals. Sadly for Wales though, it was all not to be as while Sweden was cruising to a victory over the now pointless Greeks, Wales would fall behind to Czechoslovakia by a Kuka goal which seemed to condemn the Welsh to early exit.

Ian Rush would (who else?) score a vital equaliser in the sixty-second minute of the game which would have them, the Czechs and Swedes all on four points however Wales' poorer goal difference meant that they would be going out unless they could find a late winner from somewhere...a winner that never came. The Czechs held their own to go through as runners-up to Sweden and in the end, Wales would go out of the tournament undefeated though it was a bitter pill to swallow as once again, they had suffered yet another group exit and for many Welsh football fans, one of many regrets of what might've been. For now though, Wales will have to concentrate on making it to the next World Cup and hopefully, they would be there...

Final results of Wales group at Euro '92

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​

While England and Scotland finished on top of their respected groups to and Wales finished in the runners up spot to qualify, Northern Ireland's way of getting to the European Championship was something of a strange set of circumstances. The Northern Irish had finished in third place behind Yugoslavia and Denmark, group winners and runners-up respectably, but due to the conflict in Yugoslavia, the group winners were disqualified and the Danes were given their spot which meant that Northern Ireland would go through as the new runners-up. However due to having the lower points count, they would have to endure a play off with the other low ranked runner up team which to the amazement of everyone would turn out to be an a play off with the Republic of Ireland.

Unlike other play off games that traditional were of a two legged affair, this game would be played in a neutral venue in the host country, Gothenburg, in a 'winner takes all' match (the same format would be repeated for Euro '96) with some speculating that the format was done to avoid political tensions in either venue they were to play at. On a chilly December night, the two sides came together in what would be described as one of the most brutal and most infamous games in Irish football history, famously dubbed as 'The Battle of Gothenburg', it was a game that saw both Rogan Anton and Roy Keane sent off after getting into a brawl with each other.

That also wasn't including the seven yellow cards the game that Nigel Worthington, Niall Quinn, Gary Fleming, Andy Townsend, Danny Wilson, Ray Houghton and Jimmy Quinn would all get. The bad tempered affair would eventually be settled by a Northern Ireland penalty that Jimmy Quinn would score in the seventy-sixth minute and send his side through to the European Championship, though with how terrible the game had been, there wasn't really cause for celebrating with some Irish politicians on both sides of the Irish fearing that the match might've damaged relations that had been worked for a few years now, but despite the potential consequences, the Northern Ireland fans were getting ready for their summer holidays to Sweden the following year and the team was getting ready to play in their first football tournament since the World Cup in 1986. The Republic though would get revenge on the Ulstermen shortly afterwards but that is another story...

Footage taken from the infamous 'Battle of Gothemburg' game​

Northern Ireland would be placed in a rather tricky group featuring the Italians, Denmark and Romania, the latter team the Northern Irish had faced first and lost 2-0 which meant that their next game with Denmark in Norrkoping was one they simply had to win to avoid going out. The Northern Irish support seemed to number a total of two thousand who'd made the journey out to Sweden and as large and loud as the Northern Irish support might've been, they were overwhelmingly out numbered by their Danish counterparts three to one and that also reflected the game on the field. Long standing Northern Irish manager Sir Billy Bingham found his team being pushed and pulled by this Danish side who much like Northern Ireland had lost 2-1 to Italy in their opening game and needed a victory to keep them in the tournament and seemed more up for it than the men in green and white.

It was then in the 14th minute in which Danish player Vilfort who manged to thread the ball through Michael O'Neil's legs and find it's way to Henrik Larsen who ran with the ball towards the ball in which both Nigel Worthington and Steve Morrow block his way but the Dane passed the ball over to his left in which Jensen was there and with a powerful volley, sent the ball flying towards goal into the top right of the net and sent the Danes into an early lead. The singing and chanting from the Northern Irish support stopped and one fan standing on his seat holding a hand of Ulster flag raising his hands up in the air that seem to visual say 'what the hell guys?' To Northern Ireland's credit the team did seem to respond well with them trying with a few chances and even came close to scoring thanks to Michael Hughes in the twenty second minute in which Peter Schmeichel only managed to knock it over the bar, but it was all that was needed to get the green cladded fans to celebrate again.

As the minutes went by, Northern Ireland were surely deserving a goal by now given how well they had kept the score down but also trying to cancel out Denmark's lead. However it didn't mean that the Northern Irish weren't going to win anything on fair play as in the twenty-eighth minute, Larsen was fouled by Anton Rogan near the touchline trying to get the ball of him and only succeeded in bringing down the Danish player and was booked for said challenge. Denmark's free kick by Brian Laudrup from forty yards looked set to be a classic that was going in but it was only a slight touch by Tommy Wright that was just enough to divert the ball over the cross bar. The game then became an open one with either side trying to find the other goal and no side was showing to be the dominate one here.

Quinn during the game with Denmark​

However it was then in the thirty-eighth minute when Michael Hughes found himself on the break rushing towards the Danish penalty area and it was only by the quick efforts by Kent Nielsen that stopped Hughes from getting anywhere from scoring, however it was poor challenge that was just inside the box and before anyone had a chance to react, the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot...penalty for Northern Ireland. This caused the supporters to rise from their seats and start cheering that they were awarded and it quickly became quiet as they all focused that Jimmy Quinn was sent up take the spot kick and it felt like and age until the referee would blow his whistle to allow Quinn to take it. He finally did blow and with one of the most powerful penalty kicks one would ever see, Quinn dispatched the goal into the top left corner of the net and it was now game on. Denmark would try to respond with a goal of their own but Northern Ireland seemed more than happy to waste time by holding the ball as they frustrated the Danes and the first half would end 1-1.

The second half was more or less the same with Northern Ireland trying to hold the ball rather than try and pass it round for a goal. Such play was never going to please anyone even if this was part of plan laid down by Bingham but Northern Ireland's negative tactics would come to haunt them as in the fiftieth minute, a bad pass by Alan MacDonald towards Danny Wilson was easily intercepted by Jensen who charged down on the Northern Irish right flank in which he crossed it up and over towards Elstrup in the box who in turn with a brilliant header, sent the ball past the hands of Wright that put the Danes back into the lead and sent the Danish fans wild with happiness. Surely now the men in green and white could respond now? Instead Denmark went up a few gears and began to total outwit and out play the hapless Irish defensive that wouldn't seem to handle a Danish onslaught on goal in which the Scandinavian side surely deserved a goal.

In the fifty-seventh minute, Bingham made a change for Steve Marrow to come off for Mal Donaghy in the hopes of trying to sort out their defence and in fairness the change did seem to do a bit to keep out the Danes when it might be possible for the men in green and white to not only get out of their half, but score. Finally after putting up a stout defensive job all day, Northern Ireland's luck would run out as in the 72nd minute, Elstrup made his appearance worth while as he would strike home a powerful volley, his second of the game that would eventually lead the Danes to hang on and defeat Northern Ireland 3-1 and not only kept the Danes in the tournament, but sending the Ulstermen down and out with their final game with Italy now nothing more than a glorified friendly that was to be played for pride for Northern Ireland.

Denmark celebrate their victory over Northern Ireland
​

For the Northern Ireland fans, to that this whole tournament for them had been something of a major contrast to what happened in France some years ago then that would be a true understatement. Northern Ireland would end their tournament on a whimper in a 4-0 defeat to Italy and would go home pointless in which the aftermath was that damning that Bingham had wonder if it was time to call quits on the job that he had been part of for many years now and that saying on longer would damage his reputation following his victory of 1984.

When ask what went wrong, Bingham as well as many members of the team years later would all put the blame on UEFA saying that due to the late circumstances of having Northern Ireland qualify following Yugoslavia's disqualification meant that there was hardly much time to get things in order and the poor performances at this tournament really showed that fact. Had things been more organised then maybe things would have turned our differently but for now, the upcoming World Cup was next and one that the Ulstermen would be heading off to soon another though the memory of Euro '92 would be one that many fans of Northern Ireland would rather forget...

Final results of Northern Ireland's group at Euro '92

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​

When Scotland qualified for the European Championship, some members of the Tartan Army with great foresight noted that the glory days of great Scottish players coming through the ranks as what had happened in the last two decades was coming to an end in which a new globalised football market was to challenge the old ways in which money was now football's new paymaster. That said while the team was starting to show signs of age, it was a fairly solid team regardless though any outlandish hopes of winning the tournament were to take a major dip when it turned out that Scotland were to be placed in that tournament's group of death with France, (a now united) Germany and the current European champions Holland.

Scotland were pretty much written off before a ball had been kicked as the whipping boys of the group but that wouldn't stop many of the Tartan Army traveling over to support their team but things weren't going to get any easier for them in which they had to play the Dutch in their opening match. Amazingly despite the odds of a humiliation being much on the cards, Scotland actually managed to hold their own throughout the game and might be on course to actually snatch a point but alas, a goal from Bergkamp late on in the game would end in a narrow victory for the Dutch. Nonetheless despite the loss, Scotland had come out of that game with respect but new that if they had any hope for reaching the knockout stage, they simply had to get something from their second game with the French, the latter also suffering a loss at the hands of the Germans.

In the end, Scotland would deliver in which despite French pressure constantly being pressed onto the Scots, they in actually fact were the team more under pressure than the Scots in which many expected them to win, however a McClair goal from out of nowhere would ultimately be all that was needed to knock the stuffing out the French that saw the Scots pull off an unlikely victory which not only would pretty much send the French crashing out but had given Scotland unlikely hope in making it into the next round if they could simply beat the Germans in which after the latter had suffered a heavy 3-1 defeat to the Dutch in their second group match did gave the Scots in making it into the next round.

Scotland vs Holland in their opening match
​

From the start of their final group game with the Germans, Scotland came flying out from the traps and began trying to put pressure on the Germans and from a corner kick in the eighth minute for Scotland, Durie nearly had the Scotland fans leaping out from their seats as he headed the ball into the bottom left of the goal but it was only thanks to a ridiculous save by Bodo Illgner to deny Scotland taking the lead and it isn't the last he has to make. Just seven minutes later, McCoist breaks away from Sammer and Kohler and takes a chance to volley from forty yards out from the box and it looks like it's heading into the top right of the goal but that German keeper only just knocks the ball out for a corner. The subsequent corner kick is a poor one in which no one gets and aimlessly rolls out of play for a German goal kick. They might've not scored yet but the performance has certainly gotten the masses in living rooms and pubs everywhere in Scotland cheering on the team to find that opening goal.

However a bad cross from McPherson to McCall in the twenty-sixth minute is caught by Effenberg and he makes a run down the left Scottish flank and McCall has to make a mad dash to try and stop the advancing German, but he can't stop him as he crosses the ball towards Klinsmann, who is subsequently booed by the masses of Scottish fans in the stadium, and he makes a shot on the volley on the edge of the penalty box but Scottish keeper Andy Goram manages to dive to the left to grab the ball and is cheered wildly by the Scottish supporters, though in fact the ball did hit him in the stomach and the poor keeper falls on his back with the wind clearly knocked out of him. There is a murmur of worriedness from the Scottish supporters as the medical team from the Scottish bench rush over to Goram to see if he is ok.

Thankfully after a brief spell, he gets back up on his feet and the game carries on, though he does look pretty weary about it happening again to him. In the twenty-ninth minute however, Riedle opens the scoring for Germany in which Goram can't do anything to deny the German centre forward, but it does to lead for a few Scottish fans to worry that all the hard work they put into the game during the early part of the match seems to count all for nothing as the Germans now seem to be the one to try and extend their lead. However the first half would end with the Germans leading and Scotland's hope of going through in serious doubt.

German joy following their opening goal
​

When it comes to the second half however, the game is pretty much over before it even starts in which in the forty-seventh minute and with perhaps fans still making their way to their seats, Germany ends up extending their lead thanks to a freakish goal from Effenberg and from then on, Scotland would have a mountain to climb despite the stats showing that they had thirteen corners compared to Germany's two, more of the ball and better chances and yet despite all of that, the Germans are 2-0 in front and the feeling of the unfairness of the situation would be keenly felt by anyone who is Scottish and wonders just why it has to happen to them.

In the end however, Scotland's pursuit to find even a consolation goal all come to nothing as Germany hold on to win the game to book their place in the next round while Scotland would have to end up going home once again in the early stages of the European Championship and one of many regrets. Nonetheless though, despite many thinking Scotland would be the whipping boys, they had ended up coming out of that group rather respectably and now their focus will be on trying to qualify for the World Cup. With three Home Nations out already, surely England had to do better...?

Final results of Scotland's group at Euro '92

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​

As the old saying goes' England Expects' in which their fans would demand the team to do well yet it seemed even more so following their World Cup victory two years ago which in the eyes of many redeemed the national side and now many wanted to see England win a double by winning Euro '92. After Sir Bobby Robson would step down from the job on high note, Graham Taylor would be the man to take the hot seat; his appointment being greeted to a rather lukewarm reception by the English press. Nonetheless he would oversee England to qualify for this tournament and they probably couldn't have hoped for a better group when they ended up with Switzerland, Portugal and the CIS in which England looked to be a sure fire bet to not only go through but win the group. That said though, this was an England team in transition as several long time players had now retired and no one quite knew how this England team would cop.

Despite this, things would be rather shaky in which despite taking an early lead from Platt, the Swiss would strike back with an equaliser and looked liked they were going to hold the World Champions to a draw if not for Platt coming to England's rescue once again in the seventy-seventh minute to hold onto the victory. Meanwhile in the other game in the group, Portugal would defeat CIS in their opening game which meant whoever won in the next game between England and Portugal would be pretty much set to go through to the next round. The game itself would end up being a tense affair in which neither side and Graham Taylor knew that a loss here wasn't what they were looking for; the English media wanted nothing more than a victory for England as sadly, the after efforts of their World Cup victory were still felt and this rather arrogant view that England were at the centre of the universe was a bit much.

Poor Taylor didn't know what to think, he had to wonder if winning silverware for your country was really worth it. Former England boss Sir Bobby Robson ended his reign on a high with winning the cup in Italy, yet anyone will remember a time that the poor man was the source of much ridicule and abuse in the press wanting him gone, now he was being treated as the Messiah just for winning the damn thing. As Taylor and the rest of the England bench groaned as in thirty-second minute as David Batty miss-fired his header that went wide of the Portuguese post from a corner, the England manager had some doubts in the back of his mind about the pressure of being defending champions when the time came to play in the next World Cup. Granted they were blessed of not having to go through a qualification campaign due to being defending champions, but the fear factor was there and he knew that they needed to show how good they were against the so called bigger teams and Portugal were one of them with the hope that Taylor could see if his team were the real deal.

The England team at Euro '92​

That all said while the fans on both sides were making a good voice round the stadium, the game was, to be blunt, a damp squid. It had been a rather cagy start with the defenders on both sides doing rather boring side passes to each other with it looking like it was going to be one of those boring games, even over at the England goal, keeper Chris Woods had had very little to do other make the odd save and had spent most of the game leaning against the goalpost and checked his watch occasional. Champions they might've been but it not been what many had hoped for and in pubs and living rooms across England, many had to wonder when the goals would actually start coming in. However this sort of play was what Portugal were wanting and in the thirty-sixth minute, a bad pass by David Platt to Gary Lineker was caught by Filipe who ran down the centre flank of the English defence who threaded the ball up towards Cadeta who fired the shot on goal in which the Portuguese fans get off their feet thinking it's going in but it only flies over the bar and relief washing over the faces of any Englishman there.

That shot however would be the only shot that came close to scoring for the rest of the first half as half time would happen with the score still at a deadlock; it was looking like a set piece would settle this tie. After the start of the second half, many had hoped the goals would start coming in but instead the game would still be a cagey and dull 0-0 affair with the crowd getting more restless and began jeering and whistling wanting something to happen. Nothing for a period seemed to happen until the seventy-eighth minute in which Smith was brought down in the box and the referee without battering an eyelash pointed to the spot for a penalty...now was the chance to put this dire game to bed. Up stepped Lineker to take the penalty and with a powerful into the bottom right of the net, sent England in front and their fans celebrated, not out of supporting their team but more of case that finally something happened in this boring game.

With now just ten minutes to go, England decide to hold the ball and not try and let their opponents get the ball. There is really nothing else to say in the game ends on a dull note. Taylor goes over to congratulate his players, though he knows that they'll have to be better than that for their next game. However as he looked up to the supporters, he could see that some of them weren't impressed with the game and he would have to do a lot to make it up for them. For now however, they could relax in the moment. That one goal would be enough for England to win the game and thus, put them through with a game to spare though it was fair to say that not many would be looking back on this game in hurry given how poor it was.

Graham Taylor watches the game as it comes to it's end
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As horrid as it might have been for Portugal, it wouldn't be that bad as they go through as runners-up in which in their final group game saw them defeat the Swiss to end their hopes while England would put more shine on their performances by thrashing the CIS 3-0 in which by this point had nothing else left to play for which might've made the performance from England maybe not to be as good as some would like to have thought of. Whatever what might have thought though, Graham Taylor could at least take some joy in the fact that he taken his country in the last eight in which their hopes to try and win this tournament had taken a closer step to reality.

In addition to this, England were indeed the last Home Nation standing and much eyes would be on them to go all the way, question was though could they actually go out and do it...?

Final results of England's group at Euro '92

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And so here are, Euro '92 with 16 teams as with the old TL! Sorry for the delay of putting this up on Wednesday as I have been putting them up for for I had issues to deal with IRL but fear not, here it is now! Speaking of football as some of you will know, I've just seen my Raith Rovers actually go out and win a trophy (though had the unfortune situation of losing afterwards to those nasty Pars).

Anyway as always, here is the last eight as it stands:
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Italy vs Czechoslovakia

Netherlands vs England

Germany vs Portugal

Sweden with Denmark
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So then, who will win and how? Next update will be of the Three Lions taking battle with the Dutch so keep an eye for when that update will be up. Until then, catch you all later!

 

[Unknown]

My picks: Italy, England, Germany, and Sweden...

 

[MatthewFirth]

Italy vs Czechoslovakia

Netherlands vs England

Germany vs Portugal

Sweden vs Denmark

 

[jmmcb94]

Another good update, apart from you getting Anton Rogan's name back to front again!

Anyway, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark to progress.

 

[NTF aka Seb]

The quality and detail that goes into your posts never cease to amaze me.

Italy 1-0 Czechoslovakia
Netherlands (p) 1-1 England
Germany 3-2 Portugal
Sweden 1-0 Denmark

 

[QTXAdsy]

Chapter 55
We're In Trouble Now​

With the other British teams having gone out in the Group stages all on rather a whimper, England were now the sole British team left in the tournament and lying in wait for their Quarter final match would be the current European champions and heavy favourites for the tournament; the Netherlands. It was perhaps a match up that the English weren't hoping for as already it was not the first time they faced them as they had already locked horns with each other from a Dutch victory at Euro '88 to that draw at the last World Cup so it was fair to say by this point that neither were strangers to each other. That being said, the game itself had quite a bit of interest in it as it would be the World Champions up against the European champions with some saying whoever won this would win the tournament while others were calling this match the real final.

For England manager Graham Taylor, the tournament so far had been a fairly uneventful one and lacked any of the drama that had surrounded Italia '90 for the England team and while many would have assumed that Taylor would have been relieved of not having to go through much of that unlike his predecessor had suffered, things weren't all quite that rosy of the England manager. Prior before Sir Bobby Robson would leave the England job, Taylor had been seen as the clear favourite to replace in much of the English press who were at that time calling for Robson's head; then after a few weeks in Italy in which England came home as World Champions, the press changed their tune who now suddenly wanted him back and even though Taylor had been in the job for two years now, the shadow of Robson did seem to hover over him.

It wasn't helped that while England did go on to win the group fairly easily, some felt that it was a rather weak group that didn't really test England and the England manager would be lying if he wasn't a tad jealous of the respect and admiration Robson now seem to have with many an England fan now often throughout this tournament lamenting on the 'good old days' when Robson was in charge. Would they had still been singing his praises if the England team had come back from Italy empty handed? Nonetheless Taylor knew that if he was going to actually equal to the great Sir Bobby Robson, he'd have to win Euro '92 and no other team that was going to test them harder than anyone they'd face so far would be the current European champions themselves. Beat them and surely England had a chance to go all the way.

Taylor in the pre-match press conference just prior to the game with Holland

Though Taylor might have been quietly hopefully that the team could do something, it was something of a shock when the team were warming up on the field that there were very few England fans, relatively speaking at least in terms of English fans abroad that is. In and around the Vasteras Stadion, there was a feeling of uncertainty given the amount of empty seats up on the terraces for the England supporters and the atmosphere was clearly in favour of the Dutch as their famous orange clad supporters were the ones making the majority of the noise prior before kick off almost if they seemed almost certain that they were going to win this game.

Despite there being many comments in the press for Taylor to change his system to a more continental 3-5-2 formation, though instead he had opted for a 5-3-2-1 system in which he would place Gary Lineker upfront with the hopes that he'd deliver the goods for England even though the striker was now past his prime by this point. It was a unusual formation for an England team, but even Taylor knew that the old fashion and ridged 4-4-2 system that had been with the national side for what felt like a generation was slowly heading towards the history books of football formations at international level. It didn't matter if those in heavily of traditional views and keeping to the old ways liked it or not, England would have to move forward with the times.

When the teams lined up for the anthems, there was suddenly a wave of expectation as it had suddenly dawned on some of the half hearted England fans who had travelled with more hope than expectation that this game was going to be something special. The game began in quite thrilling fashion when the Dutch came flying out of the traps with Bryan Roy and Van Basten running right up towards the penalty box. Basten threaded the ball towards Roy who blasted the shot towards the goal and England keeper, Chris Woods, had to dive to his right to save the ball. In a matter of thirty seconds, the Dutch could've been a goal ahead already and the England fans and press folk that were there were fearing that it was going to be a long game.

Early moments during the Quarter-final
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However in another twist just two minutes later from that moment, Koeman tried to header the ball forward after he managed to leap up in the air past a clearly looking ropey English backline, however he woefully sent the ball in wrong way in which a stunned Lineker just so happened to be standing behind him and without wasting a chance, he ran with the ball towards the goal blazing down on a counter attack and the England fans roared with excitement as Lineker opened fire on towards the goal for what looked like a goal that was going to come out of nowhere. But his finish was dreadful as the ball went left of the post that not only let the Dutch off the hook, but also proved to be an embarrassing one to remember for the England captain.

For what had been billed as a champion vs champion titanic encounter in the press, the game had been filled with some pretty bad misses that might have been more common at lower league rather than that at a international tournament. Neither side looked actual at their best though it wasn't until the tenth minute in which both sides seemed to sharpen up and the game itself turned out to be quite surprisingly an open one with both actually trying their luck on goal, the new alien format that Taylor had for England was actually working and the game was bringing back some memories of that encounter between the two sides in Italia '90 in what had been one of the best games of that tournament despite ending 0-0 then.

In the fourteenth minute, England were awarded their first corner of the game and Platt managed to get his head on the ball but only succeeded in sending the ball over the bar and although it was yet another poor miss, it was showing just how mad this game was turning out to be in which in contrast to the Dutch starting off as by far the better team, England were now looking like a team that meant business. The Dutch themselves would of course have a corner kick themselves in the twentieth minute which was cleared away and then just seven minutes later after that they were awarded a free kick following a foul from Des Walker in which Koeman would take, like the other attempts before however, it went right over the bar. By this point it was clearly heard in around the ground that both sets of supporters were growing weary at the many missed chances to score first.

Koeman's free kick during the Quarter final with England
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After that free kick however, the game descending into a walking pace in which both sides seemed unsure just what to do as the first half was nearing its end and many feared the worse that the game was going to be a damp squid with some mind numbing extra-time to follow too. However in the thirty-ninth minute after a very uneventful time in the game with nothing to note, England managed to pick up the pace again as Lineker knocked the ball towards who Platt who slotted the ball into the bottom right hand corner and he celebrated of breaking the deadlock, however his celebration was cut short when he glanced over that the linesman had his flag up and England's goal wasn't allowed.

Taylor sank back on the bench and groaned, "Come on, that's a bloody goal!"

While in truth Platt and Lineker were offside, what happened in the final moments of the first half were to become rather dubious. England were awarded a free kick and knowing time was nearly up, Palmer fired it towards the box and Platt managed to replicate his wonder goal against Belgium two years ago as he sent the ball hitting the roof of the net. It looked to be a dramatic finish to the first half, but to the utter shock and confusion to the English and even among the Dutch supporters too, the referee ruled off the goal. Before anyone else knew what had happened, the referee would blow for half time and the Austrian referee, Hubert Forstinger, would found himself surrounded by a mass of furious English players demanding to know what had happened, the Dutch on the other hand knew they had been let off the hook and they simply kept their head down and headed off down the tunnel.

In perhaps one of the famous images of that tournament from an English perspective was that of a furious Graham Taylor leaping off the bench and chasing the referee to demand just what had happened there and why the goal was chalked off. It was one thing to have a goal ruled off, but to have another no sooner after just a few minutes later after the last one seemed to reek of suspicion that would make the most paranoid Englishman to suspect a conspiracy taking place that was out to conspire England's dreams. Nonetheless, the furious England manager now had to rally the team for the second half and get the goal they should've gotten by now, to this day nobody knows why Platt's goal was chalked off and is one of the great mysteries of English football...

More action during the first half between England and Holland

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Following a big speech from Graham Taylor and thus being filled with renewed passion, England came right out of the traps at the start of the second half with a point to prove as they tried to look for that goal they felt they deserved. While it must be said that they were certainly playing better, the Dutch had decided to play deep and deny the English from trying to score. It would seem from some eagle eye viewers that the Dutch plan was a game of 4D chess in which was to let the English send wave after wave on them and try and tire them out. Perhaps the most stand out player for the Netherlands was none other than their keeper Breukelen who in the first ten minutes of the second half alone had made seven saves, surely a worthy player to the goalkeeper of the tournament?

For all of the great nostalgia of the 'total football' that the Dutch had been famous for dating back to the 1970's, they had been playing nothing but anti-football was nothing like most would've expected and even some Dutch fans could watch wondering how on earth were they going to win given the English domination; that brash confidence some had shown before kick-off had suddenly vanished. The frustration of not scoring was starting to get to some of the England players and most notably Carlton Palmer who was looking more agitated every time England had a shot on target saved and then in the fifty-third minute, he made a crunching tackle on Gullit and was a bad tackle that made most English viewers wince fearing what was to come.

The Austrian referee made a bee line to Palmer and showed him a yellow card, unlike the tears of relief that Gazza had in the World cup final, here were tears of frustration from Palmer. Sadly for him it seemed that even the yellow card wasn't enough to behave himself as the longer the game dragged on, Palmer began to act more up in the face of the Dutch players which only made Taylor realise that poor Palmer was slowly beginning to lose his nerve and he would have to bring him off soon as possible to avoid him getting a sending off which could cause chaos for England. So in the fifty-ninth minute, off he went with Neil Webb going on to take his place, but that was all the least of Taylor's worries.

Palmer during the game
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To the dismay of the English supporters, England were now starting to tire as their attacking line began to lose heart from by this point failing to get the ball into the back of the net with the controversy of their goal being chalked off in the first half still lingering on their minds and the cunning Dutch seemed to sense this and went all out to push the English back and they really began to lay into the English defence, the lack of anything for the backline to do much in the entire game was now being seriously tested and the fears from some in the English press that England hadn't really been tested so far by a real team and would struggle against that team now looked as though that those worse fears were about to come true.

Van Basten nearly fired the Dutch into the lead in the sixty-seventh minute of the game but had sent the ball soaring in the terraces behind Woods' goal. Over on the England bench as this was all happening a sudden thought came to Taylor's mind about how this game might pan out; extra-time seemed to be looming or worse...penalties. He began rubbing his forehead with a concerned expression on him, one terrible secret he had that thankfully the tabloid press knew nothing about was that they had not once practiced penalties during training. He knew that they'd have a field day on this and his only hope was that the three Lions would get the winner and spare Taylor his blushes, but even if they were to win this, he promised himself that they would have to do penalties in practice, no questions needed.

Then in the seventy-fourth minute, the Netherlands had managed to win a corner and everyone gathered in the box awaiting to try and get the ball. The ball is swung in and it is Koeman, the man who has been causing the most problems for England all day so far who turns out to be the one who leaps up the highest and with a powerful downward header, he sends the ball firing down into the back of the net and Woods can do nothing to keep out that not only finally breaks the deadlock but gives the Dutch the lead in this game. The irony of the number '74' means a lot to Dutch fans referring to the 1974 World Cup and it is certainly not lost on the English as they now have only sixteen minutes to save their tournament.

Koeman celebrates putting the Dutch in front during the closing minutes of the Quarter-final​

On the bench, it is panic stations for Taylor as he leaps up trying to yell orders at the players, "Christ above, we're in trouble now," he muttered to himself that could be just caught on audio recording nearby during a recording that was filming during England's time at Euro '92 (something that would become a phrase that would follow the England manager around after that) after he yelled one order out to Lineker for him to try anything he could to get out of this situation; they really needed to get back into this game though as mentioned before, Lineker was nowhere near the man he was before and even by the look of grim realisation on his face seemed to indicate that he knew this game was all but over for the Three Lions. Like before, England try their hardest to find a late equaliser so that they could maybe drag this game into extra-time but the Dutch have clearly decided to shut up shop as now all their players are pretty much gathered in the Dutch box making it difficult for England to try and get through, however in the eighty-third minute, Lineker came close to scoring that certain goal which managed to evade all the Dutch players and even the keeper, but the ball just went wide of the post and Lineker shows a look of disgust about that miss; it should've gone in.

Sadly for him and his teammates, England try their hardest but in the end it all comes down to nothing. The final whistle is eventually blown and the Dutch players celebrate their victory that moves them on into the Semis of Euro '92. It is a hard one for the World Champions to swallow but some would argue that they had many chances to put the game to bed and they blew it. Taylor himself looked back and the fans in the stands and saw the angry English supporters chanting that they wanted their money back. That all said the experience was one that Taylor would hope they could learn from in preparation for their American adventure for the next World Cup which thankfully they had already qualified as champions which didn't lead Taylor much to do. Football in American, who would've guess? For now however, their bid to jointly hold the World and European Cups had gone and so too had Britain's last team at Euro '92.

For the Dutch they would then meet Italy in a mouth watering clash which ended 2-2 and went to penalties in which the Dutch would come out on top though it came at the consequence of the suffering from exhaustion and some injuries. Nonetheless that didn't matter as they would move into back to back European championship finals and the hope they would be able defend the trophy and they couldn't have hoped for anything better in which standing in their way would be ranked outsider Denmark in which pretty much everyone hadn't much of a chance to get this far. So when the Dutch would walk out onto the field for the final, it was looking to be that despite the team not being fully fit that they would be able to defend the cup, at least, that was the plan...

Final results of the knockout stage of Euro '92

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And so here we are, we reach the end of TTL's Euro 92! This is pretty much the same outcome as the old TL in which the Dutch beat England though here that have been several improvements made with a lot of tweaks made from several typos and such with more fleshing out. So then, next update is us off to the United States for the World Cup and yes, not only would England be there with the benefit of being World Champions though we shall also have Scotland and Wales there.

There will be a few changes so keep an eye out on that but until then, catch you all later for the next update!

 

[QTXAdsy]

Chapter 56
Calling America

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Not for the first time had the World Cup been held in North America, Mexico, but it would be held in the United States of the first time for the 1994 World Cup. Football in America, who would've believed? The choice to stage the world's biggest football tournament Stateside would seem like an odd one on FIFA's part but nonetheless there was a good atmosphere going into this World Cup, not including that the fact that three of the UK's Home Nations had managed to book their place in the USA, though England were already granted a place thanks to them being the current reigning champions. They themselves were given a rather good group that featured Spain, South Korea and Bolivia, the latter team being the one England had to face in the opening match of this World Cup and there was a good feeling for hope that England might have a good chance in this tournament once they get out of the group. The other two Home Nations teams there were Wales and Scotland with the Welsh and there was a great deal of excitement on both sides when it was found out they'd been drawn in the same group with Columbia and the hosts, United States. There would be an Irish team there, but this time it would the Republic of Ireland that would be the Irish representative after they managed to pip Northern Ireland (who were in their same group) to make it to the States and finally brought the curtain down on Sir Billy Bingham's long time reign as Northern Ireland manager; some would say it was revenge over the now infamous 'Battle of Gothenburg'.

Before the teams would make their way out to America, there was always the ubiquitous World Cup song that would be released for the Summer and the three British teams would have a song each and the song World In Motion from the last World Cup which had raised the bar for World Cup songs, the pressure was on to try and top that. The England players would team up with an up and coming Oasis band to play backing vocals on the song Champions (For All Time) which had a Britpop flavour to it and did have it's fans, the Scots would team up on backing vocals with fellow Scottish music act The Proclaimers to make the song We Are Scotland which many noted did have a rather similar sound to that of Sunshine On Leith but would nonetheless become a popular chant for the Scotland fans in the years to follow. Finally the Welsh team's World Cup anthem would be called Dragons Over America by Welsh band Stereophonics (with the team on backing vocals of course) that would a fan favourite over the Summer and it must be noted that all the World Cup anthems from each time were on their own generally good and there was good debate over which one would be No.1 in the UK charts that Summer.

Sadly a rank outsider choice was to win the No.1 spot. Fresh from a Christmas No.1 the previous year, TV absurdity Mr. Blobby would storm the charts with his World Cup song, A Blobby Good World Cup in which would be voted by many as one of the Worst World Cup Songs ever that made even 'classics' such as Ally's Tartan Army seem decent in comparison and in which Scottish goalkeeper Andy Goram would remark saying 'How I wish we could've battered that fucking pink thing into the ground for ruining our song!' Some would predict that the upstaging in the charts was a bad omen for the teams chancing out in the States and for England at least, it might've been the case for just 9 weeks prior before their opening game, Paul Gascoigne during training at Lazio badly injured his right tibia and fibula which despite the effort of many, he would be unable to compete in the States and in an instant, England's creative thrust was ripped out from the squad as was perhaps much hope of retaining the World Cup. Things wouldn't get better when the sight of their rather cheap looking mascot blandly called 'Mr Goal' drew much mockery in the English press for being so unimaginative.

England's mascot for the World Cup; Mr Goal. A source of much mockery for such blandness

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Despite England manager Graham Taylor fearing about his side's chances of defending the World Cup, some had hope that a winning start over Bolivia in the opening match of the World Cup would be good enough for England's chances. The opening ceremony, at Chicago's Solider Field was certainly quite the spectacular with all the razzmatazz that showed the world just how big this World Cup was going to be, though it would be memorable for the wrong reasons in which Oprah Winfrey would fall off the dais while introducing Diana Ross, who in turn was suppose to put away a spot kick and send the goalposts splitting in two as a part of a pre-orchestrated stunt, but would woefully miss his kick right in front of a embarrassed worldwide audience. Not the best of starts for the hosts. But once it was all over, England and Bolivia made their way out onto the field for the anthems, followed by the handshake of both captains and managers. England would kick off the 1994 World Cup in the blazing hot sunshine of Chicago. In the run up to the game, many had England down as clear favourites to win this and for good reason, Bolivia were the lowest ranked team in this World Cup and on paper looked to be there for the taking for Taylor's men. But it seemed everyone had underestimated them as in the eighth minute (after England conceded a free kick thanks to Platt who was quickly booked), it was the South American minnows who nearly scored first with William Ramallo sending the ball curling over the English defence and it was only thanks to the hands of David Seaman knocking it over the bar and out for a corner kick, in turn the first of the game and one that would thankfully be saved by Seaman again who leapt up to grab it.

In terms of opening World Cup games, it was a pretty poor affair in which not only was the loss of Gascoigne evident in many moments during the game that otherwise would have been greatly helped by his presence, but also was the heat and humidity in which the England players, despite having spent just over two weeks in the States to acclimatise to the surroundings looked out of their depth and the first half ended 0-0 and it was fair to say that neither England or Bolivia had impressed anyone. For the second half, England manager Graham Taylor would take off Palmer off for Batty to replace him at the start of the second half though the following half would be more or less the same as what the rest of the game had been, dull, rough and unimpressive. England were beginning to dominate but Bolivia looked comfortable trying to defend their box and in just the first ten minutes of the second half alone, England had made four shots on target but yet still couldn't break the deadlock and frustration was starting to build up among the English players. In the fifty-sixth minute, a frustrated Walker made a bad challenge on Christaldo when the Bolivian player had been on the run and his actions would see him get a yellow card and his name in the book, a book that in question was starting to fill up with names of players committing challenges. Platt came close in the sixty-first minute to getting goal from a header via an England corner, but instead was saved by the Bolivian keeper Trucco and that keeper couldn't help but grin knowing that he had been having a brilliant game so far and perhaps getting a point off the World Champions might be possible.

The list of booked players added up further with Bolivia's captain, Borja, finding himself in the book after making a tackle on Shearer which all didn't help to ill feeling many were having for this game. In the England dugout, Taylor drank some water to keep cool and thought about how bad this game was turning out to be and he wouldn't been surprised if viewers watching on TV had long since tuned off seeing how boring the game had become, he wouldn't blame them in all fairness. Then in the seventy-fourth minute, Dixon managed to race up on the Bolivian left flank in which he crossed over to Platt some thirty yards away from the penalty area, the England captain managed to get on the ball and seeing around him a mass of green shirts trying to swarm him, he decided to risk it by firing him a volley towards goal and hope for the best...within a few seconds, the ball is bulging in the back of the net, the England fans in Chicago roar in delight and the England players dogpile Platt for at long last, the deadlock has been broken and England have taken the lead with just sixteen minutes left to play.

Platt scoring the opening goal for England at the 1994 World Cup
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The goal was a blow for Bolivia who's plan of holding on for a point had fallen apart and now the only way they could rescue a point is if they were to come out of their comfort zone and try and get a late equaliser. They did start putting men forward with Bolivia bringing on Marco Etcheverry in the seventy-ninth minute as a sub to try and have fresh legs going into the closing minutes of the game. For Etcheverry sadly, his first appearance at this World Cup was to become short lived as in the eighty-third minute just after the South American side made a dreadful miss sending the ball over the bar, Etcheverry lost the plot and in a moment of madness went over and kicked an unsuspecting Barnes on his side and a roar of disapproval came from the crowd in which the referee duly applied...and the Bolivian player was given a red card.

In hindsight, a red card was coming, but no one expected it would be from a player who had only been on for a few minutes and it was just an example of how sorry this opening World Cup match had been with Bolivia going down to ten men. The Bolivians by then knew this game was over for them but rather than try and go on damage control to prevent further mishaps, they only seemed to get more agitated as in the eighty-eighth minute, Bolivian defender Quinteros would join many of his teammates in the referee's book of bookings after his challenge on Shearer as he tried to cross a ball over towards the penalty area. With many cards being flashed by the Mexican referee, it was quite astonishing that only one player had been sent off given of just what kind of game it had been.

To the relief of the England players and general audiences, the game would come to a close with England being happy they had started their World Cup defence with a win, a scrappy one it must be said, but a victory nonetheless. While most audiences were more happy that this mind numbing and sorry game was finally over with many hoping the many games to come in this World Cup would be any better and the English press were not all that complimenting of the manner of how they won the game and knew that they would have to do better in their next game with Spain. For now however, Taylor and his boys could briefly relax by the poolside of their hotel and get ready for their next game with Spain, one game that would be a difficult game by all means and one that with hindsight they would not want to look back on.

Etcheverry's reaction for his sending off
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England's second group game with Spain was always looked on as a one as whoever won this game would be certainly going through it was widely predicted that both would go through regardless. However while England may had laboured their way to a rather scrappy win, that was far better than that of Spain for in their opening match with South Korea, they ended up drawing 2-2 and it could be said that the pressure was far more on Spain than it was for England for if they lost to the Three Lions then there was the real prospect that Spain might be making a shock early exit. Of course all of this did no good to some of the English tabloid press in which Taylor would find out in one such newspaper boasting with it's headline prior before the tie as 'We won't lose Gibraltar over this!' in which he and many others were horrified at such a headline and thus was thankfully called out for its jingoistic nature. Not the best thing to go into a World Cup game and that was most certainly the case. From the start, Spain were on the front foot and could have gone ahead as early of the seventh minute of the game thanks to Salinas' effort which only just went off the crossbar. Clearly England were still not doing well in the heat and the Spanish players looked far more comfortable in the hot surroundings.

The Three Lions tried all they could to keep Spain out but alas it was not to be as in the fourteenth minute, Rob Jones in the England half tried to lob the ball far up the field towards one of his teammates, but his shot was poorly shot and to his dismay, the ball was intercepted by Goikoetxea and quickly running through an open gap in the English defence, the Spanish Right Midfielder make easy work through the left side and from twenty yards out from the box, he slammed the ball home into the bottom right corner of the net and David Seaman couldn't get a hand on it. Spain were ahead and giving the way the play had gone, they did deserved their lead. After that despite some improved play from England and with Spain failing to find the back of the net to further increase their lead in which could have seen them leading the game 3-0 by after just thirty minutes, England would have a number of problems in which just a few minutes into the second half with the score still at 1-0 to Spain, Rob Lee went in for a sliding tackle on Luis Enrique while trying to get the ball off the Spaniard. Instead, he found himself pulling a hamstring during the challenge and lay there in under the hot sun wailing in agony and would have to come off with Paul Ince making an unexpected earlier than planned appearance in the game.

Though England had only managed to get one booking with Paul Parker getting one in the forty-third minute while Spain had gotten three bookings for Salinas, Abelardo and Hierro all in the first half alone and during the fifty-third minute, Salinas got into collision with Stuart Pierce and the two men got into a spat with each other with the Englishman getting a booking and many assumed that Salinas would follow with his second booking and ultimately see him be sent off. But to the dismay of the England fans, the referee merely gave Salinas a last warning and ordered the game to carry on with a free kick for Spain. To say Pierce was incensed would be an understatement as before the free kick was taken, the English defender went up into the face of the Uruguayan referee ranting that he the Spanish player should've been sent off. No doubt many Englishman watching would start putting tinfoil hats on thinking of bias from the referee wanting a fellow Spanish speaking team to do well, and it some cases, they might've had a point. Apart from that though, the ten man Spain team held on to a 1-0 victory to bring their World Cup hopes back to life and now cause doubt on England's hopes. One newspaper outlet would famously call out the result with a headline of, 'We Don't Like That!'

The Spanish team that would go on to beat England in Chicago
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After that result, England knew that a victory in their final group match with South Korea in Dallas would certainly put them through though a draw might still be alright if results went their way thanks to the third-place ranking system. Either way though, many did expect England to turn up and win though as 1994 was already showing for the World Champions, things would not always go to plan for England. That didn't like a problem at first for out in the blazing Dallas heat of the Cotton Bowl, England came flying out of the traps and had quickly began to put the Koreans under great pressure and within eight minutes of the opening first half, England had managed to get three shots on goal while the poor Koreans hadn't even managed to get out of their own half, let alone attempt an attack on the counter. A minute later, England were awarded the first corner kick of the game with Paul Merson to take it on the right and he sent the ball right into the penalty box where Alan Shearer managed to find his head on the ball and sent the ball screaming into the bottom left of the goal and he ran off celebrating getting an early goal for England, the perfect start indeed.

From that, everyone was expecting England to add to their lead and that for the England fans in Dallas could at least enjoy themselves in the knowledge that they would be going through. Only, that didn't quite happen as in England didn't really add to their lead with South Korea actually getting back into their game by starting to pass the ball around nicely and it must be remembered, they had gone through their last two games unbeaten unlike with England. The Koreans would though fail to find a goal themselves though would go into halftime feeling quite good about their chances while England had a lot to think about of how they could put their foot down in this game. The second half began being quite an open game with neither in the early stages of the game aiming a shot on target but rather trying to run each other down so they could make their moment count, indeed with how surprisingly well the Koreans were playing, no one would argue that Asian teams were mere push overs in this day and age as they battled it out. They didn't show any fancy skills compared to the eleven English players on the field, but showed a good team effort and sometimes football is always about a team playing well together, not about individuals.

Then in the fifty-second minute after a fairly uneventful half, Shin Hong-gi who had the ball on him, decided to cross the ball up the field into the English half in which the ball landed near the edge of the field and was just prevented from going out by Cho Jin-ho who ran down on the left flank with John Barnes trying to stop him, instead Jin-ho thumped it towards near his teammate, Hwang Sun-hong, standing near the English penalty box with the area being woefully wide opened as when the ball was collected by Sun-hong, he made no trouble in slotting the ball into the bottom right of the goal that Seaman couldn't get on to it and to the despair of him, his teammates, Taylor and every English fan present, the South Koreans had gone level with England. The South Korea supporters celebrated knowing that they had been deserving of a goal and now they had got it and it surely must've felt good for them. For Taylor standing on the touchline yelling at his players, mainly his defenders to wake up and get back into the game, it was now looking nervous for them. He felt his side were kicking themselves for failing to add to their lead in the first half and now they were getting punished for it. Now they had to break out yet again and find another goal to retake the lead. But things would all go worse yet.

The moment South Korea equalised against England
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In the sixty-first minute, England had tried throwing men forward to regain their lead, but the Koreans were now up and running and looking very confident thanks to that goal and they had began pushing forward themselves with their efforts being awarded by getting a corner kick thanks to a save from Seaman. The Koreans took the corner quickly no sooner as the referee had blown his whistle for the corner and the fumbled England team scrambled to get quickly into the position but Hong Myung-bo would header the ball towards goal and while Seaman did get his hands on the ball, he made an absolute goalkeeping howler when he lost he balance after grabbing the ball and lost his grip on the ball only for it to fall into the goal. The unthinkable had happened, South Korea were now leading England 2-1 and their supporters roared at not only another goal against the World Champions, but knowing that they had now a wonderful chance to reach the second round and possibly sending England crashing out off the World Cup. The English fans there and in pubs at home were left in stunned silence at what had just happened, for Taylor, it was now a brown trousers moment and in a panic, yelled at his players to get out there and play for the badge. Taylor then made a substitute in the sixty third minute for Darren Anderton to replace Paul Ince who the later player hadn't really done much and no one would miss his efforts here as England now had to find two goals to save their World Cup going up in smoke in Dallas. Thankfully England did react from going down and began laying siege to the Korean defence with attacking football that had been with them when they started this match.

Only downside was that the Koreans were now going ultra defensive as they look set to hold onto this lead and prevent England from scoring. Despite this better play from England, many kept an eye on the clock and as the time showed only twenty minutes of play remaining, England were running out of time and needed something and the pressure was getting to some of the players where in the seventy-second minute, Steve McManaman would get a booking for a stupid challenge on Kim Pan-keun and the England midfielder looked like he was starting to panic here and a goal might help ease some of the nerves here. Then just four minutes later after much pushing forward into the defensive Korean half, England finally got a reward for their efforts when Shearer was brought down outside the box and the referee awarded a free kick to England and Darren Anderton stepped up to take it and hopefully make his mark in this game. With a lovely curl over the South Korea wall and the ball ended up hitting the back of the net that sent the English fans roaring with delight yet again that they had got a goal back, now they only needed one more goal to win this game and put it to bed.

The tables were turned yet again and this time the Koreans started to panic as their defence began to fall apart and found itself and the mercy of the English onslaught and the goal itself seemed to reenergise England to try and go all out on the attack and soon enough, another goal for them was surely due for them now. It would all happen then in the eighty-fourth minute though were as Taylor was fearing of a change of underwear (a moment he would joke later on as his brown trousers moment), Ian Wright went on a charge down the centre of the field in which many Korean players went in hot pursuit of him to try and stop him and with him fifteen yards away from the penalty box, he went for it by firing a volley that rocketed past the Korean keeper and into the roof of the net...GOAL!!! Wright ran round the edge of the field were the celebrating England fans were wildly overjoyed that they had just pulled off an major comeback that would surely see them through to the next round and in contrast, the South Korean supporters could only look on in despair at their own players who looked so heartbroken of losing that 2-1 lead and now to be trailing 3-2. Truth be told, after that second goal, South Korea really hadn't done anything else in this second half as they tried to hang on to that lead and now England had punished them for it.

Anterton during the game with South Korea​

England didn't bothered to find another goal and instead began to toy with the Koreans by passing the ball around to the cries of 'ole!' from the supporters who were back to enjoying the game. The game finished 3-2 to England with South Korea now well and truly out of the World Cup with England, finishing in second behind group winners Spain following the latter's victory over Bolivia, were now in the next round though it was fair to say that following a scrappy win over Bolivia, a loss to Spain and near loss to South Korea, it was fair to say that this England team didn't look like a team what was not going to do much in the next round let alone try and defend their World Cup crown. Nonetheless, the question of who the Three Lions would face next would keep many England fans guessing...

Final results of England's group at the 1994 World Cup

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While England stumbled their way into the knockout stage, Scotland and Wales were hoping that they wouldn't end up having a similar rough ride to what had happened with their larger neighbour though deep down there was a sense of the unknown in which the United States were untested for both teams while Columbia were being branded as one of the favourites to win the World Cup. For Scotland, they would start off by playing the hosts in Pontiac though much had happened in Scotland over the last few years to the crazy state known as Scottish football between 1992 and 1994. For starters, Scottish football came close to losing Celtic early that year due to overdrafts and had it not been for the actions of one Fergus McCann, the club would've gone bust (some sources say the club came within minutes of declaring bankruptcy) and Celtic would get a new lease of life. Just a year later in the inaugural season of the rebranded European Cup as the Champions League, Rangers would win in Munich in a 2-1 victory over AC Milan which seem to show everyone that Scottish football was truly on the up.

Hampden Park was also getting some major attention in which by the start of the decade, the old lady of Scottish football was in a terrible state and with the thanks of a lottery grant and the money the national team had made from their performances over the years would lead to Hampden Park getting a much needed rebuild to a two tier stadium to house 65,000 supporters in which also saw Queens Park, the owners of the stadium, selling off their home to the SFA to move to nearby Lesser Hampden to play their home games on that site forever more. New Hampden Park would be rebuilt in stages with full completion of the stadium happening in 1999. Apart from that too, there were talks of a reduced top flight of twelve to ten teams after end of the 1993-94 season, it came as a surprised when it was announced that the top flight would be expanded to 16 teams with Dundee, Raith Rovers and St Johnstone being spared of relegation while Falkirk, Dunfermline, Airdrieonians and Hamilton would get a free pass into the top flight. The final league structures of the Scottish leagues would be a 16-12-12 for the following season and all of this wasn't including the fact that Scotland had managed to qualify for the World Cup in the USA. The opening game for them was a match up with the United States in a very unique venue.

The Scottish players both internationally and at club level had all played at many stadiums of all kinds, but in Michigan, the Pontiac Silverdome was unlike anything the Scottish players had played in before and that wasn't including the fact they were taking on the host nation in their opening match of the World Cup. The players would be under a giant roof and that alone made this experience something that they wouldn't be forgetting in a hurry, there was also the good number of thousands of Scottish fans who had made the trip out there and the players had a giggle or too seeing the amount of fancy dressed Groundskeeper Willie look a-likes seen up in the stands, though with it being during the height of The Simpsons few wouldn't have been that surprised at this. Funnily enough, Scotland Celtic Striker Andy Walker would joke at this claiming that if he had a pound for every time he saw a person dressed up as Groundskeeper Willie during their American Adventure, he'd be a millionaire and have enough to help starve off Celtic's finance woes from earlier.

McCoist at the 1994 World Cup
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Decked out in their away kit of white top and blue shorts, the Scotland looked ready as they fully expected to get the best of the Americans and started off as the better teams as their forward line of McCoist and Durie working as a duo trying to break down the American defence and find the opening goal, yet their finishing was proving to be less than impressive, it seemed that perhaps cockiness was on the minds of the Scottish players which was something their manager, Andy Roxburgh, was hoping to avoid. Scotland though did get a shot on target in the twelve minute when John Collins fired a shot from thirty yards from the goal in which looked to be reaching the top left corner of the net, but it was punched over the bar by Tony Meola for a corner kick for the Scots. The corner kick turns out to be a pretty wasteful one for the Scots as Alexi Lalas knocks it clear out of the box and out for the United States to clear it forward. With it being an enclosed venue it did help create quite an almighty din in which the Tartan Army had no trouble in using to their advantage to help give the illusion of a 'home' game for Scotland and making the mostly American supporters drowned out by the sound. Then in the twentieth minute and a fair bit of pushing forward for the Scots, a clever pass from Colin Henry up to McCoist inside the box show McCoist ram home his shot into the bottom left of the goal that helped Scotland break the deadlock and saw them take the lead.

The momentum was with the Scots and they nearly get another goal just seven minutes later from their first, but Henry's shot is blasted over the bar and it looked certain that Scotland were going to score again, though as the minutes ticked by, many of the Tartan Army in the stadium were sitting back in their chairs and started drumming their fingers on the armrests wondering when that second goal would arrive for them. Despite great Scottish pressure in the American half, the United States seemed more than happy to hold off the Scots rather than try and get forward to try and find an equaliser. Roxburgh now stood on the touchline yelling out to the players not to play the dreaded idea of hoofing the ball over the pitch which by the thirty-eighth minute was looking like the Scots were running out of ideas already and the fans sitting around the ground weren't liking this and began to even jeer as this style of play seem to take over the game. To make matters worse, this bad bit of play from Scotland seem to only help encourage the USA to try and get into the Scottish half into the final moments of the first half and with just a minute to go 'till the end of the first half, Scottish hearts went into their mouths.

A bad cross from Pat Nevin to John Collins was captured by Eric Wynalda who went charging down the exposed Scottish left flank and the noise in the stadium rose from the American crowd and the fact he was totally none marked by none of the Scottish defenders out there mad the average Scot watching covering their eyes in horror as Wynalda slammed the ball towards the right of the Scottish goal in which it went right past the hands of Andy Goram and into the back of the net. It was in a Scottish mindset a bad goal to lose, especially near the end but for the Americans, it was just what they needed and in all fairness with how poor the Scots had gotten towards the end of the first half, it was deserved. To make matters worse in the second half, Scotland just never recovered from losing that goal and with several frustrating bookings later, the game would be a 1-1 and not the start Scotland had been hoping for with the stadium being filled with chants of 'USA!' by the home supporters while the Tartan Army booed off their players. They might've gotten a point, but it might've been a loss considering how the reaction might've been and for Roxburgh, it was back to the drawing board.

Roxburgh watching his side slump to a 1-1 draw
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Meanwhile on the same day Scotland played the USA, Wales' first game of the World Cup was to take place in Pasadena California, in which their fans had made the far flung journey out to the West Coast of America and even one certain Welsh actress by the name of Catherine Zeta-Jones was also there mixing among the many red shirted, sun drenched Welsh fans that were far away from home, but who's country was something of an unknown to the average American, especially on the West Coast and Zeta-Jones herself did her part to try and get everyone in the States to see who the Welsh were. Manager Terry Yorath was grateful for the support everyone in Wales was giving them, but playing out here in the heat with a fancied Columbian side look set to be a challenge and despite calls for Yorath to change the line up with some young blood, the Welsh manager had stuck by the ever fateful and long standing Ian Rush who he had chosen to be captain for their American challenge, though really him being giving that honour was only that this tournament was looking to be his final appearance at a World Cup and he was looking forward to end with something decent at the end...

Of the ninety thousand spectators at Pasadena's Rose Bowl, nearly half of them were all Welsh and many of them were trying their hardest to make the stadium their own, though as the players walked out on the pitch prior to the anthems, they might've noticed that their own supporters were still mesmerized by how big everything was out here in the States and was all quite a far contrast to the charms the Welsh league was use to. With Wales getting the honour of kicking of the game, the game began with the Welsh going all out on the attack with them showing how much it meant to be playing for their country at a World Cup, especially for the new comers like Ryan Giggs and Gary Speed playing in a World Cup for the first time. Columbia were doing well to hold of the spirited Welsh attacks, but in just six minutes, it was becoming clear that they might've underestimated Wales and it would be the men in red who would force the first corner of the game in that minute and many of the players gathered in the box awaiting for Giggs to take it. A minute later he crossed it into the box in which Perea tried to clear it out of the box but instead found the ball heading straight into the path of Dean Saunders who with a thumping strike sent the ball smashing into the bottom left of the Columbia's goal and sent every Welshman on a high.

The Columbian players and supporters couldn't believe what had happened for going down so soon and began to try and counter attack on the Welsh backline in which hardman Vinnie Jones introduced himself at a World Cup by performing a brutal tackle on Adolfo Valencia in the fifteenth minute nearly breaking the Columbian player's legs and the South Americans cried out for the referee to send off the Welsh defender. Yorath could only fall back on and sigh in dismay, after such a brilliant start, were they all going to throw it all away thanks to Vinnie Jones? The referee did show a card, but much to the shock of many, Jones got off with a yellow card and to say this didn't go down well with the Columbian players wanting a harsher punishment would be an understatement. Nonetheless the referee was unmoved, though to this day there are rumours that the referee would've given Vinnie Jones a red card if it wasn't for the apparent glare the Welsh defender had given him which caused him to quickly change his mind. As the game carried on, it was clear that Columbia weren't happy with how things were going as whenever the South Americans did get forward, they would be pushed back by the Welsh as they went on the attack too. A thrilling open game for the neutral no doubt though some would argue that the men in yellow deserved something in this game.

Saunders just before he scored Wales' opening goal at the World Cup​

Then in the 34th minute after quick a bit of back and forward on the field, Ryan Jones found himself shadowed by Escobar on his right trying to get the ball off him and knowing that he couldn't go toe-to-toe with the Columbian defender, he quickly passed the ball over to Ian Rush who, thirty yards out from the penalty area, decided to volley the shot on target and despite looking frankly impossible to score from there, Rush pulled off one of the goals of the tournament as the ball made a lovely curl into the top right of the net and put Wales on cruise control at 2-0 up. The roar from the large Welsh support in Pasadena over that goal pretty much was the feeling every Welsh supporter around the World must've felt there. He might've been over thirty and past his prime but Ian Rush did prove that age was never an issue with him as he still had to pull off some wonderful goals for his country. For Columbia, it was all starting to fall apart for them. There had been a fair bit of confidence for Columbia going into this World Cup that they might be able to do something in this tournament, but now one could feel the whole thing beginning to implode and now tensions were starting to show. Just two minutes after Rush's goal, Herrera made a rather stupid challenge on Gary Speed that got him a yellow card and that was not to be the last of Columbia's troubles.

That said, the Welsh weren't all that perfect from getting out of the gaze of the Syrian referee who in the thirty-ninth minute would book Saunders as he went to try and make an fancy move to whip the ball of the feet of Escobar and only succeeded in giving him a bruise shin and a yellow card. Nonetheless at the end of the first half, Wales were flying at 2-0 up with the poor Columbians looking lost and having not done their homework on how Wales would've played and would've quite honestly thought that they would be a mere pushover. Sadly for Columbia, prior to this World Cup being dubbed as one of the favourites prior, things were about to get much worse. In the sixty-seventh minute in which prior to that Wales had been playing steady against a clearly shell-shocked Columbian side, Leonel Álvarez tried to fire a shot on target, but instead went off Vinnie Jones in which the ball curled backwards in which Chris Coleman and Valencia battled for the ball in which the Welshman managed to win that minor battle as he sent the ball over towards Gary Speed who chased up the field with several Columbian defenders trying to chase him.

With two defenders trying to surround him and with no way to get further forward, he pulled off a rather remarkable 'Cruyff turn' to catch the defenders off guard and he played a long ball towards Saunders motioning him to bring the ball over in which he did. Once the ball landed near the Welsh forward's feet, he sent the ball flying forward to right side post of the goal in which it made a loud clunk sound before, much to his relief, going in the right direction into the back of the net. Wales were 3-0 up and while the goal was scored from absolutely no where, no Welsh person really cared for that as the start to their World Cup adventure was being marked in spectacular fashion with their now reignited fans roaring them on and chanting of wanting another goal. The Columbians though just looked so heartbroken and to the dismay of their supporters, the Columbian players just couldn't find the strength to mount an epic comeback and in the end, the only thing they could muster was a single goal by Valencia in the seventy-eighth minute which in the end would be final goal of the game. Yorath's men had, despite a ropey second half, played a brilliant game of football that set them up nicely for their anticipated clash with a certain old enemy within a few days time...

Vinnie Jones during the second half
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On June 22nd, the second group match of Group A would be fought between Wales and Scotland and the small rivalry that had started many years had by the late '90's had turned into something of a feud. Prior to the formation of the Welsh league in the mid 1980's, the Scots had taken pride that their league had the highest attendance for per head of population for any nation in Europe, that was until Wales came onto the scene and even though their attendance hadn't hit the highs of the Scottish league, it was getting closer with their teams doing well in Europe and so was the team, sometimes actually doing better than the Scots and the Welsh seem to take a cheeky delight in seeing the Scots suffer misfortune as akin to whenever the Scots felt the same for England. By the mid 1990's, Wales was now really becoming a true football nation and no longer really a team that decades ago Scotland would have happily beaten constantly was now longer guaranteed. This battle of Britain clash was to take place once again at Pontiac Silverdome with there being rumours of an apparent minor brawl that took place between some supporters though it seems that it was a hoax to try and create tension, though both set of fans were mostly well behaved though they'd be all lying if they saying that they had nothing to be fearful of.

When the teams headed out onto the field, it was quite a sight seeing one half of the stadium in red with the Welsh fans out in big numbers and equally on the other side of the ground with the Scots trying their best to out cheer on their side to win the match. For the managers, Roxburgh was a nervous man; he had just gone through a barrage of abusive from the press and fans over that game with the Americans and many had said that they should've done better, however getting victory over Wales would surely put all those words of criticism to bed. Roxburgh thought that the Scottish league was far greater than the new Welsh league and they had the history, attendance and honours to go with it. They existed not only on a different planet to them, but a different universe and despite the fact that Welsh football had been on the rise over the last decade he felt it was his duty to his country to try and show these Welshmen their place in the pecking order. The build up had all the blood and thunder passion from the fans with both anthems being booed but for those who were thinking the game itself was going to live up to that and the hype surrounding it for the last few months now, they were to be disappointed.

The Welsh were awarded the kick off and spent most of the early part of the game passing the ball sideways to each other without even trying to make an attempt at running forward. Wales' defenders were practically bad for doing this with the endless sideway passes not impressing fan and neutral alike, no doubt the TV pundits were going to have a difficult to describe the game if it was to go along like this and fans sitting round the TV in living rooms and pubs had to wonder if the hype was going to be this game's downfall. The Scottish players tried to get the ball of the red shirted players, yet they didn't seem to have any idea what to do and this was going to be a great concern for their manager. The Scots were frustrated and went out on the attack trying to look for the opening goal but at a cost were leaving large gaps at the gap for the Welsh to come at them and this nearly would lead to near disaster for Scotland as in the eleventh minute, Saunders ripped past through a slack Scottish defence and went to pass it to Ian Rush towards his right and with him being ten yards away from the box, he look set to score but to his dismay, he failed to connect with the ball properly and his shot on hit the post and went out for a Scottish goal kick.

Pat Nevin during the game with Wales​

Granted the Scots had been let off the hook by going a goal down , but it showed that the Scots were showing signs of weakness that weren't going to go down well with their traveling supporters. Roxburgh nearly lost the plot as he stood on the edge of the touch line and began to rant furiously at his players to get the defence sorted out by calling them almost every word under the sun to the point in which a random FIFA official went up to him and told him to get back otherwise he'd be sent to the stands. It wasn't going to plan at all. However there were signs that the Scots could find something as in the twenty-first minute, McCoist manage to get close to scoring but his shot went off the post and was so far the first attempt Scotland had to scoring. As the first half did progress, it did started to go more into the favour of the Scots once the players seem to figure out what the Welsh were trying to do and made sure that they held the ball for the best part of the game and hope the Welsh didn't try to get on it again. Yorath stood nearby Roxburgh and feared as their strange style of system that had worked out for them earlier was quickly getting ruined.

Just five minutes later, Scotland were awarded a corner and many of the players gathered in the box awaiting to get on the ball, though it was briefly delayed due to a brief argument between Vinnie Jones and Andy Goram in which the referee had to come in and give them warnings to keep cool, neither player would be booked and the corner kick went on. John Collins curled the ball in from the corner flag and watched it fall towards the penalty box and just leaping high enough over several of the players below, Pat Nevin got his head on the ball and managed to slam the ball into the left side of the net inside the goal and the Scottish Midfield player celebrated making a frantic yet triumph sprint over towards the Scottish dug out before embracing his manager in which many of his teammates followed to join in with the celebrations. The celebrations might've looked a bit over the top as they were playing a team that was, on paper, much inferior to them, though whenever you're team takes the lead that thought goes out of the window.

The Welsh players were left annoyed about going behind so soon and the only thing they could do was get back into their positions for the kick off from the centre circle while Welsh keeper Southall had to pick the ball out from his goal and kick it up the field. The goal itself did wonders to help energise the Scots as they began to hurt the Welsh on the flanks and began to create many chances to try and take the lead in the first half, a small smile appeared on Roxburgh's face, hopefully this could be the game in which they answered their critics and get one over those damn Welshman. The men in red did try to respond as best they could and despite not having much of a chance to get the ball, it would be ironically them that would come close during the 38th minute in which the wide open gaps of the Scottish defence came back to haunt everyone and Ryan Giggs would race on the Scottish left flank to quickly cross the ball into the box for Rush to get onto it. It was in a brilliant position for Rush to score and he dived in which he had an easy chance to take the lead again for Wales and Goram was in the wrong position to try and stop him.

Saunders during the game with Scotland​

To the dismay of the Welsh however, Rush missed the ball by what felt like a fraction of an inch and lay on his back in dismay wondering how'd he manage to miss that. The veteran centre forward had to wonder what had been wrong with him today, but he didn't get much of a chance to think about it when from the other end of the pitch just a minute later, the Scots made a counter charge following the goal kick from Goram. Paul McStay raced along with the ball while managing to pull off some fancy footwork to outwit Eric Young and Perry Jason before pass the ball to the feet of McCoist who went into the box with the ball and rather than pass it to his right, he instead back passed the ball to McCall right behind him and with a powerful volley, McCall buried the ball into the back of the net where it looked like it could've broke the netting. 2-0 for Scotland now. McCall raced over to a corner where a large group of Scottish supporters where and celebrated while sliding on his knees. What a turnaround from how poor things were in the first game, the Welsh all looked dismayed at how it was all going wrong now and to score like that before half time was going to be a sore one for them and the best they could do now was go on damage control and hoped the Scots didn't find a third goal in the dying moments of the first half, and it hadn't even gotten into the second half yet.

The first half would end with a wonderful score from the Scots leading 2-0 and one that many felt was very much deserved while the Welsh who after doing so well in their game with Columbia had ended up in such a losing state and had now a mountain to climb. Soon after the second half started, it wouldn't take long until further drama was to happen as Wales started off with more vigour and were making a few in rows to the Scottish box and Ian Rush in that minute would find himself racing towards the box and did managed to get right on the edge when Goram had to slid in to snatch the ball of the Welshman, in which Rush made a stumble into the box. Nonetheless many assumed it would yet another goal kick for the Scots, yet what followed from the referee can be best described, or spluttered in shock, by the ITV commentator, Brian Moor, over what happened next.

"A sliding save by Goram and...the referee blows his whistle--A penalty for Wales! I don't believe!" Like the rest watching in stunned amazement, the Scottish players raised their hands up in confusion and circle round the referee protesting on what was a very controversial choice. It was hard to make out if Rush had just been in the box or not when Goram made the save, the stumble from Rush possibly made the referee make his mind up quickly and the furious Scottish goalkeeper was left facing a yellow card shown to him by the Tunisian referee. McStay tried to keep protesting about it but it was no use as Paul Bodin prepared to take the penalty. Having scored the penalty that sent his country to the World Cup on that night against Romania, he seemed the right man to take this penalty. The Scotland fans around the stadium could only hope he'd miss or if Goram would save...anything but a goal would be fine. Up stepped Bodin and to the stunned amazement of many, Goram guessed correctly diving to the right and sent the ball for a goal kick. The Tartan Army could only roar in happiness over the save and the Scottish keeper had more or less redeemed himself over what had happened and some would argue that justice was served.

Bodin just prior to his penalty miss
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If the penalty miss was bad, things were all about to get far worse for the flagging Welsh. In the fifty-third minute, Paul McStay was located some forty yards away from the box with the ball on him and looked around for someone to take it as he couldn't get further with a mass of red shirts baring his way forward. Then he noticed McCoist running toward the box on his left while motioning him to send the ball over to him and with that, McStay duly applied. McCoist would connect his right boot on the ball and performing a spectacular one footed volley, McCoist send the ball flying past the hands of the unfortune Southall and into the back of the net, 3-0 for Scotland and surely no way back now for Wales. The iconic images of McCoist close by one of the advertising banners while being dogpiled by his teammates would be long remembered by many a Scottish football fan as that goal was surely one of the best Scottish goals ever seen at a World Cup next to a certain one in 1978.

For Wales, it was all coming down around them as they struggled to find a footing in the game with the frustrations getting to one of the Welsh players. Vinnie Jones hadn't been happy since the missed penalty and the third Scottish goal only made his tempers run high and it would all kick off just five minutes later. Jones would let his feelings out on an unsuspecting Ian Ferguson in which while the Scottish player had the ball, Jones would come up from behind and made a stupid sliding tackle to knock the Scot off his feet and caused everyone Scot in the stadium to cry foul for what had happened. The referee raced over to the scene and quickly pulled out a yellow card for Vinnie Jones and the look of angst on his face was seen as that meant with it being a second yellow following the Columbian game, he'd be now suspended for their final group game with the United States, a game that was now looking to be a must win for Wales to progress.

The Scots were now flying as they began to play with swagger and belief with the joy being expressed by their supporters being wildly seen, after all those results they had in previous World Cup games with the Welsh over the years, it felt like a ghost was being vanquished while from a Welsh perspective, it felt like it was bringing back the ghost of 1977. Wales tried their best to claw back a goal but the Scottish defence look set to shut up shop and put this game to bed and not only shut Wales out but had responded handsomely to that poor game with the USA with a victory that surely looked as though it had sent them through already. Roxburgh shook hands with a much disappointed Yorath and the Scottish manager felt his players had done more than enough to answer their critics and now all they needed to do now was beat the Columbians next and they'd be surely top of their group. For the Welsh, a like of wounds would have to be licked and wonder where it all went wrong. The Scottish fans celebrated long into the evening as they had putting the Welsh back where they felt they belonged...in their shadows.

Yorath at the 1994 World Cup
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The final two group games for both Home Nations would be played at the same time on June 26th and to say things were tight would be an understatement. Following the USA's own shock victory over Columbia which pretty much eliminated the South Americans from the World Cup, it was now a three horse race in which they as well as the two British teams all had a chance of reaching the next round. Following their big victory over the Welsh, Scotland had gotten four points and surely just enough to reach the knockout stage while Wales still only had three points and Yorath had noted that three points might've been enough even for them to go through thanks the freakish way the draw for the best third place team was carried out, however he didn't want his players to go through all that and drilled his players to go all out for the win. The Welsh players and fans had made the trip back to Pasadena which was starting to feel like a home ground for them and the locals themselves seemed keen to know more about Wales and who they were.

Great ambassadors for Wales the players were, but when they walked out onto that sun kissed Rose Bowl stadium, the atmosphere was electric and the Americans, despite no one thinking much of their own chances, they too had a good chance for going through. Now the USA hoped to take the chance of taking advantage of a Welsh side that had been left shaken by their loss to Scotland. There was also the unfortunate situation of Vinnie Jones being suspended for the game and the only chance he could play again in the tournament was providing his teammates could get into the second round. But for now, all he could do was sit on the bench with his teammates and watch the game take place. Taking his place in the starting XI would be Luton Town player Ceri Hughes and some doubted if he'd be up to task helping his country get further in the tournament, still the World Cup always gave chances for unknown players to make their mark and he was determine to prove his worth.

Despite the pressure on Wales, the men in red surprised everyone as from the start of the opening whistle, the Welsh quickly got into the game as they began making many probing attempts into the American defence and with the way they were playing, you would've have thought that this team had suffered a humiliating loss to the Scots. All this early pressure led Wales to get the first corner of the game in the 5th minute and although the ball was thumped away by Tony Meola out of the box, it landed near the feet of Welsh captain Barry Horne and he volleyed the ball into the top left of the goal, but yet the American keeper somehow managed to just keep it out and for yet another corner for Wales. The second attempt at the corner was a close one as Welsh defender Kit Symons nearly headed the ball into the roof of the net, but the ball scraped off the crossbar and would go out for a goal kick. All this good early work from Wales made Yorath smile, this was the sort of work he wanted his players to keep doing and they were performing perhaps the best they had been at this World Cup, all that was missing was a goal. Then in the thirteenth minute, Wales were awarded yet another corner from the right and Horne was up to take it. The ball swung around into the penalty box and leaping up just above the rest of everyone else, Symons would get his head onto the ball and sent the ball into the bottom left of the goal with thunderous header. GOAL!

Symons celebrates after scoring for Wales
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At the same time as Wales was playing and in contrast to how well Wales had started their game, Scotland were struggling to get into the game and while after twenty minutes the score might've been still 0-0, it had all been going Columbia's way. The South Americans may have been out and had sadly suffered a lot of bad luck and now were simply playing for pride, but yet had still the slightest of chances of going through if results went their way and they could score a lot of goals against the Scots though it was highly unlikely. The heat of the Californian sun in Stanford wasn't really what the Scots wanted and it undoubtedly suited the Columbians very well as they made a good few chances with either the ball going post the crossbar, post or landing in the hands of Andy Goram. Despite the searing heat however, Scotland manager Roxburgh had with him a certain tartan scarf that some would remember he used at Italia '90 and he had brought it out here for luck in the hopes of getting a result, though so far in this game it wasn't coming to anything, didn't his players know how important results elsewhere for them if they were to lose?

He had heard that the Welsh were a goal up which meant as things stood, Wales would be finishing on top of the group and Scotland would end up as runners up. Not a bad things by all standards, but if his side was to lose this and the Americans were to get a goal back in that game, things would then look really hairy for them and that wasn't including the horror show the Scots were putting on for their fans. Columbian captain Valderrama managed in the twenty-third minute to rifle a powerful volley that went past all the Scottish defenders and slammed home into the back of the net, but just as the Columbian players and fans started celebrating, the referee had quickly blew his whistle for that goal being offside and pointed for a goal kick for the Scots. It was rather unfair that the goal had been ruled offside and giving how much the South Americans had been performing, they surely deserved a goal by now. Nonetheless for the Scots, Valderrama's offside goal was just what Scotland needed to kick start them back into this game.

Scotland began to push the Columbians back in their attempt to try and find an unlikely goal and slowly but surely, the Scots managed to get their foot into the game as the offside goal had made the Columbians annoyed and were starting to make some stupid fouls on the Scottish players. In the twenty-seventh minute, Valderrama would foul Scottish captain Paul McStay down on the right of the field some twenty yards away from the halfway line and would get the first booking of the game and subsequently awarded Scotland with a free kick with Gordon Durie down to try and take it from such a distance. He manage to fire the ball nearby the penalty area in which McCoist attempt to fire on target but it was prevented by Mendoza leaping into the air inside the box to try and stop it going further. However he had accidently had his hand up too and the ball just so happened to hit his left hand and several of the Scottish players nearby who saw this all raised their hands up in the air shouting to the referee for a penalty and so too did the fans behind the goal who roared wanting it too. Sure enough, the Danish referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot, penalty.

Durie during the game with Columbia​

This caused cheers from the Scotland fans but anger from the Columbians as they surrounded the referee trying to prove that what Mendoza did was an accident and even claim that McCoist sent the ball on purpose at Mendoza's hand in order to try and win the penalty. All that did happen was the Columbian defender getting a yellow card for his actions and wonder what did he had to do deserve this. To take the penalty would be the ever faithful Ally McCoist who walked up to the spot where he placed the ball onto the spot as he awaited the referee for him to blow his whistle and for him to go. McCoist though had to wait a bit as the referee still had to calm down some of the angry Columbian players over his choice, but after a few tantrums were calmed down, McCoist was given the all clear. With a thunderous strike hitting the roof of the net and sending the Columbian keeper, Córdoba, to the right, Scotland had manage to get out in front and while the players and their fans celebrated.

Many Columbians and even a few neutrals would argue that the Scots didn't deserve their lead and that maybe the South American side was being cheated. The truth was that Columbia had despite all the good work they showed in the early part of the game, had been wasteful and now the Scots had punished them for it. News of Scotland's opening goal didn't go unnoticed as over in California as the Welsh fans got word of the goal and now their loud singing and chanting had gone quite silent as doubts were starting to creep in for the final outcome of how the group stage might look if things were to remain the same as they were. As things now stood, Scotland would top the group with seven points, Wales in second place with six, USA in third with four and Columbia with a single point. Wales still had time to add more to their lead, but yet by the time the forty-fourth minute rolled around, it was still at 1-0 for them and by now, the Americans had started to add pressure on the Welsh who seem to underestimate the United States' determination to get something from this, even going close to scoring at one point via a Earnie Stewart volley in the thirty-second minute.

Three minutes of added time would be granted as the first half neared it's end and in the first minute of it, Paul Bodin made a tackle on Tab Ramos some thirty yards from the penalty box which saw the Welsh defender get a yellow card and free kick for the Americans in a very good area to find a goal. John Harkes fired it into the box and on the other end, American defender Paul Caligiuri would leap up to get his head on the ball and sent the ball racing past the hands of Southall to give the United States a deserved equaliser in dramatic fashion. It was game on and the Welsh players would have to wonder how on earth did they throw away their lead away like that? The final whistle for the first half would be blown and the players trotted off the field with the United States being the more happier of the two. The Welsh players had a look of fury within them, they should've been beating the Americans by a number of goals but instead they had shot themselves in the foot with that late goal from the Americans. The second half was now to follow for Wales to get something from this.

Caligiuri celebrates with his teammates with his goal over Wales
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Just after the first half came to an end, the news of the United State's late goal was heard over in Stanford in which was good news for Scotland knowing that they would finish top of the group regardless while Columbia needed Wales to beat the Americans to have any chance and that wasn't including trying beat Scotland in which they felt they had been robbed in that first half and now as the second half began, they began to turn the pressure up on the Scots. A lot of good open play followed from both sides as they went all at it looking for a goal that could decide the match. Then just three minutes into the second half Columbia were awarded a corner kick and it was sweetly taken and Lozano got his head onto the ball in which headed straight for goal, but Goram, who was playing the game of his life, managed to catch the ball and make sure it didn't go anywhere else. It was very close, but the Columbians were banging on the door for a goal and looking likely to score.

Then in the fifty-second minute, The Columbians came at the Scots again and this time, Asprilla ran towards the outside of the Scottish box and saw Paul McStay coming up behind him with Tom Boyd coming towards him on his left and Asprilla made a sneaky back pass towards Gaviria who had outrun the other Scottish defenders and had made his way into the box where without any problems thumped home the ball into the back of the Scottish net and give the Columbians their deserved goal. Game on. The previously worried Welsh fans were now suddenly reacting enthusiastically over the news of the Columbian goal as the group was now looking very tight with Scotland and the United States tied with the Scots only leading on goal difference with the Welsh now down to third place on three points and even Columbia were hot on their tails now being on two points. Wales knew that if they could win here, they'd shoot to the top of the group and only hoped that the spirted Americans would run out of steam, however the USA was clearly running on adrenalin and they were clearly putting up a good fight for the Welsh. Ian Rush between stops in the game had to catch his breath and wipe sweat off his forehead, he clearly wasn't looking at his best here.

The Liverpool payer might've gone on many European adventures with the club to some hot places, but even the Californian heat and humidity was getting to him and he would look over towards the Welsh bench and could see Yorath telling Nathen Blake to start warming up, most likely the Welsh manager was planning on taking off Rush. The experience Welsh player would motion to his manager not to bother as he struggled on trying to help his side get something in which they gradually began to run down the brave Americans. Indeed in the sixty seventh minute, Rush from near the half way line went and tried an ambitious shot which looked ludicrous to try from there, however the ball travelled at great length and curled down towards the goal and a gasp be felt around the Rose Bowl as it came close, however Meola punched it back over to one of the defenders and not surprisingly got a standing ovation from the American supporters for such a brave save. Rush cursed his luck, he had come so close what could've not only been the winner, but also perhaps the goal of the tournament. One thing was for sure, Rush was far from out of this for sure.

Rush during the final game with the USA
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Wales had began to push the Americans far back into their own half and with now just half an hour left to play, surely they had to score with them now throwing absolutely everything forward. Time felt like it was going fast as the Welsh fans were listening in on their radios to hear about any result from Stanford, last time everyone had heard, it was still tied 1-1 and it had been a scrappy game there that look set to be a draw, Wales simply had to take the advantage here. Yorath would make a change with fifteen minutes left but rather than take off Ian Rush as many would've thought, he instead took off Jason Bowen and replaced him with the expected Blake as he hope to make his mark. Sadly a lot of the Welsh players such as Giggs, Horne and Speed hadn't really much of an impact in the game as they clearly weren't doing all that well in the heat and were growing increasingly tired from it all. Just ten minutes to go, Giggs did try a moment of glory by nutmegging Marcelo Balboa and went on a one man attack at the goal in which was knocked away by that goalkeeper of theirs, a corner kick just two minutes later led to nothing as it was easily caught and thrown over to one of his teammates. Wales truly deserved something here, to come away with a draw or, God forbid, a loss would be almost criminal.

In the 83rd minute, Mark Hughes thought he had scored as the ball managed to get under the body of a diving Meola but was oddly ruled offside and by then, time was really starting to run out. The tension of the Welsh fans up in the stands was evident as some started praying, sung loudly 'Land of my Fathers' or yelled their team to get into it. After a whole half in which felt like the Welsh dominated, it was still tied after ninety minutes and five minutes of added time would be included, it was now and never that when Wales got a corner in the second minute of added time, Yorath ordered Southall to run up from goal and get into position to do something. The ball was shot and Ian Rush, despite his age, used whatever he had within him to leap higher than everyone there and with the side of his head, hammered the ball home into the bottom right of the net and a wave of madness followed by a deafening roar from the Welsh fans...GOAL! Rush couldn't contain himself and made a mad dash over towards the Welsh fans while he whipped off his now sweaty shirt and waved it round like a mad man. By God had they deserved it and his teammates all followed suit in which Rush found himself being dogpiled by his teammates. A celebration that would be remembered by many a Welshman.

The American players and fans were left devastated, they had come so close to getting a point and now they had lost the game. Once the game restarted, the United States seem to lose all their confidence and just couldn't respond right when the final whistle was blown. Wales had won 2-1 and while it was deserved, they had gone about it the hard way but victory now saw Wales top the group with six points, Scotland finished as runners up with five points after that game ended in a 1-1 draw which in the end became a snooze fest and really had nothing to report about. The United States finished in third place with four points and yet still had a chance to go through providing other results went their way. It had been a tight group and both British teams were more than happy to go through with knowledge that they could relax in preparation for whatever game would follow next. While Wales waited to know who they'd face next, Scotland were to find out that in the second round that they were to be facing an auld enemy...

Final results of Scotland and Wales' group at the 1994 World Cup
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​

Phew, that's that done and here we are with us in the USA! Pretty much the same scores from the old TL with a few changes and tweaks to clean it up along with wiki boxes in which the old TL didn't have. Anyway hope you enjoyed this big update and there is one change from the old TL and that is that Germany qualify here in which they pretty much take Norway's OTL place here and if you are interested...

So yeah, bit of a shock for the Germans though given how that was a hellish group and how the team was starting to go on the decline at this point, fairly plausible that this would have happened to them. So then, now we go into the last 16 fixtures as follows:
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Wales vs Argentina

Saudi Arabia vs Sweden

Netherlands vs Republic of Ireland

United States vs Brazil

Mexico vs Bulgaria

Spain vs Romania

Nigeria vs Italy

England vs Scotland
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So then, you know the routine, who do you think will win and why. See you all for the next update!

 

[MatthewFirth]

Wales vs Argentina

Saudi Arabia vs Sweden

Netherlands vs Republic of Ireland

United States vs Brazil

Mexico vs Bulgaria

Spain vs Romania

Nigeria vs Italy

England vs Scotland

 

[Anubis]

I

Chapter 56
Calling America

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Not for the first time had the World Cup been held in North America, Mexico, but it would be held in the United States of the first time for the 1994 World Cup. Football in America, who would've believed? The choice to stage the world's biggest football tournament Stateside would seem like an odd one on FIFA's part but nonetheless there was a good atmosphere going into this World Cup, not including that the fact that three of the UK's Home Nations had managed to book their place in the USA, though England were already granted a place thanks to them being the current reigning champions. They themselves were given a rather good group that featured Spain, South Korea and Bolivia, the latter team being the one England had to face in the opening match of this World Cup and there was a good feeling for hope that England might have a good chance in this tournament once they get out of the group. The other two Home Nations teams there were Wales and Scotland with the Welsh and there was a great deal of excitement on both sides when it was found out they'd been drawn in the same group with Columbia and the hosts, United States. There would be an Irish team there, but this time it would the Republic of Ireland that would be the Irish representative after they managed to pip Northern Ireland (who were in their same group) to make it to the States and finally brought the curtain down on Sir Billy Bingham's long time reign as Northern Ireland manager; some would say it was revenge over the now infamous 'Battle of Gothenburg'.

Before the teams would make their way out to America, there was always the ubiquitous World Cup song that would be released for the Summer and the three British teams would have a song each and the song World In Motion from the last World Cup which had raised the bar for World Cup songs, the pressure was on to try and top that. The England players would team up with an up and coming Oasis band to play backing vocals on the song Champions (For All Time) which had a Britpop flavour to it and did have it's fans, the Scots would team up on backing vocals with fellow Scottish music act The Proclaimers to make the song We Are Scotland which many noted did have a rather similar sound to that of Sunshine On Leith but would nonetheless become a popular chant for the Scotland fans in the years to follow. Finally the Welsh team's World Cup anthem would be called Dragons Over America by Welsh band Stereophonics (with the team on backing vocals of course) that would a fan favourite over the Summer and it must be noted that all the World Cup anthems from each time were on their own generally good and there was good debate over which one would be No.1 in the UK charts that Summer.

Sadly a rank outsider choice was to win the No.1 spot. Fresh from a Christmas No.1 the previous year, TV absurdity Mr. Blobby would storm the charts with his World Cup song, A Blobby Good World Cup in which would be voted by many as one of the Worst World Cup Songs ever that made even 'classics' such as Ally's Tartan Army seem decent in comparison and in which Scottish goalkeeper Andy Goram would remark saying 'How I wish we could've battered that fucking pink thing into the ground for ruining our song!' Some would predict that the upstaging in the charts was a bad omen for the teams chancing out in the States and for England at least, it might've been the case for just 9 weeks prior before their opening game, Paul Gascoigne during training at Lazio badly injured his right tibia and fibula which despite the effort of many, he would be unable to compete in the States and in an instant, England's creative thrust was ripped out from the squad as was perhaps much hope of retaining the World Cup. Things wouldn't get better when the sight of their rather cheap looking mascot blandly called 'Mr Goal' drew much mockery in the English press for being so unimaginative.

England's mascot for the World Cup; Mr Goal. A source of much mockery for such blandness

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Despite England manager Graham Taylor fearing about his side's chances of defending the World Cup, some had hope that a winning start over Bolivia in the opening match of the World Cup would be good enough for England's chances. The opening ceremony, at Chicago's Solider Field was certainly quite the spectacular with all the razzmatazz that showed the world just how big this World Cup was going to be, though it would be memorable for the wrong reasons in which Oprah Winfrey would fall off the dais while introducing Diana Ross, who in turn was suppose to put away a spot kick and send the goalposts splitting in two as a part of a pre-orchestrated stunt, but would woefully miss his kick right in front of a embarrassed worldwide audience. Not the best of starts for the hosts. But once it was all over, England and Bolivia made their way out onto the field for the anthems, followed by the handshake of both captains and managers. England would kick off the 1994 World Cup in the blazing hot sunshine of Chicago. In the run up to the game, many had England down as clear favourites to win this and for good reason, Bolivia were the lowest ranked team in this World Cup and on paper looked to be there for the taking for Taylor's men. But it seemed everyone had underestimated them as in the eighth minute (after England conceded a free kick thanks to Platt who was quickly booked), it was the South American minnows who nearly scored first with William Ramallo sending the ball curling over the English defence and it was only thanks to the hands of David Seaman knocking it over the bar and out for a corner kick, in turn the first of the game and one that would thankfully be saved by Seaman again who leapt up to grab it.

In terms of opening World Cup games, it was a pretty poor affair in which not only was the loss of Gascoigne evident in many moments during the game that otherwise would have been greatly helped by his presence, but also was the heat and humidity in which the England players, despite having spent just over two weeks in the States to acclimatise to the surroundings looked out of their depth and the first half ended 0-0 and it was fair to say that neither England or Bolivia had impressed anyone. For the second half, England manager Graham Taylor would take off Palmer off for Batty to replace him at the start of the second half though the following half would be more or less the same as what the rest of the game had been, dull, rough and unimpressive. England were beginning to dominate but Bolivia looked comfortable trying to defend their box and in just the first ten minutes of the second half alone, England had made four shots on target but yet still couldn't break the deadlock and frustration was starting to build up among the English players. In the fifty-sixth minute, a frustrated Walker made a bad challenge on Christaldo when the Bolivian player had been on the run and his actions would see him get a yellow card and his name in the book, a book that in question was starting to fill up with names of players committing challenges. Platt came close in the sixty-first minute to getting goal from a header via an England corner, but instead was saved by the Bolivian keeper Trucco and that keeper couldn't help but grin knowing that he had been having a brilliant game so far and perhaps getting a point off the World Champions might be possible.

The list of booked players added up further with Bolivia's captain, Borja, finding himself in the book after making a tackle on Shearer which all didn't help to ill feeling many were having for this game. In the England dugout, Taylor drank some water to keep cool and thought about how bad this game was turning out to be and he wouldn't been surprised if viewers watching on TV had long since tuned off seeing how boring the game had become, he wouldn't blame them in all fairness. Then in the seventy-fourth minute, Dixon managed to race up on the Bolivian left flank in which he crossed over to Platt some thirty yards away from the penalty area, the England captain managed to get on the ball and seeing around him a mass of green shirts trying to swarm him, he decided to risk it by firing him a volley towards goal and hope for the best...within a few seconds, the ball is bulging in the back of the net, the England fans in Chicago roar in delight and the England players dogpile Platt for at long last, the deadlock has been broken and England have taken the lead with just sixteen minutes left to play.

Platt scoring the opening goal for England at the 1994 World Cup
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The goal was a blow for Bolivia who's plan of holding on for a point had fallen apart and now the only way they could rescue a point is if they were to come out of their comfort zone and try and get a late equaliser. They did start putting men forward with Bolivia bringing on Marco Etcheverry in the seventy-ninth minute as a sub to try and have fresh legs going into the closing minutes of the game. For Etcheverry sadly, his first appearance at this World Cup was to become short lived as in the eighty-third minute just after the South American side made a dreadful miss sending the ball over the bar, Etcheverry lost the plot and in a moment of madness went over and kicked an unsuspecting Barnes on his side and a roar of disapproval came from the crowd in which the referee duly applied...and the Bolivian player was given a red card.

In hindsight, a red card was coming, but no one expected it would be from a player who had only been on for a few minutes and it was just an example of how sorry this opening World Cup match had been with Bolivia going down to ten men. The Bolivians by then knew this game was over for them but rather than try and go on damage control to prevent further mishaps, they only seemed to get more agitated as in the eighty-eighth minute, Bolivian defender Quinteros would join many of his teammates in the referee's book of bookings after his challenge on Shearer as he tried to cross a ball over towards the penalty area. With many cards being flashed by the Mexican referee, it was quite astonishing that only one player had been sent off given of just what kind of game it had been.

To the relief of the England players and general audiences, the game would come to a close with England being happy they had started their World Cup defence with a win, a scrappy one it must be said, but a victory nonetheless. While most audiences were more happy that this mind numbing and sorry game was finally over with many hoping the many games to come in this World Cup would be any better and the English press were not all that complimenting of the manner of how they won the game and knew that they would have to do better in their next game with Spain. For now however, Taylor and his boys could briefly relax by the poolside of their hotel and get ready for their next game with Spain, one game that would be a difficult game by all means and one that with hindsight they would not want to look back on.

Etcheverry's reaction for his sending off
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England's second group game with Spain was always looked on as a one as whoever won this game would be certainly going through it was widely predicted that both would go through regardless. However while England may had laboured their way to a rather scrappy win, that was far better than that of Spain for in their opening match with South Korea, they ended up drawing 2-2 and it could be said that the pressure was far more on Spain than it was for England for if they lost to the Three Lions then there was the real prospect that Spain might be making a shock early exit. Of course all of this did no good to some of the English tabloid press in which Taylor would find out in one such newspaper boasting with it's headline prior before the tie as 'We won't lose Gibraltar over this!' in which he and many others were horrified at such a headline and thus was thankfully called out for its jingoistic nature. Not the best thing to go into a World Cup game and that was most certainly the case. From the start, Spain were on the front foot and could have gone ahead as early of the seventh minute of the game thanks to Salinas' effort which only just went off the crossbar. Clearly England were still not doing well in the heat and the Spanish players looked far more comfortable in the hot surroundings.

The Three Lions tried all they could to keep Spain out but alas it was not to be as in the fourteenth minute, Rob Jones in the England half tried to lob the ball far up the field towards one of his teammates, but his shot was poorly shot and to his dismay, the ball was intercepted by Goikoetxea and quickly running through an open gap in the English defence, the Spanish Right Midfielder make easy work through the left side and from twenty yards out from the box, he slammed the ball home into the bottom right corner of the net and David Seaman couldn't get a hand on it. Spain were ahead and giving the way the play had gone, they did deserved their lead. After that despite some improved play from England and with Spain failing to find the back of the net to further increase their lead in which could have seen them leading the game 3-0 by after just thirty minutes, England would have a number of problems in which just a few minutes into the second half with the score still at 1-0 to Spain, Rob Lee went in for a sliding tackle on Luis Enrique while trying to get the ball off the Spaniard. Instead, he found himself pulling a hamstring during the challenge and lay there in under the hot sun wailing in agony and would have to come off with Paul Ince making an unexpected earlier than planned appearance in the game.

Though England had only managed to get one booking with Paul Parker getting one in the forty-third minute while Spain had gotten three bookings for Salinas, Abelardo and Hierro all in the first half alone and during the fifty-third minute, Salinas got into collision with Stuart Pierce and the two men got into a spat with each other with the Englishman getting a booking and many assumed that Salinas would follow with his second booking and ultimately see him be sent off. But to the dismay of the England fans, the referee merely gave Salinas a last warning and ordered the game to carry on with a free kick for Spain. To say Pierce was incensed would be an understatement as before the free kick was taken, the English defender went up into the face of the Uruguayan referee ranting that he the Spanish player should've been sent off. No doubt many Englishman watching would start putting tinfoil hats on thinking of bias from the referee wanting a fellow Spanish speaking team to do well, and it some cases, they might've had a point. Apart from that though, the ten man Spain team held on to a 1-0 victory to bring their World Cup hopes back to life and now cause doubt on England's hopes. One newspaper outlet would famously call out the result with a headline of, 'We Don't Like That!'

The Spanish team that would go on to beat England in Chicago
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After that result, England knew that a victory in their final group match with South Korea in Dallas would certainly put them through though a draw might still be alright if results went their way thanks to the third-place ranking system. Either way though, many did expect England to turn up and win though as 1994 was already showing for the World Champions, things would not always go to plan for England. That didn't like a problem at first for out in the blazing Dallas heat of the Cotton Bowl, England came flying out of the traps and had quickly began to put the Koreans under great pressure and within eight minutes of the opening first half, England had managed to get three shots on goal while the poor Koreans hadn't even managed to get out of their own half, let alone attempt an attack on the counter. A minute later, England were awarded the first corner kick of the game with Paul Merson to take it on the right and he sent the ball right into the penalty box where Alan Shearer managed to find his head on the ball and sent the ball screaming into the bottom left of the goal and he ran off celebrating getting an early goal for England, the perfect start indeed.

From that, everyone was expecting England to add to their lead and that for the England fans in Dallas could at least enjoy themselves in the knowledge that they would be going through. Only, that didn't quite happen as in England didn't really add to their lead with South Korea actually getting back into their game by starting to pass the ball around nicely and it must be remembered, they had gone through their last two games unbeaten unlike with England. The Koreans would though fail to find a goal themselves though would go into halftime feeling quite good about their chances while England had a lot to think about of how they could put their foot down in this game. The second half began being quite an open game with neither in the early stages of the game aiming a shot on target but rather trying to run each other down so they could make their moment count, indeed with how surprisingly well the Koreans were playing, no one would argue that Asian teams were mere push overs in this day and age as they battled it out. They didn't show any fancy skills compared to the eleven English players on the field, but showed a good team effort and sometimes football is always about a team playing well together, not about individuals.

Then in the fifty-second minute after a fairly uneventful half, Shin Hong-gi who had the ball on him, decided to cross the ball up the field into the English half in which the ball landed near the edge of the field and was just prevented from going out by Cho Jin-ho who ran down on the left flank with John Barnes trying to stop him, instead Jin-ho thumped it towards near his teammate, Hwang Sun-hong, standing near the English penalty box with the area being woefully wide opened as when the ball was collected by Sun-hong, he made no trouble in slotting the ball into the bottom right of the goal that Seaman couldn't get on to it and to the despair of him, his teammates, Taylor and every English fan present, the South Koreans had gone level with England. The South Korea supporters celebrated knowing that they had been deserving of a goal and now they had got it and it surely must've felt good for them. For Taylor standing on the touchline yelling at his players, mainly his defenders to wake up and get back into the game, it was now looking nervous for them. He felt his side were kicking themselves for failing to add to their lead in the first half and now they were getting punished for it. Now they had to break out yet again and find another goal to retake the lead. But things would all go worse yet.

The moment South Korea equalised against England
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In the sixty-first minute, England had tried throwing men forward to regain their lead, but the Koreans were now up and running and looking very confident thanks to that goal and they had began pushing forward themselves with their efforts being awarded by getting a corner kick thanks to a save from Seaman. The Koreans took the corner quickly no sooner as the referee had blown his whistle for the corner and the fumbled England team scrambled to get quickly into the position but Hong Myung-bo would header the ball towards goal and while Seaman did get his hands on the ball, he made an absolute goalkeeping howler when he lost he balance after grabbing the ball and lost his grip on the ball only for it to fall into the goal. The unthinkable had happened, South Korea were now leading England 2-1 and their supporters roared at not only another goal against the World Champions, but knowing that they had now a wonderful chance to reach the second round and possibly sending England crashing out off the World Cup. The English fans there and in pubs at home were left in stunned silence at what had just happened, for Taylor, it was now a brown trousers moment and in a panic, yelled at his players to get out there and play for the badge. Taylor then made a substitute in the sixty third minute for Darren Anderton to replace Paul Ince who the later player hadn't really done much and no one would miss his efforts here as England now had to find two goals to save their World Cup going up in smoke in Dallas. Thankfully England did react from going down and began laying siege to the Korean defence with attacking football that had been with them when they started this match.

Only downside was that the Koreans were now going ultra defensive as they look set to hold onto this lead and prevent England from scoring. Despite this better play from England, many kept an eye on the clock and as the time showed only twenty minutes of play remaining, England were running out of time and needed something and the pressure was getting to some of the players where in the seventy-second minute, Steve McManaman would get a booking for a stupid challenge on Kim Pan-keun and the England midfielder looked like he was starting to panic here and a goal might help ease some of the nerves here. Then just four minutes later after much pushing forward into the defensive Korean half, England finally got a reward for their efforts when Shearer was brought down outside the box and the referee awarded a free kick to England and Darren Anderton stepped up to take it and hopefully make his mark in this game. With a lovely curl over the South Korea wall and the ball ended up hitting the back of the net that sent the English fans roaring with delight yet again that they had got a goal back, now they only needed one more goal to win this game and put it to bed.

The tables were turned yet again and this time the Koreans started to panic as their defence began to fall apart and found itself and the mercy of the English onslaught and the goal itself seemed to reenergise England to try and go all out on the attack and soon enough, another goal for them was surely due for them now. It would all happen then in the eighty-fourth minute though were as Taylor was fearing of a change of underwear (a moment he would joke later on as his brown trousers moment), Ian Wright went on a charge down the centre of the field in which many Korean players went in hot pursuit of him to try and stop him and with him fifteen yards away from the penalty box, he went for it by firing a volley that rocketed past the Korean keeper and into the roof of the net...GOAL!!! Wright ran round the edge of the field were the celebrating England fans were wildly overjoyed that they had just pulled off an major comeback that would surely see them through to the next round and in contrast, the South Korean supporters could only look on in despair at their own players who looked so heartbroken of losing that 2-1 lead and now to be trailing 3-2. Truth be told, after that second goal, South Korea really hadn't done anything else in this second half as they tried to hang on to that lead and now England had punished them for it.

Anterton during the game with South Korea​

England didn't bothered to find another goal and instead began to toy with the Koreans by passing the ball around to the cries of 'ole!' from the supporters who were back to enjoying the game. The game finished 3-2 to England with South Korea now well and truly out of the World Cup with England, finishing in second behind group winners Spain following the latter's victory over Bolivia, were now in the next round though it was fair to say that following a scrappy win over Bolivia, a loss to Spain and near loss to South Korea, it was fair to say that this England team didn't look like a team what was not going to do much in the next round let alone try and defend their World Cup crown. Nonetheless, the question of who the Three Lions would face next would keep many England fans guessing...

View attachment 735344
Final results of England's group at the 1994 World Cup

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While England stumbled their way into the knockout stage, Scotland and Wales were hoping that they wouldn't end up having a similar rough ride to what had happened with their larger neighbour though deep down there was a sense of the unknown in which the United States were untested for both teams while Columbia were being branded as one of the favourites to win the World Cup. For Scotland, they would start off by playing the hosts in Pontiac though much had happened in Scotland over the last few years to the crazy state known as Scottish football between 1992 and 1994. For starters, Scottish football came close to losing Celtic early that year due to overdrafts and had it not been for the actions of one Fergus McCann, the club would've gone bust (some sources say the club came within minutes of declaring bankruptcy) and Celtic would get a new lease of life. Just a year later in the inaugural season of the rebranded European Cup as the Champions League, Rangers would win in Munich in a 2-1 victory over AC Milan which seem to show everyone that Scottish football was truly on the up.

Hampden Park was also getting some major attention in which by the start of the decade, the old lady of Scottish football was in a terrible state and with the thanks of a lottery grant and the money the national team had made from their performances over the years would lead to Hampden Park getting a much needed rebuild to a two tier stadium to house 65,000 supporters in which also saw Queens Park, the owners of the stadium, selling off their home to the SFA to move to nearby Lesser Hampden to play their home games on that site forever more. New Hampden Park would be rebuilt in stages with full completion of the stadium happening in 1999. Apart from that too, there were talks of a reduced top flight of twelve to ten teams after end of the 1993-94 season, it came as a surprised when it was announced that the top flight would be expanded to 16 teams with Dundee, Raith Rovers and St Johnstone being spared of relegation while Falkirk, Dunfermline, Airdrieonians and Hamilton would get a free pass into the top flight. The final league structures of the Scottish leagues would be a 16-12-12 for the following season and all of this wasn't including the fact that Scotland had managed to qualify for the World Cup in the USA. The opening game for them was a match up with the United States in a very unique venue.

The Scottish players both internationally and at club level had all played at many stadiums of all kinds, but in Michigan, the Pontiac Silverdome was unlike anything the Scottish players had played in before and that wasn't including the fact they were taking on the host nation in their opening match of the World Cup. The players would be under a giant roof and that alone made this experience something that they wouldn't be forgetting in a hurry, there was also the good number of thousands of Scottish fans who had made the trip out there and the players had a giggle or too seeing the amount of fancy dressed Groundskeeper Willie look a-likes seen up in the stands, though with it being during the height of The Simpsons few wouldn't have been that surprised at this. Funnily enough, Scotland Celtic Striker Andy Walker would joke at this claiming that if he had a pound for every time he saw a person dressed up as Groundskeeper Willie during their American Adventure, he'd be a millionaire and have enough to help starve off Celtic's finance woes from earlier.

McCoist at the 1994 World Cup
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Decked out in their away kit of white top and blue shorts, the Scotland looked ready as they fully expected to get the best of the Americans and started off as the better teams as their forward line of McCoist and Durie working as a duo trying to break down the American defence and find the opening goal, yet their finishing was proving to be less than impressive, it seemed that perhaps cockiness was on the minds of the Scottish players which was something their manager, Andy Roxburgh, was hoping to avoid. Scotland though did get a shot on target in the twelve minute when John Collins fired a shot from thirty yards from the goal in which looked to be reaching the top left corner of the net, but it was punched over the bar by Tony Meola for a corner kick for the Scots. The corner kick turns out to be a pretty wasteful one for the Scots as Alexi Lalas knocks it clear out of the box and out for the United States to clear it forward. With it being an enclosed venue it did help create quite an almighty din in which the Tartan Army had no trouble in using to their advantage to help give the illusion of a 'home' game for Scotland and making the mostly American supporters drowned out by the sound. Then in the twentieth minute and a fair bit of pushing forward for the Scots, a clever pass from Colin Henry up to McCoist inside the box show McCoist ram home his shot into the bottom left of the goal that helped Scotland break the deadlock and saw them take the lead.

The momentum was with the Scots and they nearly get another goal just seven minutes later from their first, but Henry's shot is blasted over the bar and it looked certain that Scotland were going to score again, though as the minutes ticked by, many of the Tartan Army in the stadium were sitting back in their chairs and started drumming their fingers on the armrests wondering when that second goal would arrive for them. Despite great Scottish pressure in the American half, the United States seemed more than happy to hold off the Scots rather than try and get forward to try and find an equaliser. Roxburgh now stood on the touchline yelling out to the players not to play the dreaded idea of hoofing the ball over the pitch which by the thirty-eighth minute was looking like the Scots were running out of ideas already and the fans sitting around the ground weren't liking this and began to even jeer as this style of play seem to take over the game. To make matters worse, this bad bit of play from Scotland seem to only help encourage the USA to try and get into the Scottish half into the final moments of the first half and with just a minute to go 'till the end of the first half, Scottish hearts went into their mouths.

A bad cross from Pat Nevin to John Collins was captured by Eric Wynalda who went charging down the exposed Scottish left flank and the noise in the stadium rose from the American crowd and the fact he was totally none marked by none of the Scottish defenders out there mad the average Scot watching covering their eyes in horror as Wynalda slammed the ball towards the right of the Scottish goal in which it went right past the hands of Andy Goram and into the back of the net. It was in a Scottish mindset a bad goal to lose, especially near the end but for the Americans, it was just what they needed and in all fairness with how poor the Scots had gotten towards the end of the first half, it was deserved. To make matters worse in the second half, Scotland just never recovered from losing that goal and with several frustrating bookings later, the game would be a 1-1 and not the start Scotland had been hoping for with the stadium being filled with chants of 'USA!' by the home supporters while the Tartan Army booed off their players. They might've gotten a point, but it might've been a loss considering how the reaction might've been and for Roxburgh, it was back to the drawing board.

Roxburgh watching his side slump to a 1-1 draw
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Meanwhile on the same day Scotland played the USA, Wales' first game of the World Cup was to take place in Pasadena California, in which their fans had made the far flung journey out to the West Coast of America and even one certain Welsh actress by the name of Catherine Zeta-Jones was also there mixing among the many red shirted, sun drenched Welsh fans that were far away from home, but who's country was something of an unknown to the average American, especially on the West Coast and Zeta-Jones herself did her part to try and get everyone in the States to see who the Welsh were. Manager Terry Yorath was grateful for the support everyone in Wales was giving them, but playing out here in the heat with a fancied Columbian side look set to be a challenge and despite calls for Yorath to change the line up with some young blood, the Welsh manager had stuck by the ever fateful and long standing Ian Rush who he had chosen to be captain for their American challenge, though really him being giving that honour was only that this tournament was looking to be his final appearance at a World Cup and he was looking forward to end with something decent at the end...

Of the ninety thousand spectators at Pasadena's Rose Bowl, nearly half of them were all Welsh and many of them were trying their hardest to make the stadium their own, though as the players walked out on the pitch prior to the anthems, they might've noticed that their own supporters were still mesmerized by how big everything was out here in the States and was all quite a far contrast to the charms the Welsh league was use to. With Wales getting the honour of kicking of the game, the game began with the Welsh going all out on the attack with them showing how much it meant to be playing for their country at a World Cup, especially for the new comers like Ryan Giggs and Gary Speed playing in a World Cup for the first time. Columbia were doing well to hold of the spirited Welsh attacks, but in just six minutes, it was becoming clear that they might've underestimated Wales and it would be the men in red who would force the first corner of the game in that minute and many of the players gathered in the box awaiting for Giggs to take it. A minute later he crossed it into the box in which Perea tried to clear it out of the box but instead found the ball heading straight into the path of Dean Saunders who with a thumping strike sent the ball smashing into the bottom left of the Columbia's goal and sent every Welshman on a high.

The Columbian players and supporters couldn't believe what had happened for going down so soon and began to try and counter attack on the Welsh backline in which hardman Vinnie Jones introduced himself at a World Cup by performing a brutal tackle on Adolfo Valencia in the fifteenth minute nearly breaking the Columbian player's legs and the South Americans cried out for the referee to send off the Welsh defender. Yorath could only fall back on and sigh in dismay, after such a brilliant start, were they all going to throw it all away thanks to Vinnie Jones? The referee did show a card, but much to the shock of many, Jones got off with a yellow card and to say this didn't go down well with the Columbian players wanting a harsher punishment would be an understatement. Nonetheless the referee was unmoved, though to this day there are rumours that the referee would've given Vinnie Jones a red card if it wasn't for the apparent glare the Welsh defender had given him which caused him to quickly change his mind. As the game carried on, it was clear that Columbia weren't happy with how things were going as whenever the South Americans did get forward, they would be pushed back by the Welsh as they went on the attack too. A thrilling open game for the neutral no doubt though some would argue that the men in yellow deserved something in this game.

Saunders just before he scored Wales' opening goal at the World Cup​

Then in the 34th minute after quick a bit of back and forward on the field, Ryan Jones found himself shadowed by Escobar on his right trying to get the ball off him and knowing that he couldn't go toe-to-toe with the Columbian defender, he quickly passed the ball over to Ian Rush who, thirty yards out from the penalty area, decided to volley the shot on target and despite looking frankly impossible to score from there, Rush pulled off one of the goals of the tournament as the ball made a lovely curl into the top right of the net and put Wales on cruise control at 2-0 up. The roar from the large Welsh support in Pasadena over that goal pretty much was the feeling every Welsh supporter around the World must've felt there. He might've been over thirty and past his prime but Ian Rush did prove that age was never an issue with him as he still had to pull off some wonderful goals for his country. For Columbia, it was all starting to fall apart for them. There had been a fair bit of confidence for Columbia going into this World Cup that they might be able to do something in this tournament, but now one could feel the whole thing beginning to implode and now tensions were starting to show. Just two minutes after Rush's goal, Herrera made a rather stupid challenge on Gary Speed that got him a yellow card and that was not to be the last of Columbia's troubles.

That said, the Welsh weren't all that perfect from getting out of the gaze of the Syrian referee who in the thirty-ninth minute would book Saunders as he went to try and make an fancy move to whip the ball of the feet of Escobar and only succeeded in giving him a bruise shin and a yellow card. Nonetheless at the end of the first half, Wales were flying at 2-0 up with the poor Columbians looking lost and having not done their homework on how Wales would've played and would've quite honestly thought that they would be a mere pushover. Sadly for Columbia, prior to this World Cup being dubbed as one of the favourites prior, things were about to get much worse. In the sixty-seventh minute in which prior to that Wales had been playing steady against a clearly shell-shocked Columbian side, Leonel Álvarez tried to fire a shot on target, but instead went off Vinnie Jones in which the ball curled backwards in which Chris Coleman and Valencia battled for the ball in which the Welshman managed to win that minor battle as he sent the ball over towards Gary Speed who chased up the field with several Columbian defenders trying to chase him.

With two defenders trying to surround him and with no way to get further forward, he pulled off a rather remarkable 'Cruyff turn' to catch the defenders off guard and he played a long ball towards Saunders motioning him to bring the ball over in which he did. Once the ball landed near the Welsh forward's feet, he sent the ball flying forward to right side post of the goal in which it made a loud clunk sound before, much to his relief, going in the right direction into the back of the net. Wales were 3-0 up and while the goal was scored from absolutely no where, no Welsh person really cared for that as the start to their World Cup adventure was being marked in spectacular fashion with their now reignited fans roaring them on and chanting of wanting another goal. The Columbians though just looked so heartbroken and to the dismay of their supporters, the Columbian players just couldn't find the strength to mount an epic comeback and in the end, the only thing they could muster was a single goal by Valencia in the seventy-eighth minute which in the end would be final goal of the game. Yorath's men had, despite a ropey second half, played a brilliant game of football that set them up nicely for their anticipated clash with a certain old enemy within a few days time...

Vinnie Jones during the second half
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On June 22nd, the second group match of Group A would be fought between Wales and Scotland and the small rivalry that had started many years had by the late '90's had turned into something of a feud. Prior to the formation of the Welsh league in the mid 1980's, the Scots had taken pride that their league had the highest attendance for per head of population for any nation in Europe, that was until Wales came onto the scene and even though their attendance hadn't hit the highs of the Scottish league, it was getting closer with their teams doing well in Europe and so was the team, sometimes actually doing better than the Scots and the Welsh seem to take a cheeky delight in seeing the Scots suffer misfortune as akin to whenever the Scots felt the same for England. By the mid 1990's, Wales was now really becoming a true football nation and no longer really a team that decades ago Scotland would have happily beaten constantly was now longer guaranteed. This battle of Britain clash was to take place once again at Pontiac Silverdome with there being rumours of an apparent minor brawl that took place between some supporters though it seems that it was a hoax to try and create tension, though both set of fans were mostly well behaved though they'd be all lying if they saying that they had nothing to be fearful of.

When the teams headed out onto the field, it was quite a sight seeing one half of the stadium in red with the Welsh fans out in big numbers and equally on the other side of the ground with the Scots trying their best to out cheer on their side to win the match. For the managers, Roxburgh was a nervous man; he had just gone through a barrage of abusive from the press and fans over that game with the Americans and many had said that they should've done better, however getting victory over Wales would surely put all those words of criticism to bed. Roxburgh thought that the Scottish league was far greater than the new Welsh league and they had the history, attendance and honours to go with it. They existed not only on a different planet to them, but a different universe and despite the fact that Welsh football had been on the rise over the last decade he felt it was his duty to his country to try and show these Welshmen their place in the pecking order. The build up had all the blood and thunder passion from the fans with both anthems being booed but for those who were thinking the game itself was going to live up to that and the hype surrounding it for the last few months now, they were to be disappointed.

The Welsh were awarded the kick off and spent most of the early part of the game passing the ball sideways to each other without even trying to make an attempt at running forward. Wales' defenders were practically bad for doing this with the endless sideway passes not impressing fan and neutral alike, no doubt the TV pundits were going to have a difficult to describe the game if it was to go along like this and fans sitting round the TV in living rooms and pubs had to wonder if the hype was going to be this game's downfall. The Scottish players tried to get the ball of the red shirted players, yet they didn't seem to have any idea what to do and this was going to be a great concern for their manager. The Scots were frustrated and went out on the attack trying to look for the opening goal but at a cost were leaving large gaps at the gap for the Welsh to come at them and this nearly would lead to near disaster for Scotland as in the eleventh minute, Saunders ripped past through a slack Scottish defence and went to pass it to Ian Rush towards his right and with him being ten yards away from the box, he look set to score but to his dismay, he failed to connect with the ball properly and his shot on hit the post and went out for a Scottish goal kick.

Pat Nevin during the game with Wales​

Granted the Scots had been let off the hook by going a goal down , but it showed that the Scots were showing signs of weakness that weren't going to go down well with their traveling supporters. Roxburgh nearly lost the plot as he stood on the edge of the touch line and began to rant furiously at his players to get the defence sorted out by calling them almost every word under the sun to the point in which a random FIFA official went up to him and told him to get back otherwise he'd be sent to the stands. It wasn't going to plan at all. However there were signs that the Scots could find something as in the twenty-first minute, McCoist manage to get close to scoring but his shot went off the post and was so far the first attempt Scotland had to scoring. As the first half did progress, it did started to go more into the favour of the Scots once the players seem to figure out what the Welsh were trying to do and made sure that they held the ball for the best part of the game and hope the Welsh didn't try to get on it again. Yorath stood nearby Roxburgh and feared as their strange style of system that had worked out for them earlier was quickly getting ruined.

Just five minutes later, Scotland were awarded a corner and many of the players gathered in the box awaiting to get on the ball, though it was briefly delayed due to a brief argument between Vinnie Jones and Andy Goram in which the referee had to come in and give them warnings to keep cool, neither player would be booked and the corner kick went on. John Collins curled the ball in from the corner flag and watched it fall towards the penalty box and just leaping high enough over several of the players below, Pat Nevin got his head on the ball and managed to slam the ball into the left side of the net inside the goal and the Scottish Midfield player celebrated making a frantic yet triumph sprint over towards the Scottish dug out before embracing his manager in which many of his teammates followed to join in with the celebrations. The celebrations might've looked a bit over the top as they were playing a team that was, on paper, much inferior to them, though whenever you're team takes the lead that thought goes out of the window.

The Welsh players were left annoyed about going behind so soon and the only thing they could do was get back into their positions for the kick off from the centre circle while Welsh keeper Southall had to pick the ball out from his goal and kick it up the field. The goal itself did wonders to help energise the Scots as they began to hurt the Welsh on the flanks and began to create many chances to try and take the lead in the first half, a small smile appeared on Roxburgh's face, hopefully this could be the game in which they answered their critics and get one over those damn Welshman. The men in red did try to respond as best they could and despite not having much of a chance to get the ball, it would be ironically them that would come close during the 38th minute in which the wide open gaps of the Scottish defence came back to haunt everyone and Ryan Giggs would race on the Scottish left flank to quickly cross the ball into the box for Rush to get onto it. It was in a brilliant position for Rush to score and he dived in which he had an easy chance to take the lead again for Wales and Goram was in the wrong position to try and stop him.

Saunders during the game with Scotland​

To the dismay of the Welsh however, Rush missed the ball by what felt like a fraction of an inch and lay on his back in dismay wondering how'd he manage to miss that. The veteran centre forward had to wonder what had been wrong with him today, but he didn't get much of a chance to think about it when from the other end of the pitch just a minute later, the Scots made a counter charge following the goal kick from Goram. Paul McStay raced along with the ball while managing to pull off some fancy footwork to outwit Eric Young and Perry Jason before pass the ball to the feet of McCoist who went into the box with the ball and rather than pass it to his right, he instead back passed the ball to McCall right behind him and with a powerful volley, McCall buried the ball into the back of the net where it looked like it could've broke the netting. 2-0 for Scotland now. McCall raced over to a corner where a large group of Scottish supporters where and celebrated while sliding on his knees. What a turnaround from how poor things were in the first game, the Welsh all looked dismayed at how it was all going wrong now and to score like that before half time was going to be a sore one for them and the best they could do now was go on damage control and hoped the Scots didn't find a third goal in the dying moments of the first half, and it hadn't even gotten into the second half yet.

The first half would end with a wonderful score from the Scots leading 2-0 and one that many felt was very much deserved while the Welsh who after doing so well in their game with Columbia had ended up in such a losing state and had now a mountain to climb. Soon after the second half started, it wouldn't take long until further drama was to happen as Wales started off with more vigour and were making a few in rows to the Scottish box and Ian Rush in that minute would find himself racing towards the box and did managed to get right on the edge when Goram had to slid in to snatch the ball of the Welshman, in which Rush made a stumble into the box. Nonetheless many assumed it would yet another goal kick for the Scots, yet what followed from the referee can be best described, or spluttered in shock, by the ITV commentator, Brian Moor, over what happened next.

"A sliding save by Goram and...the referee blows his whistle--A penalty for Wales! I don't believe!" Like the rest watching in stunned amazement, the Scottish players raised their hands up in confusion and circle round the referee protesting on what was a very controversial choice. It was hard to make out if Rush had just been in the box or not when Goram made the save, the stumble from Rush possibly made the referee make his mind up quickly and the furious Scottish goalkeeper was left facing a yellow card shown to him by the Tunisian referee. McStay tried to keep protesting about it but it was no use as Paul Bodin prepared to take the penalty. Having scored the penalty that sent his country to the World Cup on that night against Romania, he seemed the right man to take this penalty. The Scotland fans around the stadium could only hope he'd miss or if Goram would save...anything but a goal would be fine. Up stepped Bodin and to the stunned amazement of many, Goram guessed correctly diving to the right and sent the ball for a goal kick. The Tartan Army could only roar in happiness over the save and the Scottish keeper had more or less redeemed himself over what had happened and some would argue that justice was served.

Bodin just prior to his penalty miss
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If the penalty miss was bad, things were all about to get far worse for the flagging Welsh. In the fifty-third minute, Paul McStay was located some forty yards away from the box with the ball on him and looked around for someone to take it as he couldn't get further with a mass of red shirts baring his way forward. Then he noticed McCoist running toward the box on his left while motioning him to send the ball over to him and with that, McStay duly applied. McCoist would connect his right boot on the ball and performing a spectacular one footed volley, McCoist send the ball flying past the hands of the unfortune Southall and into the back of the net, 3-0 for Scotland and surely no way back now for Wales. The iconic images of McCoist close by one of the advertising banners while being dogpiled by his teammates would be long remembered by many a Scottish football fan as that goal was surely one of the best Scottish goals ever seen at a World Cup next to a certain one in 1978.

For Wales, it was all coming down around them as they struggled to find a footing in the game with the frustrations getting to one of the Welsh players. Vinnie Jones hadn't been happy since the missed penalty and the third Scottish goal only made his tempers run high and it would all kick off just five minutes later. Jones would let his feelings out on an unsuspecting Ian Ferguson in which while the Scottish player had the ball, Jones would come up from behind and made a stupid sliding tackle to knock the Scot off his feet and caused everyone Scot in the stadium to cry foul for what had happened. The referee raced over to the scene and quickly pulled out a yellow card for Vinnie Jones and the look of angst on his face was seen as that meant with it being a second yellow following the Columbian game, he'd be now suspended for their final group game with the United States, a game that was now looking to be a must win for Wales to progress.

The Scots were now flying as they began to play with swagger and belief with the joy being expressed by their supporters being wildly seen, after all those results they had in previous World Cup games with the Welsh over the years, it felt like a ghost was being vanquished while from a Welsh perspective, it felt like it was bringing back the ghost of 1977. Wales tried their best to claw back a goal but the Scottish defence look set to shut up shop and put this game to bed and not only shut Wales out but had responded handsomely to that poor game with the USA with a victory that surely looked as though it had sent them through already. Roxburgh shook hands with a much disappointed Yorath and the Scottish manager felt his players had done more than enough to answer their critics and now all they needed to do now was beat the Columbians next and they'd be surely top of their group. For the Welsh, a like of wounds would have to be licked and wonder where it all went wrong. The Scottish fans celebrated long into the evening as they had putting the Welsh back where they felt they belonged...in their shadows.

Yorath at the 1994 World Cup
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The final two group games for both Home Nations would be played at the same time on June 26th and to say things were tight would be an understatement. Following the USA's own shock victory over Columbia which pretty much eliminated the South Americans from the World Cup, it was now a three horse race in which they as well as the two British teams all had a chance of reaching the next round. Following their big victory over the Welsh, Scotland had gotten four points and surely just enough to reach the knockout stage while Wales still only had three points and Yorath had noted that three points might've been enough even for them to go through thanks the freakish way the draw for the best third place team was carried out, however he didn't want his players to go through all that and drilled his players to go all out for the win. The Welsh players and fans had made the trip back to Pasadena which was starting to feel like a home ground for them and the locals themselves seemed keen to know more about Wales and who they were.

Great ambassadors for Wales the players were, but when they walked out onto that sun kissed Rose Bowl stadium, the atmosphere was electric and the Americans, despite no one thinking much of their own chances, they too had a good chance for going through. Now the USA hoped to take the chance of taking advantage of a Welsh side that had been left shaken by their loss to Scotland. There was also the unfortunate situation of Vinnie Jones being suspended for the game and the only chance he could play again in the tournament was providing his teammates could get into the second round. But for now, all he could do was sit on the bench with his teammates and watch the game take place. Taking his place in the starting XI would be Luton Town player Ceri Hughes and some doubted if he'd be up to task helping his country get further in the tournament, still the World Cup always gave chances for unknown players to make their mark and he was determine to prove his worth.

Despite the pressure on Wales, the men in red surprised everyone as from the start of the opening whistle, the Welsh quickly got into the game as they began making many probing attempts into the American defence and with the way they were playing, you would've have thought that this team had suffered a humiliating loss to the Scots. All this early pressure led Wales to get the first corner of the game in the 5th minute and although the ball was thumped away by Tony Meola out of the box, it landed near the feet of Welsh captain Barry Horne and he volleyed the ball into the top left of the goal, but yet the American keeper somehow managed to just keep it out and for yet another corner for Wales. The second attempt at the corner was a close one as Welsh defender Kit Symons nearly headed the ball into the roof of the net, but the ball scraped off the crossbar and would go out for a goal kick. All this good early work from Wales made Yorath smile, this was the sort of work he wanted his players to keep doing and they were performing perhaps the best they had been at this World Cup, all that was missing was a goal. Then in the thirteenth minute, Wales were awarded yet another corner from the right and Horne was up to take it. The ball swung around into the penalty box and leaping up just above the rest of everyone else, Symons would get his head onto the ball and sent the ball into the bottom left of the goal with thunderous header. GOAL!

Symons celebrates after scoring for Wales
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At the same time as Wales was playing and in contrast to how well Wales had started their game, Scotland were struggling to get into the game and while after twenty minutes the score might've been still 0-0, it had all been going Columbia's way. The South Americans may have been out and had sadly suffered a lot of bad luck and now were simply playing for pride, but yet had still the slightest of chances of going through if results went their way and they could score a lot of goals against the Scots though it was highly unlikely. The heat of the Californian sun in Stanford wasn't really what the Scots wanted and it undoubtedly suited the Columbians very well as they made a good few chances with either the ball going post the crossbar, post or landing in the hands of Andy Goram. Despite the searing heat however, Scotland manager Roxburgh had with him a certain tartan scarf that some would remember he used at Italia '90 and he had brought it out here for luck in the hopes of getting a result, though so far in this game it wasn't coming to anything, didn't his players know how important results elsewhere for them if they were to lose?

He had heard that the Welsh were a goal up which meant as things stood, Wales would be finishing on top of the group and Scotland would end up as runners up. Not a bad things by all standards, but if his side was to lose this and the Americans were to get a goal back in that game, things would then look really hairy for them and that wasn't including the horror show the Scots were putting on for their fans. Columbian captain Valderrama managed in the twenty-third minute to rifle a powerful volley that went past all the Scottish defenders and slammed home into the back of the net, but just as the Columbian players and fans started celebrating, the referee had quickly blew his whistle for that goal being offside and pointed for a goal kick for the Scots. It was rather unfair that the goal had been ruled offside and giving how much the South Americans had been performing, they surely deserved a goal by now. Nonetheless for the Scots, Valderrama's offside goal was just what Scotland needed to kick start them back into this game.

Scotland began to push the Columbians back in their attempt to try and find an unlikely goal and slowly but surely, the Scots managed to get their foot into the game as the offside goal had made the Columbians annoyed and were starting to make some stupid fouls on the Scottish players. In the twenty-seventh minute, Valderrama would foul Scottish captain Paul McStay down on the right of the field some twenty yards away from the halfway line and would get the first booking of the game and subsequently awarded Scotland with a free kick with Gordon Durie down to try and take it from such a distance. He manage to fire the ball nearby the penalty area in which McCoist attempt to fire on target but it was prevented by Mendoza leaping into the air inside the box to try and stop it going further. However he had accidently had his hand up too and the ball just so happened to hit his left hand and several of the Scottish players nearby who saw this all raised their hands up in the air shouting to the referee for a penalty and so too did the fans behind the goal who roared wanting it too. Sure enough, the Danish referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot, penalty.

Durie during the game with Columbia​

This caused cheers from the Scotland fans but anger from the Columbians as they surrounded the referee trying to prove that what Mendoza did was an accident and even claim that McCoist sent the ball on purpose at Mendoza's hand in order to try and win the penalty. All that did happen was the Columbian defender getting a yellow card for his actions and wonder what did he had to do deserve this. To take the penalty would be the ever faithful Ally McCoist who walked up to the spot where he placed the ball onto the spot as he awaited the referee for him to blow his whistle and for him to go. McCoist though had to wait a bit as the referee still had to calm down some of the angry Columbian players over his choice, but after a few tantrums were calmed down, McCoist was given the all clear. With a thunderous strike hitting the roof of the net and sending the Columbian keeper, Córdoba, to the right, Scotland had manage to get out in front and while the players and their fans celebrated.

Many Columbians and even a few neutrals would argue that the Scots didn't deserve their lead and that maybe the South American side was being cheated. The truth was that Columbia had despite all the good work they showed in the early part of the game, had been wasteful and now the Scots had punished them for it. News of Scotland's opening goal didn't go unnoticed as over in California as the Welsh fans got word of the goal and now their loud singing and chanting had gone quite silent as doubts were starting to creep in for the final outcome of how the group stage might look if things were to remain the same as they were. As things now stood, Scotland would top the group with seven points, Wales in second place with six, USA in third with four and Columbia with a single point. Wales still had time to add more to their lead, but yet by the time the forty-fourth minute rolled around, it was still at 1-0 for them and by now, the Americans had started to add pressure on the Welsh who seem to underestimate the United States' determination to get something from this, even going close to scoring at one point via a Earnie Stewart volley in the thirty-second minute.

Three minutes of added time would be granted as the first half neared it's end and in the first minute of it, Paul Bodin made a tackle on Tab Ramos some thirty yards from the penalty box which saw the Welsh defender get a yellow card and free kick for the Americans in a very good area to find a goal. John Harkes fired it into the box and on the other end, American defender Paul Caligiuri would leap up to get his head on the ball and sent the ball racing past the hands of Southall to give the United States a deserved equaliser in dramatic fashion. It was game on and the Welsh players would have to wonder how on earth did they throw away their lead away like that? The final whistle for the first half would be blown and the players trotted off the field with the United States being the more happier of the two. The Welsh players had a look of fury within them, they should've been beating the Americans by a number of goals but instead they had shot themselves in the foot with that late goal from the Americans. The second half was now to follow for Wales to get something from this.

Caligiuri celebrates with his teammates with his goal over Wales
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Just after the first half came to an end, the news of the United State's late goal was heard over in Stanford in which was good news for Scotland knowing that they would finish top of the group regardless while Columbia needed Wales to beat the Americans to have any chance and that wasn't including trying beat Scotland in which they felt they had been robbed in that first half and now as the second half began, they began to turn the pressure up on the Scots. A lot of good open play followed from both sides as they went all at it looking for a goal that could decide the match. Then just three minutes into the second half Columbia were awarded a corner kick and it was sweetly taken and Lozano got his head onto the ball in which headed straight for goal, but Goram, who was playing the game of his life, managed to catch the ball and make sure it didn't go anywhere else. It was very close, but the Columbians were banging on the door for a goal and looking likely to score.

Then in the fifty-second minute, The Columbians came at the Scots again and this time, Asprilla ran towards the outside of the Scottish box and saw Paul McStay coming up behind him with Tom Boyd coming towards him on his left and Asprilla made a sneaky back pass towards Gaviria who had outrun the other Scottish defenders and had made his way into the box where without any problems thumped home the ball into the back of the Scottish net and give the Columbians their deserved goal. Game on. The previously worried Welsh fans were now suddenly reacting enthusiastically over the news of the Columbian goal as the group was now looking very tight with Scotland and the United States tied with the Scots only leading on goal difference with the Welsh now down to third place on three points and even Columbia were hot on their tails now being on two points. Wales knew that if they could win here, they'd shoot to the top of the group and only hoped that the spirted Americans would run out of steam, however the USA was clearly running on adrenalin and they were clearly putting up a good fight for the Welsh. Ian Rush between stops in the game had to catch his breath and wipe sweat off his forehead, he clearly wasn't looking at his best here.

The Liverpool payer might've gone on many European adventures with the club to some hot places, but even the Californian heat and humidity was getting to him and he would look over towards the Welsh bench and could see Yorath telling Nathen Blake to start warming up, most likely the Welsh manager was planning on taking off Rush. The experience Welsh player would motion to his manager not to bother as he struggled on trying to help his side get something in which they gradually began to run down the brave Americans. Indeed in the sixty seventh minute, Rush from near the half way line went and tried an ambitious shot which looked ludicrous to try from there, however the ball travelled at great length and curled down towards the goal and a gasp be felt around the Rose Bowl as it came close, however Meola punched it back over to one of the defenders and not surprisingly got a standing ovation from the American supporters for such a brave save. Rush cursed his luck, he had come so close what could've not only been the winner, but also perhaps the goal of the tournament. One thing was for sure, Rush was far from out of this for sure.

Rush during the final game with the USA
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Wales had began to push the Americans far back into their own half and with now just half an hour left to play, surely they had to score with them now throwing absolutely everything forward. Time felt like it was going fast as the Welsh fans were listening in on their radios to hear about any result from Stanford, last time everyone had heard, it was still tied 1-1 and it had been a scrappy game there that look set to be a draw, Wales simply had to take the advantage here. Yorath would make a change with fifteen minutes left but rather than take off Ian Rush as many would've thought, he instead took off Jason Bowen and replaced him with the expected Blake as he hope to make his mark. Sadly a lot of the Welsh players such as Giggs, Horne and Speed hadn't really much of an impact in the game as they clearly weren't doing all that well in the heat and were growing increasingly tired from it all. Just ten minutes to go, Giggs did try a moment of glory by nutmegging Marcelo Balboa and went on a one man attack at the goal in which was knocked away by that goalkeeper of theirs, a corner kick just two minutes later led to nothing as it was easily caught and thrown over to one of his teammates. Wales truly deserved something here, to come away with a draw or, God forbid, a loss would be almost criminal.

In the 83rd minute, Mark Hughes thought he had scored as the ball managed to get under the body of a diving Meola but was oddly ruled offside and by then, time was really starting to run out. The tension of the Welsh fans up in the stands was evident as some started praying, sung loudly 'Land of my Fathers' or yelled their team to get into it. After a whole half in which felt like the Welsh dominated, it was still tied after ninety minutes and five minutes of added time would be included, it was now and never that when Wales got a corner in the second minute of added time, Yorath ordered Southall to run up from goal and get into position to do something. The ball was shot and Ian Rush, despite his age, used whatever he had within him to leap higher than everyone there and with the side of his head, hammered the ball home into the bottom right of the net and a wave of madness followed by a deafening roar from the Welsh fans...GOAL! Rush couldn't contain himself and made a mad dash over towards the Welsh fans while he whipped off his now sweaty shirt and waved it round like a mad man. By God had they deserved it and his teammates all followed suit in which Rush found himself being dogpiled by his teammates. A celebration that would be remembered by many a Welshman.

The American players and fans were left devastated, they had come so close to getting a point and now they had lost the game. Once the game restarted, the United States seem to lose all their confidence and just couldn't respond right when the final whistle was blown. Wales had won 2-1 and while it was deserved, they had gone about it the hard way but victory now saw Wales top the group with six points, Scotland finished as runners up with five points after that game ended in a 1-1 draw which in the end became a snooze fest and really had nothing to report about. The United States finished in third place with four points and yet still had a chance to go through providing other results went their way. It had been a tight group and both British teams were more than happy to go through with knowledge that they could relax in preparation for whatever game would follow next. While Wales waited to know who they'd face next, Scotland were to find out that in the second round that they were to be facing an auld enemy...

View attachment 735362
Final results of Scotland and Wales' group at the 1994 World Cup
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Phew, that's that done and here we are with us in the USA! Pretty much the same scores from the old TL with a few changes and tweaks to clean it up along with wiki boxes in which the old TL didn't have. Anyway hope you enjoyed this big update and there is one change from the old TL and that is that Germany qualify here in which they pretty much take Norway's OTL place here and if you are interested...
View attachment 735431
So yeah, bit of a shock for the Germans though given how that was a hellish group and how the team was starting to go on the decline at this point, fairly plausible that this would have happened to them. So then, now we go into the last 16 fixtures as follows:
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Wales vs Argentina

Saudi Arabia vs Sweden

Netherlands vs Republic of Ireland

United States vs Brazil

Mexico vs Bulgaria

Spain vs Romania

Nigeria vs Italy

England vs Scotland
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So then, you know the routine, who do you think will win and why. See you all for the next update!

I've seen England face off against Scotland in a 1994 World Cup ATL Round of 16 before, so I know that England may lose this one.

 

[NTF aka Seb]

Wales v Argentina (marginal win for the Argentines)
Saudi Arabia v Sweden (just as in OTL, I see. Thank you )
Netherlands v Republic of Ireland (Irish goalkeeper was unfortunate to commit an error in this important match, as IOTL)
Unites States v Brazil (as OTL)
Mexico v Bulgaria (as OTL)
Spain v Romania (Romania was simply a bit better than Spain back then. USA '94 offered the most interesting collection of golden generations)
Nigeria v Italy (narrow win for Italy, but this Nigerian side was arguably the best ever African side at a World Cup)
England v Scotland (Don't let the scoreline of 1-0 fool you; this match was highly entertaining)

 

[Unknown]

My picks: Argentina, Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Brazil, Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, and England...

On a side note, at least FIFA didn't schedule any World Cup qualifying matches on November 24th (Thanksgiving in the United States)--they would be hammered in the ratings, since the Lions and Cowboys play on that date...

 

[QTXAdsy]

Chapter 57
Our Greatest Moment
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Those living in the United States capital city on July 2nd would've been stunned by the sheer number of Brits making their presence felt in Washington (well, English and Scots to be exact) and didn't know what would happen when the two oldest football nations would clash again for the first time in many. many years. Ever since the end of the annual Home International in 1975 which also brought about the end of the traditional end of season clash between England and Scotland, supporters on both sides had to put up with lucky draws in which the two might have played in either a World Cup or European Championship. Granted there had been by this point several times they had faced each other a further five times with England winning on four of those occasions with the Scots having never gotten a victory over the auld enemy since 1978.

Nonetheless, both sides wondered when they'd ever meet again and the closest they had gotten to face each other was the last World Cup in which had Scotland defeated West Germany in that Quarter-final then it would have been them who would've faced England in the Semis there. Given how England went on to win the World Cup that year, it does remain a painful 'what if' for many of the Tartan Army though the hopes of repeating another Wembley 1967 of defeating the World Champions that could send them out of the World Cup was a tempting one to say the least. Alas the day had finally come as the two sets of supporters made their way to RFK Stadium that sat nearby in the shadows of the White House and yet despite the hype for the game being there in the British press, the response from the supporters was oddly lukewarm as neither side in this World Cup hadn't really made much of an impression; Scotland's 3-0 thrashing of Wales was seen as a mere fluke of a good result in a sea of dross results with Columbia and the United States, and the less said about the reaction of England's games the better. Roxburgh and Taylor shook hands with each other prior to the anthems being played (which both Flower of Scotland and Jerusalem (having been adopted by the FA following a wave of English pride following their World Cup victory) were booed by both sets of supporters sadly) and prepared for the game to kick off.

It was thought an impressive sight to see the stadium packed out with Scottish supporters on one side and the English on the other and with the colour they both brought to this game, both managers had to hope that their respected teams would be able to repay them with a result that would make it worth their while and this game was more than just a mere last sixteen encounter. Whoever won this game would be the one that would make it up for the poor show they had both done at this tournament while the other would go home in disgrace and neither wanted to lose. Taylor was under extra pressure for his side to do well and victory over the Scots would surely be enough for him to starve off the criticism while Roxburgh knew a victory over England, the World Champions, at the World Cup and also the thought of knocking them out would immortalise him and this Scotland side for years to come. Either way, both managers had a feeling deep down that not only would this match be the last time they'd face each other with their countries at a World Cup but also perhaps the last time they would manage their national teams. As a record TV audience of twenty-four million tuned in across in the UK to watch the game live that Saturday evening at 9:30pm, the largest viewing figures of the year at home, the sense of occasion was there and in many living rooms and pubs in the country. Many had began drinking into their beers nervously as to lose here to your oldest and arch rival would be a humiliation. The poor form of either side in the group stage was forgotten about as it was clear among both sets of supporters that neither fancied their chances at this tournament and that this game would be the real final for many.

The Scotland team pose for photos just before the game will begin​

The humidity of the Washington and the very British 4-4-2 system that both sides had adopted for this game didn't make the first part of the game anything special with there being quite a bit of handbag flying moments mostly with one moment in the sixth minute when Tom Boyd stopped Ian Wright from going anyway by knocking the ball out of field. While there wasn't anything that could seen as a foul there, the two players suddenly got right up into each other's faces and the Dutch referee had to get in and pull the two players apart from what looked like a playground argument rather than a fight. Nonetheless, the sense of occasion seemed to have gotten to both players. The game itself though would come to life in the eighth minute when David Batty ran through a gap in the Scottish defence and had made his way into the Scottish penalty area and in came Toy Boyd attempting to make a slide tackle to clear the ball off the Englishman's feet and hopefully send it over towards Craig Levein were he hopefully could send it away, unfortunately his timing on the tackle was off and instead sent Batty tumbling to the ground and all eyes fell on the referee as no one didn't need to think what was to follow next...

Boyd found himself getting a yellow card and Alan Shearer would step up to take the penalty and Roxburgh on the touchline found himself face palming, this was the last thing he wanted and the only thing that he could be positive about was that Boyd hadn't been sent off. His English counterpart though stood on the touchline intently watching as Shearer awaited to get the all clear from the referee, once the whistle was blown and Shearer ran up, Taylor muttered to himself, "Hammer it home!" And Shearer did as he sent Goram the wrong way and smashed the ball into the top right of the net and England were up and running in this game. The Scottish support seemed to lose their voice in that moment as their English rivals now started to completely out chant and goad the Tartan Army to no end, and this was also reflected on the field as England started to turn the screw on the Scots and Taylor felt in that moment that for once at this World Cup he could relax and sat himself down on the bench with his assistant coaches and others. Roxburgh on the other hand was telling his players to, for some strange reason, move the ball off field and force England off and win a thrown in. What this was in fact was a plan by Roxburgh to try and use long throw in's and try and make sure the English wouldn't get close onto the ball.

In the seventeenth minute, Pat Nevin chucked the ball at a great length over towards the penalty box with Ally McCoist and Tony Adams both leaping up in the air trying to get their heads on it and it would be the later that would succeed and the English centre back headed the ball towards the half way point. The ball though landed right at the feet of a surprised Paul McStay who saw that behind McCoist there was Andy Walker and unlike McCoist, he'd have no English player near him and thus quickly crossed the ball to Walker who with a sweet one footed volley, saw the ball roaring past Seaman and to the utter astonishment of many and especially the Tartan Army, Scotland we're back in this game. England had been dominating since that opening penalty and it looked highly unlikely that the Scots would get back into this, but totally against the run of play and from out of nowhere, Scotland had sucker punched England. It was now the Scots out chanting the English supporters and Taylor getting off the bench to shout orders to the players for what to do next, though he was sure his guys knew what to do to stamp out this unlikely Scottish revival. Roxburgh on the other hand didn't celebrate when the goal went in but instead just smiled that their strange plan had worked a treat there, not they had to keep doing it to turn the game further on it's head.

Early clashes during the opening parts of the game
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One main concern that happens to a team that have been ahead only to see their lead cancelled out can be a dangerous time and doubts start creeping in and that is not including the momentum that the other team gets from that goal and from that Andy Walker goal, Scotland had started asking England questions and the Englishman were making some silly mistakes such as bad passes that failed to connect with a teammate, cueing much groans from the England fans watching and prayed hope that Walker's goal was the worse that could happen for them in this game. Instead England quickly began to lose their cool, looked confused and without a plan, Scotland sense their chance and their midfield quartered of players began cutting great strides into the English backline and that plan of forcing England's players off for throw in's was paying off, more so that now England were rocking. In the twenty-third minute, Ian Fergusson quickly threw the ball over towards John Collins racing by who thumped the ball towards Gary McAllister and in turned raced towards the right side edge of the English penalty box and he found himself barred by Stuart Pierce and Rob Jones trying to stop him. McAllister glanced quickly behind him to see McCoist some feet away from and raised his hand for him to get the ball and with a cheeky back pass, McAllister did just that in which McCoist fired the ball into the bottom left of the English goal and while Seaman did dive the right way, he failed to get his gloves on the ball and to his and his fellow countrymen's dismay, the Scots were ahead against the World Champions.

The American police keeping an eye on the Scots felt the full force of wild celebrations up on the terraces and they all gave each other concerned looks and the thought of a pitch invasion judging by how much of a high the Tartan Army was on, and that wasn't including the fact that they could smell the whisky from that part of the ground. The English supporters were shocked into silence could only watch wide eyed with hands on their head as they witnessed McCoist racing towards the Scottish bench to see him embrace Roxburgh and be followed by his teammates to show him their congratulations. Once the shock wore off, the England fans found their voice and jeered venomously at their players and shouted all sorts of profanity at them to express their displeasure. England did wake up though and began to try and find their way back into this game, though with the Scots now with great momentum behind them, the game had now opened up into quite an end to end game that carried on. Some would argue that Scotland were lucky to get those two goals as they were in fact the only two shots on goal that Scotland had which did show that maybe the English were a bit unfortunate to now be behind, though in truth it could be that they had underestimated the determination of the Scots and another argument would be that the Scots deserved their lead for such determination.

"Hold it, hold it!" Would become frankly the only thing that the Scottish manager would say whenever a dark blue shirted player would get on the ball and rather than try and send his players in for the kill to take advantage of a now flustered England, he wanted to try and frustrate them and keep the score like that towards the end of the first half as a way of pouring salt into the wound for England to show them who was in front. There was now a bit of swagger with the Scots as did as much as they could whenever they had the ball and the Scottish supporters did their part too by booing whenever and English player got a foot on the ball. It would prove to be a frustrating half for England following them going behind as they tried all they could to get back in front and the closest they had to getting back into the game was a Paul Merson volley that went flying over the bar and into the goading Scots fans cheering as the ball landed up in the stands. The referee would blow for the first time to end and a mixture of cheers and boos followed as both teams headed off down the tunnel with another forty-five minutes to play and for one manager, keep their job...

A satisfied Roxburgh watches as the first half nears it's end

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The second half began just like how the first half began; England dominating the ball. Taylor had went into a big rant at his players in the dressing room telling them to fight back and find two goals to save themselves. Despite England looking the better team here, they just couldn't seem to find the back of the net as either they'd miss a shot, a Scottish player got in the way or Goram doing his best to keep the ball out. The England fans were rather subdued and just couldn't believe the turn of events that had happened, they as World Champions could go crashing out to the Scots? It was starting to look like a very real prospect as the minutes ticked by and England were wasting chances galore while the Scottish players seemed more than happy to defend in the second half. This might've good for the Scottish fans yet there was a few that would've liked Scotland to find a third goal and kill this game off, however Scotland hadn't really had a chance at the goal as they found themselves pushed back into their own half as England tried all they could to find that equaliser. forty minutes to go, the only thing of note was that a rare bit of teamwork from England saw Wright trying to break the offside trap but found himself caught by the flag and another chance for England had gone up in smoke. thirty-five minutes to go and more problems were starting to show for England in which their players started to panic and they started to not play as a team but as individuals.

Now with just half an hour to go and Scotland, after finding themselves stuck in their half for a while now, make a rare attempt on the counter in which McCoist goes on the run with Rob Jones hot on his tail and does a long ball shot over towards Ian Ferguson who tries to pull of a spectacle of a header by leaping forward doing perhaps his best Superman pose as he managed to connect with the ball. Sadly for him the ball is saved by Seaman and Ferguson only succeeds in doing a belly flop slamming against the ground and knocking the wind out of him, giving a bit of rare joy to the currently desperate England fans who are now trying to find anything to be joyful about. Apart from a booking in the sixty-sixth minute for Stevie Clarke making a tackle on Ian Wright from getting further, nothing else really has happened with England dominating but yet failing to make any decent chances in finding a goal, even their corner kicks (now counting at five in the second half alone) have all come to nothing and it is there that the first sense of victory starts to creep into the minds of the Tartan Army who keep checking the clock wondering how much time is left and so too do the England fans knowing that time is starting to run out for them.

Within the final ten minutes of the game, the Tartan army began a melody of chants to express their joy for what looked so not only a long awaited victory over the Auld Enemy at long last, but a famous World Cup result that would be remembered for years for many Scotsman in that stadium. Some England fans in the eighty-third minute were now so displeased that some started to turn to the exits not wanting to watch more of what was on show, but not without the smug Scotland fans now chanting 'cheerio!' at them as they left. The best thing that the Scottish players could do now was to simply hang on to their lead which had felt like they'd been doing this for hours. Roxburgh could see many of the players looked knackered and had put up so much in this game and would make another change with McCoist going off for Duncan Ferguson to make a late appearance. Even then, the English players looked like they had given up and had the expressions of wanting to just end this game and go home, and a few unimpressive minutes later, they got that when the final whistle was heard and was quickly drowned out by the roar of the Scotland fans. Yes, they had done it, Scotland had defeated England and in doing so had knocked out the World Champions.

McCall congratulates McCoist after their victory over England at the 1994 World Cup​

Roxburgh went over to shake hands with Taylor and the England manager would have nowhere to go after this than to resign, his final game in charge of England being a loss at the hands of the Scots at the World Cup, quite a humiliating thought for any proud Englishman. Roxburgh didn't have much time to celebrate when he was grabbed by several of his euphoric players and was carried on their shoulders and was presented towards an equally euphonic set of supporters who were to have a long party into the early hours in Washington. World Cup final or not, it did feel like one and Roxburgh raised his hands in the air like a victorious conqueror and any Scottish victory over England always felt like that. Many would argue where this result ranked among Scottish victories over England with it either being better than 1967 or not (a reflective retrospect would state that 1967 was better as then England hadn't been beaten until then while in 1994 the English had already been beaten by Spain which might have taking some of the shine off). Either way, Scotland had knocked out the World Champions and who could blame them for feeling so delighted? Truely as McCoist would say in post match interview, "Our Greatest Moment".

On the other end of the spectrum, the England players either laid or sat on the ground or had their hands on their head in despair; they had lost their grip on the World Cup and they were never going to hear it now from the Scots and any England fan left in the stadium could only sit there and ponder just where had it all gone wrong for them. Regardless, the Taylor era of England was over in which Taylor's time with the national team would be sadly looked on as nothing more than a mere footnote but there was still more to be had from the Scots as they licked their lips with an eventual mouth watering clash with the Italians over in Foxborough. Now all eyes looked towards the Welsh over in Pasadena...

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Despite the fact that Ian Rush and Diego Maradona came from two countries on different sides of the World and differed in fame, but the two shared a lot in common. They were both the star men for their respected national sides, had won a lot of silverware at club level, had made their World Cup debut and lastly, this tournament was expected to be the final appearance for either of them at the World Cup. The fact that the two would finally meet on the playing field for their countries did bring a bit of media attention on this game, especially in Wales in which a record TV audience was expected to tune in to watch Wales' second round encounter with Argentina. Though the much hyped first meeting of Rush and Maradona nearly didn't happen mainly due to the later. While there had a been an exciting build up to the match, it had been overshadowed by a strange sense of controversy of Maradona himself. He had been instrumental in helping his country in making a dream start in this World Cup (ignoring a nearly disastrous qualifying campaign that almost saw them fail to qualify) and it look set that the South Americans would be on their way to get their hands on the trophy for 1994, however in their final group game things didn't go to plan as they lost 2-0 to surprise package Bulgaria due Maradona being suspended for suspected drug use.

During his celebration over his goal against Greece, something in his celebration made some top FIFA officials suspect something and forced him to sit out the Bulgaria on suspicion he was using ethendrine. However to the surprise of many and despite performing rigorous tests, it came as a surprise to many that the Argentinian was found to be clean and rather reluctantly, he was allowed to take part in the game with the Welsh. While it was no secret that Maradona had spent time with drugs, it was however in the aftermath of the heart breaking loss to England in the final that caused Maradona to be motivated for one last push to end his international football days on a high and had wisely decided to stay away from any sort of drug. Looking back on his brief suspension, it would be as an utter farce that proved to be a waste of time for most of the world and for Maradona, his teammates and the rest in Argentina, it only fuelled conspiracy theories that this was done as a ploy to try and prevent Argentina for doing well after their run in the last few World Cups. Wherever this was true or not, no one would really know, but what mattered was that Maradona was back in the Argentine team as he and his teammates prepared to do battle with the plucky Welsh.

As the two sides walked out onto a sun kissed pitch at Pasadena's Rose Bowl, many eyes were focused on Rush and Maradona, the two captains, as they led their sides out to do battle. Following the anthems, handshakes were carried out between managers Terry Yorath and his Argentinian counterpart, Alfio Basile, as they wished each other well and also between the two captains on the centre circle alongside the Italian referee. There was something rather bittersweet watching the two veteran captains shake hands knowing that one of them would end their World Cup playing days here and neither wanted it all to end. When the game first kicked off, many assumed after all the hullabaloo surrounding the Argentines after the whole Maradona affair would come out flying with a point to prove by stamping all over the Welsh who many in Argentina didn't really think had a chance, more like a nuisance in the way for the Quarter finals. However it was Basile who thought otherwise not to underestimate the Welsh as although they had honours, crowd sizes and the star players that pretty much crushed the men in red, he had been aware of the Welsh league's short but nonetheless impressive rise in the few years it had existed at this point.

Snapshot of some of the Welsh players during the national anthems prior to their game with Argentina​

For example during this season's UEFA Champions League, Swansea became the first club from Wales to reach the group stage of that tournament while knocking out Cork City, Galatasaray and a big victory over Manchester United to get there and who had seen that coming? There were even rumours of some of the players in his squad that were going to take a chance and play for one of the Welsh clubs, an idea that would've been laughed at into oblivion just a few years before just how silly it sounded but then again it is amazing what can change within a few years. As the game started, Argentina started off as the more promising team as they probed the Welsh defence to find an early goal, but Wales were more than happy to fend off the early Argentine attacks on their defence and there was the odd occasion when either Rush, Giggs or Bowen to go on the counter. After ten minutes of attacks from Argentina, Wales managed to find their footing in the game and the game would turn out to be a surprisingly open game with either side really going for it with millions watching expecting their to be plenty of goals in this match by the amount of chances that were taking place, but they did had to wonder just when the first goal or goals would arrive.

While the game's main focused had been on Maradona and Rush, they would find themselves with the spotlight on them as interested seemed to focus on the antics of Welsh midfielder Vinnie Jones and Argentine defender Oscar Ruggeri is it all started in the fourteenth minute in which Ruggeri pulled of an excellent sliding tackle on Jones that saw the Welsh player lose the ball and while it could be seen as a bit of excellent football from the Argentina player, the Welsh (or truth be told English) hard man had been working on something during his suspension from the United States game, he had been bizarrely learning Spanish insults during his spare time. This might've seemed like the most oddest and by far the last thing one would expect at a World Cup especially it being Vinnie Jones of all people, but then again this was Vinnie Jones and he had gotten the reputation of winding up opposing players at club level and now he was planning to show it off on the world stage.

After getting up and seeing Ruggeri about to trot off, he called out on the defender and said, "¡Mi abuelita podría hacerlo mejor!"

The Argentinian defender had to double take when he heard that and was not expecting to hear the Welsh player trying to call him out in his native tongue and it would not be the last time in this game that the two players would clash. In the seventeenth minute though, the first shot on goal fell to Argentina as Maradona managed to set up the ball outside the Welsh penalty area as he sent the ball over towards Abel Balbo in which he went to volley on for goal, but Welsh keeper Neville Southall made a dive to the right to catch the ball and stop the South Americans taking the lead. Not long afterwards in the nineteenth minute, Ryan Giggs nearly caught Argentina unaware though his shot instead hit the crossbar and out for an Argentine goal kick.

Abel Balbo wondering when his goal scoring chance might happen during the first half with Wales
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Vinnie Jones though would be up to his antics again as when Ruggeri tried to knock the ball up to one of his teammates in the twenty-fourth minute, Jones rushed in to force the Argentine off for a throw in for Wales. The two men glared at each other and the referee blew for them to stop what they might've been planned on doing. Jones gave the Argentine vice captain a cheeky grin and even had the urge to flip the bird at him, but probably thought otherwise not to do that. Ruggeri though would find himself get a yellow card in the thirty-third minute but funnily enough it would have nothing to do with Vinnie Jones but rather Ryan Giggs who he tried to slide tackle like he did earlier, but only clipped his legs and brought the Welsh midfielder hitting the deck and flat on his face, it would seem that Vinnie Jones' plan of winding up the opposing player was starting to have the desired effect.

The game itself then for the rest of the first half didn't really show anything exciting and even both Maradona and Rush were having an unusually backseat role in which neither couldn't really get on the ball to help their respected sides out as it seemed all to be happening in the midfield. The chants and noise from the crowd as the mix of Argentine, Welsh and curious locals were starting to find the game to be a rather boring encounter as they all wanted goals. There was though one bright shining moment in which Ian Rush suddenly appeared when Wales had their first corner of the game in the forty-first minute and he almost headed the ball sweetly towards goal, but only could see to his dismay the ball smacking the crossbar yet again for Wales.

By then many were checking their watches and those watching on TV might've been tempted to stop watching the game and look out for another game, at least the match with Sweden and Saudi Arabia had a few goals in that one. The anti-climax of the first half eventually came to be boring end in which the score was still level at 0-0, Argentine supporters were unimpressed that their players hadn't really spanked the Welsh while the Welsh were thinking that they had wasted a few good chances in the first half and that now Argentina would be fired up for the second half. Nonetheless the one thing that both managers would share an opinion on was that both needed to do better and that was what they had to do prior to the second half, surely those spectators standing there in the boiling hot sun all deserved better?

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Despite fears from the Welsh supporters that they were about to face the wrath of Argentina, they were surprised to see that their team seemed more than happy to not buckle under such pressure as they went on playing their sideways pass to each other that seemed to confuse the Argentine players. This boring style of play was all part of a plan to lead the opposing side into a false sense of security and go on the counter when they didn't expected it. Once Vinnie Jones, in the forty-ninth minute, send the ball over towards Rush and prepared to take chase, he was caught off by Maradona who was given a rather unlikely defensive position for him. Nonetheless Maradona went racing down the field in a trademark move that the world seemed to know him for. But much like Rush, Maradona wouldn't get far either as he found himself coming face to face with Gary Speed who pulled off a magnificent bit of defence action that saw him whip the ball of Maradona's feet by what looked like replicating Bobby Moore's now legendary move in 1970 on Jairzinho, in which he ran with the ball and caused the stunned Maradona to stumble to the ground and look over his back and see just what had happened to him. The move itself saw the stadium ring out in applause over such a brilliant bit of skill from Speed and now Wales were on the counter to ask Argentina questions.

Speed sent the ball over to Rush and then onwards for Mark Hughes to make a shot in the fifty-first minute and for the first time, Wales had a shot that didn't hit the crossbar...though it did rather hit the left goal post and out for an Argentine goal kick. Wales were wasting a few good shots to try and break the deadlock, though to Yorath's view, they were playing much better here. Then in the 56th minute, Balbo went down on the left Welsh flank and prepared to try and cross it, though he found himself knocked out of field by Vinnie Jones who nearly sent the stunned Argentine forward slamming into the one of the advertising boards. The furious Argentine supporters in the stadium and pretty much anywhere watching the game live all collectively roared wanting Jones to be sent off and even the red shirted offender must've felt that he was going off with a second yellow card as the referee rushed up towards him, but to his and everyone else' amazement, he only gave Jones a verbal warning that anymore he'd be sent off which that itself didn't go down well with the South Americans as the relief Jones walked away, though at least the referee would award Argentina with a free kick some 30 yards away from the box.

As Maradona prepared to take the free kick in the fifty-eighth minute, what few did notice was Ruggeri glaring at Jones who he thought had gotten away with murder and began spitting out insults to him in Spanish to which Jones, who didn't have a clue what Ruggeri was trying to say to him, simply replied with, "¿Qué diría tu madre?" This only fuelled more to the fire, but neither player would have the chance to make anything more of that current confrontation as Maradona fired his free kick and sent the ball crossing into the box in which in there, Batistuta leapt high as he could and headed the ball into the bottom right in which Southall tried to save but only could watch the ball slam into the back of the net. The deadlock had finally been broken and Argentina had taken the lead.

Argentine players celebrating after that first goal
​

As the Argentine players celebrated their goal, Perry Jason quickly made his way over to the goals to collect the ball and raced over the centre circle as a way of getting the game started quickly as possible. Despite Argentina now holding the advantage at that very moment, that goal itself would instead actually kick start the Welsh to try and find a way into the game and in his technical area, Yorath could see gaps starting to open up in the Argentine defence and thought that they had a good chance to cause an upset. So standing on the edge of his box, he called out to his players about the defence and wanted them to try and capitalise on it. As he hoped, Argentina didn't then look all that confident from that moment, especially in the sixty-second minute when Mark Hughes had a shot that just went wide of the post and had it been just say a fraction over a bit, it might've gone in. The Welsh supporters also sensed that something could happen and began to try and roar their side on to the best of their ability to try and drown out their rival Argentinian counterparts.

Then in the sixty-sixth minute, Rush went slicing through a gap in the defence that Ruggeri had unfortunately left wide open by mistake and he headed on down through the gap and went for the volley, but instead his shot went wide over much to the delight of the Argentinian fans behind that goal. Time was now starting to run out for Wales. In the seventy-first minute however, while Vinnie Jones was becoming something of the football version of an ice hockey goon the eyes of the Argentinians, he wasn't all just being there to wind players up and he proved that in that minute when standing on the right side near the edge of the field, he was blocked and had no where to go, so instead he lobbed the ball up and over towards Mark Hughes who managed to collect it and found the part of the Argentine defence he was in a had accidently opened up and he saw a glorious chance to score so he slammed that ball home into the bottom right of the net and wheeled off in celebration with Jones and his teammates.

To the shock of many, Wales had managed to find an equaliser, though to be fair some would argue that with Wales not given up and Argentina having problems in it's defence, they were deserving for a goal and now it was anyone's game now. The delighted Welsh fans in the stadium roared in delight and flags of the red dragon were now being flown in parts of the stadium and Yorath punched his fist in the air like a boxer, surely now the Argentine heads would go down and they would finish them off with less than thirty minutes to go now? Wales did look more sharper in the game's final quarter and now it was the Argentine supporters who felt the need to cover their eyes from potential humiliation from this little nation and Hughes almost had the chance to double his goals when in the seventy-sixth minute, he volleyed his shot towards goal in which Luis Islas had to save to prevent further embarrassment for the team. Oddly though, Wales decided to hold and tried to wind down their opponents and also the clock as they look set to see this game out for extra time, it though for some watching could've been seen a big mistake not to go all out and in for the kill as the more Wales held off, it only caused Argentina to regain their composer thanks to the efforts of captain Diego Maradona to try and strike back on the counter.

Hughes scores the equaliser for Wales
​

Thanks to his efforts, Argentina now looked like a team that was looking for blood as they wanted to get their own back on Wales for trying to make them look like fools. The Welsh players were now looking suitable sheepish and some were kicking themselves over not taking a chance to kill off this game. That all being said, Argentina didn't seem that able to try and score a late goal and the game was totally open with both sides now desperate to end this game and go home, but neither were successful as other than a booking for Caceres in the eighty-third minute, the ninety minutes would be up and now another thirty minutes of extra time loomed. Wales really had gone toe to toe with some of the best in the world, but did they have enough left in the tank for one final push? Yorath had to now gear his players up to try and take the moment while Basille had to rant at his players for letting the game end like this. It was unclear just who might come out on top, but everyone waited for more action to happen within a few minutes.

The start of extra time in Pasadena proved to be something of a touch and go affair as neither side looked like they wanted to risk anything despite both managers yelling at them to go all out for it and win. It would be Argentina in the ninety-seventh minute that would get the first chance when Ariel Ortega was given a golden chance when Maradona rolled the ball into the box when the Welsh defence was caught sleeping and Ortega found himself facing the goal just fifteen yards away and as the ball rolled to his feet, Ortega tapped the ball forward to the right of the goal. But to his horror, the ball just narrowly went wide of the post in which Southall, even going the right way, might've not been able to reach it and one could imagine the looks of disbelieve on the faces of the Argentines over such a howler of a miss. Poor Ortega had the look of a man who wanted the ground to swallow him up, his only hope now was that his teammates would do him a favour and spare his blushes by winning the game.

The Welsh weren't having much luck either as Jason Bowen, having gone on to replace dean Saunders (who hadn't done much in the whole game) as the start of extra time, was also given a good chance from Hughes to try and header it forward in the box in the ninety-ninth minute. Instead his header was way off and the ball went clear over the bar and such a good chance had gone for Wales yet again. Not much chances happened from then just three minutes later, Paul Bodin would get a yellow card for a tackle on Balbo on the edge of the field and a free kick would go Argentina's way, though that came to nothing as it itself went out for a goal kick. The first half for extra time proved to be an exciting yet frustrating time for both sides as they had chances to find that elusive goal to win the game and the score would remain at 1-1 after fifteen minutes of extra time. By now, Yorath was starting to get worried about the mental state of his players looking exhausted from the work they had put into this game. Just one more effort was needed...

Leading by example, Maradona during the first half of extra time
​

The second half of extra time for the vast majority of it was, to put it bluntly, awful. No clear cut chances happened for both sides as it seemed now that tempers were getting flared for both sets of players who all clearly wanted this God forsaken match to end. Seeing the blue and white striped Argentine players looking like this made the cunning Vinnie Jones smile as he knew that he could have a bit of fun acting the villain here. In the one hundred and eighth minute, Jones and Ruggeri would have yet another confrontation when both tried to get their foot on a loose ball and both ended up colliding with each other. The referee saw that it was just an incident and waved for a throw in for Argentina as the ball went of Jones to go out of play. That didn't sound bad enough, but as both now seething players got up, Jones' elbow went into the face of Ruggeri and caused him to fall on his back clutching his face. The referee's back had been turned when it happened though he would've heard the Argentinian supporters screaming for action to be taken and saw many of the Argentinian players and reacting wanting him to look back and see for himself what was going on.

When the Dutch referee looked back, he could see a coming together of Jones and Ruggeri with the latter player finding his shirt being grabbed by Jones and the two players look set to end this game in a brawl. The referee knew what would happened and raced over to give Jones his second yellow and a red card before pointing for him to get off the field, much to the great delight of the Argentinians watching who had now started to look at Vinnie Jones as a villain of the piece. But even that wasn't to be the end of it because anyone who knows Vinnie Jones will know he likes to go out with a bang. As he turned to leave, he looked over his shoulder to call out one last insult in Spanish to Ruggeri.

"Sólo Súbete de nuevo al agujero de la concha de tu madre."

After everything that Jones had called the defender throughout the game, it was those words that tip Ruggeri over the edge and lurched forward to attacked Jones and the referee once again had to try and break up the fight with this time players on both sides trying to pull apart their teammates on either side. Ruggeri himself got his second yellow card too and a red meaning now that both teams were down to ten men and the feuding pair had to make the walk to the tunnel knowing full well that they had both crossed the line. And to add more to those sorry scenes, Vinnie Jones then flipped the bird at a set of gloating Argentinian supporters who couldn't wait to see him off. What was more interesting in that confrontation was that despite all the drama surrounding him and thinking of him as an angry individual, it was ironically enough Maradona of all people that would turn out to be the one to act as the peacemaker and say that it this had gone too far and tried to comfort Ruggeri explaining that he wasn't to blame for this.

Jones prior to being sent off​

After that, the rest of the second half of extra time became a less exciting affair as neither side wanted to lose a player and a gruelling one hundred and twenty minutes were over and now it would be all sorted by penalties. Yorath didn't want them, neither did Basille, nor did the players and of course the fans having wishing to not sit and watch this terrible piece of football torture. Regardless of what one might've thought of the actions of Jones, Wales had gone the distance with Argentina and even if the South Americans were to come out on top in this shoot out, the fact that they let the Welsh dragged them to this point was nothing sort of an embarrassment in their eyes. But it was then that Argentina would start the shoot out and up first to take it would be Balbo, who sent Southall the wrong way and thumped the ball into the top left corner. First for Wales to start would be Bowen who looked keen to get started, but his shot hit the left goalpost and the advantage was with Argentina.

"Early days yet," Yorath had to comfort himself as he saw poor Bowen looking depressed after his miss and also most of the technical staff looked nervous as Basualdo went up to take Argentina's second shot.

His shot however proved to be a weak one as he sent it to the bottom right and Southall was able to get his hands on it and blow the shoot out wide open. Up next for Wales would be Ian Rush who knew exactly what to do and thumped the ball right down the middle to send Islas to the left. 1-1 in the shoot out. Next for Argentina would be Maradona who was now hoping to give his side the lead in the shoot out and with a cheeky dummy run that sent poor Southall off guard, he fired that shot into the top right and punched his fist into the air in celebration. 2-1 for Argentina now. Next up for Wales was their ever reliable penalty taker Paul Bodin who despite having missed a penalty against Scotland, made amends here as he fired home his shot into the bottom right and after that shot, roared like he had just fought and win over personal demons. 2-2 now. Next for the South Americans would be Chamot and he himself, despite being a defender, had no trouble in dispatching his penalty right down the middle to help regain the lead for Argentina. Now for Wales it fell to Mark Hughes to help keep Wales in this match and despite Islas going the right way and causing many Welshman to cover their eyes, he just missed the ball as it went into the back of the net and Hughes let out a sigh of relief that they were still in this game. 3-3.

Now it came for Redondo to covert this penalty, Yorath had then realised that if he was to miss his shot and Wales scored their next shot, they'd win and he hope Southall would give hope. Sadly despite going the right way, Southall couldn't get his hands on the ball with Argentina now leading 4-3 in the shootout. Finally it was down for Barry Horne to take the next penalty and he had to simply score in order for Wales to remain in this nail biting shoot out. What was seen as the Welsh player walked up to the spot was the look of a man who had the expression of a deer in the headlights; the poor man had never taken a penalty at club level, let alone for his country and with millions watching, one could be forgiven for fearing the worst. Shaking like a leaf he ran up to the ball...it went flying high over the bar and poor Barry Horne fell to his knees in despair while the men in white and blue striped shirts raced by to celebrate with their goal keeper.

It was over, Wales' World Cup dream was over.

Joy unleashed, Argentinian players celebrate their victory over Wales
​

Horne was given comfort by Rush and the rest of his Welsh teammates who all felt bad for him and of the fact that their adventure was over in perhaps the most cruellest one possible. Basille and Yorath shook hands with each other over what had been a gripping game of football that could've gone either way and there was one more nice moment in which Maradona and Ian Rush came together to shake hands and offer congratulations with each other with the Argentine captain swapping shirts with Rush to wish him well before he ran off to join his teammates in celebrating reaching the Quarter-finals.

What made the moment more sadder for some of the the Welsh fans with great foresight would know that this game would be the last time Ian Rush would play for Wales at a World Cup and when he and his teamates walked over to where a large number of red shirted Welsh fans were located, it was said that there was a tear in the eye of Rush who knew that this era for Welsh football had finally come to an end. Meanwhile for Terry Yorath he had other thoughts; while the American adventure had been an eye opener for him and the team, there was the small fact of Euro '96 just round the corner and being set right over the border in England, he had no trouble in committing himself for a few more years for the Wales job.

For now though, they'd head home with their heads held high and look to the future. From the three British teams that arrived in the States, only one now remained standing and the Scots prepared for a date with the Italians...

---------
​

And so we end the last 16 and yes, it is pretty much the same as the old TL with ofc a few changes. I have always said that had England and Scotland met in the 1994 WC with those teams on display, it is possible that Scotland would have beaten them (ala a OTL Bulgaria vs Germany type game here) and Wales taking on Argentina in that WC would have been quite a show to say the least. But yeah, poor Graham Taylor still has a rather ill-fated time with England thought at the very least he does have a somewhat better time having made it to a World Cup even though that was because that England only qualified ITTL for having the benefit of being World Champions.

So as always, here is the last eight as they stand going forward:
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Argentina vs Sweden

Netherlands vs Brazil

Bulgaria vs Romania

Italy vs Scotland
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So then, who, what and why will be going through and will Scotland be able to make it? Who knows and until then, find out next time!

​

 

[NTF aka Seb]

Argentina 2-2 (p) Sweden (Romania lost on penalties in this match IOTL after beating Argentina 3-2 in the last 16. The prediction seems counterintuitive, but Sweden was really good back then)

Netherlands 2-3 Brazil (as OTL)

Bulgaria 2-1 Romania (Excruciating to predict. Gonna go with this, but anything could happen.)

Italy 2-1 Scotland (Trademark Italian win. I suspect it would be 1-1 until the 90th minute, where Roberto Baggio broke the deadlock.)

 

[Unknown]

My picks: Sweden, Brazil, Romania, and Italy...

 

[HesitatedEye]

Ah, Vinnie Jones at a World Cup causing insanity sounds like a plot from one of his movies but I can clearly see it happening.

 

[Math]

Argentina Sweden

Netherlands Brazil

Bulgaria Romania

Italy Scotland

 

[MatthewFirth]

Argentina vs Sweden

Netherlands vs Brazil

Bulgaria vs Romania

Italy vs Scotland

 

[QTXAdsy]

Chapter 58
Back To Earth With A Crash
​

After Scotland's victory over England in the last sixteen, that result and Scottish team was undoubtedly going to go down in Scottish football legend with even some cries from the Tartan Army wanting Andy Roxburgh to be giving a knighthood for simply knocking out the English which just showed how much of a high the whole of Scotland was on. Hard to imagine that a few years ago many didn't want him in the job and now were singing his praises. On the team's arrival in Foxborough Massachusetts for their Quarter final game with Italy on July 9th, they were greeted by a local pipe band and several Scottish expats living in the area who much like their fellow countrymen were not only there to welcome them to the area, but also share in their delight over their triumph over the English. But as the players warmed up before the game and Roxburgh took time out to look at the crowd starting to gather in the stadium, he was surprised at first to see that despite all the feel good factor surrounding the team, there wasn't as much Scottish supporters as there was in previous games.

Surely the crowd was suppose to get bigger the further they got on in the tournament? Truth was however that the England game was for many Scotland fans the real World Cup final and most had decided to head home after that result with the general feeling was that anything after that would be just a bonus and that included even winning the World Cup itself. Though perhaps the real reason for the lack of Scottish fans in the ground was that the majority of the Tartan Army didn't think they'd have much luck over the Italians and for good reason. Ever since their 1968 glory which was by this point the absolute pinnacle of Scottish football, the Scots had never been able to beat the Italians since and in the qualifying rounds for this World Cup, they just so happened to have been grouped with the Italians and had been unable to beat them and with them having a force of nature known as Roberto Baggio that had dragged them this far, the Scots feared for a rout. Roxburgh thought otherwise though, had everyone forgotten that the Italians had had a touch and go campaign with them losing to the Irish in their opening match and only managed to sneak through via as one of the best third place teams at the expense of Russia and it took them into extra time to simply beat Nigeria in the last 16? Surely then he Scots had a chance?

Looking up, Roxburgh could see that it was a cloudy and misty day in the Massachusetts skyline and with a cool breeze in the air, he had to smile at not only was it cooler for once out here Stateside, but that cool breeze made him think of a chilly day back in Scotland. The players would then make their way back down the tunnel and when they returned, the Scottish players could see how most of the crowd seemed to be there for the Italians and scattered around the stadium in large chunks of individuals, they could see Scotland fans bravely wearing their kilts, Tam o' shanter hats and waving Saltire and Lion Rampant flags bravely in the face of the large Italian support out here. As the teams walked out, Scotland would proudly wear their traditional dark blue while the Italians would be decked out in their alternative kit of white top and blue shorts and there was a great deal of excitement buzzing around the stadium, Roxburgh could only hope that his side would be able to feed off the atmosphere and use it to their great advantage. From the start of kick off (Italy would do the honours of starting first), the first thing Roxburgh kept shouting at his players was 'To McCoist! Give it to McCoist!' However from the very start Italy began to play free flowing football that most would've been familiar of the Italians and most notably most eyes on that man, Roberto Baggio.

The Italian team lining up for a photo just prior to their game with Scotland
​

It would be Baggio that would start things off as right in the second minute of the game, Italy won a corner kick and Baggio managed to get his head on the ball and it was only thanks to Goram punching the ball over the ball that prevented Scotland from losing an early goal. Nonetheless the danger was there and Scotland had to be careful though Roxburgh couldn't do anything but yell at the players to try and get forward, though with the intense Italian pressure on the Scottish backline that they found themselves looking rather rocky and after ten minutes, the hapless Scots had been unable to get a shot on target. Then in the fourteenth minute, the defence gave way in which Conte threaded the ball towards Dino Baggio who not only nutmegged Tom Boyd with ease but also rolled the ball to Roberto Baggio and with him being just twenty yards away from the box, he volleyed his shot sending the ball hurtling into the top left corner and it would have been the opening goal for Scotland had Andy Goram who had to make a flying to dive to punch the ball away and deny the Italians the opening. Scotland bravely, though feebly, battled on to try and move forward by the orders from Roxburgh on the touchline.

Scotland would finally get their first corner of the game in the nineteenth minute in which McCoist tried to header it home, but the hands of Pagliuca managed to keep it out as he dived down to the right to stop it. Credit also given to Scotland was that even after that attempt, the Scots would actually start to make an effort in trying to get something out of the game with a great tussle between Dino Baggio and Colin Hendry to battle it out for the ball, though it would be the Scottish defender that would get the first booking of the game in the twenty-fifth minute for a challenge on D. Baggio and the Hungarian referee would award a free kick to the Italians some thirty yards away from the box. R. Baggio was to take it and the ball made a lovely curl down towards the goal and Goram would have to react in order to keep the ball out, Scotland might've been getting better in the game but the Italians were still a very dangerous team to try and contain. The Italians though would get a yellow card though in the thirty-first minute when Tassotti, while chasing Scott Booth down on the left flank, barged over to get the ball and saw the Aberdeen player take a tumble and land nearby one of the advertising boards. The Tartan Army roared wanting action and the referee duly replied by showing the Italian defender a yellow card and awarded the Scots their first free kick of the game.

Scotland's free kick in the thirty-third minute acted as a simple pass towards Pat Nevin who raced up the middle flank to lob the ball quickly to McCoist who received it and raced up towards the penalty box, thanks to a bit of bad defending from the Italians, in which the roar of the Scotland fans in the stadium and those around the world watching the game live wanted him to get the goal. He fired his shot but the ball smacked against the hand of Pagliuca to land on top of the net and give the Scots a corner kick, in which that itself was a pretty awful one as no one got on to it and the ball rolled out of play for a Scottish throw in. Italy then nearly caused a similar scare at the other end of the pitch in which in the thirty-seventh minute, Massaro ran down on the left Scottish flank with several Scotland players trying to catch up with him and the Italian would cross the ball over towards Conte who kicked the ball with such thunderous force that it could've destroyed the ball and once again Goram had to leap to his left to stop in which he did, however the ball slammed into his chest and Scottish goalkeeper fell on his back in pain, that shot had really knocked the living wind out of him and even Conte showed concerned as he raced over towards the now wounded Goram and tried to help him up.

Andy Goram just prior before a goal kick for Scotland
​

The Rangers goalkeeper would regain his focus and gave his side a goal kick to keep pressing forward. The game itself was actually, despite Italy being quite obvious the better team, quite a tight game in which it felt either side were giving it all and although the Scots might've only gotten three shots on target compared to Italy's ten, they were putting on a plucky performance that the local Americans in the stadium couldn't help but find charming showing their 'never say die' performance. Scotland then had a wonderful chance to equaliser in the forty-fourth minute in which they were awarded a corner and McCoist managed to get the ball at his feet with him right inside the box and fired his shot towards the goal, but agonisingly the ball was only just kept out by Pagliuca's fingertips who had make the save to avoid his side losing it in the few moments of the game.

The whistle for half time soon arrived and the players walked off with mixed and frustrated emotions. The Italians were obviously frustrated that despite being by far the better team they had been unable to break down the opponent while the Scots felt that while that hadn't been that bad though it was clear that they would need to do better for they all knew that the moment Italy would score now then surely it would be all over for Scotland's American adventure. Roxburgh gave each of the players as they passed by a pat on the back to congratulate them so far. The Italians were a damn good team but yet they hadn't managed to put the ball into the back of the net and there was a feeling that maybe the Italians had underestimated the Scots and now the Scotland manager wanted to show the Italians the errors of their views on the Scots.

---------
​

The second half would be a slow burning to start with neither side really challenging each other as if they were testing each other out over who would bottle it first. The only change to talk about was at the start of the second half, Nicola Berti had gone on to replace Albertini for some freshening up in the midfield and he in question would help give the Italians a slight edge over the Scots as just two minutes into the second half, Berti would dance his way around a bunch of dark blue shirts before he lobbed his shot to R. Baggio. The Italian forward would make a volley forward but he hadn't expected the madcap efforts of David Robertson to race in from the side and block that effort by kicking the ball going out to the left. His efforts would get a round of applause from the Scottish fans, at last something for them to cheer about in a game in which they've hadn't had much to celebrate about. In the forty-ninth minute, the Italians raced forward and leading the charge would be Donadoni and he knocked it forward for R. Baggio to get it and got as far as the right side of the Scottish penalty area and he would find himself colliding with Stewart McKimmie and the Scottish right back would get a yellow card and the Italians would get a free kick on what was a very position to try and score from as many Scottish players gathered round the box awaiting for Baggio to try out his free kick.

The ball would land inside the area in which there would be a coming together of players but it would Colin Henry who would lob that ball far up the field as possible in which McCoist went on the counter with virtuously no one around him and the Scottish fans roared him on. He would get very far but as he got towards the penalty box, Pagliuca would have to make a risky move in order to stop him and he dived near the feet of McCoist just as he was right on the line and pulled off one of the greatest saves of the World Cup. McCoist stumbled forward and he yelled out to the referee for a penalty but alas, the referee simply waved for them to play on much to the displeasure of the Scots. But then in the fifty-seventh minute, Scotland had gone a bit forward and their efforts had been award with a corner kick and all the players gathered in the box ready to try and get on the ball. However as the referee blew for McStay to take it from the corner flag, he noticed Tassotti pulling on the shirt on John Collins and right at the moment the ball came hurtling down inside the box, Collins fell backwards thanks to the tug and Tassotti's eyes widened as he saw the referee blow his whistle and point to the spot. Penalty for Scotland!

While Tassotti tried to explain it to the referee was an accident that he hadn't expected the Scottish player to fall over, it didn't help him as he was booked for his antics and now McCoist stepped up to take the penalty with Roxburgh clutching his fists tightly with him muttering, 'come on now, just slam it home.' Wherever of not McCoist heard that or not is unlikely, though when McCoist step up to take the penalty there was a feeling that soon the ball would slam into the back of the Italian net...except it didn't. To the dismay of the Scots, McCoist fired the ball into the bottom right of the goal but Pagliuca dived the correct way to deny the Scots taking the lead and the Italian supporters roared in delight that score remained 0-0 and if that wasn't a right kick to the teeth for the Scots then what would make it worse? The Italians responded with them pushing the Scots backwards to try and stamp down on them as much as possible to order to make sure they wouldn't get any more luck in this game, yet the Scottish defence was still holding steady and to add to that solid wall in the sixty-fourth minute, Craig Levein was brought off for a young Neil McCann (who just so happened to making his first appearance at the World Cup at this point) to add more freshness to the Scot's efforts.

McCann after just coming on
​

Then the sixty-eighth minute rolled around, a number famous for Scots and infamous for Italians for those in the know, Scotland had pressed forward for a corner kick and McStay took it once again and although Pagliuca punched it forward away from the box, Scott Booth happened to be nearby as the ball landed outside the box and with a quick focus on the aim, Booth launched the ball forward towards goal in which the Italian keeper dived to keep it going in to the left, but the ball scuffed past him and could only watch as the ball clattered down into the goal. They had done it; the deadlock was finally broken and against all the odds, it was from the Scots! A massive roar followed from the Tartan Army and from those watching live back home as images showed Booth getting dogpiled by his teammates, utterly delighted Scotland fans with Brian Moor and Ron Atkinson, commentating on the game live for ITV, getting caught up in the moment too with the moment going down in Scottish football history as follows:

"He punches away, lands near Booth who has got on and is it going to try out from theeEERRRE! SCOTT BOOTH HAS BROKEN THE DEADLOCK AND SCOTLAND LEAD ITALY!!!"

What no one had noticed in all that madness was Italian captain Maldini rushing into the back of the net to collect the ball and rush back to the centre circle to get the game restarted as quick as possible. The Italians had never thought that they would be troubled by the Scots, let alone find themselves behind after blowing their lead like that and now they had to work hard to regain the lead and as they hoped, they managed to do just that as from the centre circle, R. Baggio past the ball backwards towards Signori who raced up the field in which he manged to easily get past the Scottish defence caught off guard before crossing it over towards R. Baggio to help equalise for Italy. To the bitterly disappointed Scots, their lead lasted a mere fifty-six seconds and it would be the fastest lead to ever concede in a World Cup, only the Scots could have done something like that. With that, the score was all level once again and the moment Scotland did take the lead, it did all seem a little too good to be true.

R. Baggio during the moment in which he fired in Italy's

equaliser​

For Roxburgh, the sudden loss of that lead felt like a stab in the heart and he could only hope that his players wouldn't lose heart so soon, but as the game wore on following that Italian goal, the Scots were now clearly on the backfoot as the Italians pressed forward to try and find the winning goal to put this game to bed and the disheartened Scotland fans couldn't bare to look feeling the worse was yet to come as their players found themselves stuck in their own half with no one out. The Italians were fired up and wanting to find the winning goal no matter how. Scotland could not be able to get out of their own half and Italy kept pressing with Goram having to make another save in the seventy-first minute. This would go and and go as the final ten minutes came into sight with the score still at 1-1, a small ray of hope for the Scots was felt that maybe they could drag this game into extra-time and regroup.

However, Scotland's brave but desperate attempt to hold off the Italian onslaught came to nothing as with just three minutes to go until full time, R. Baggio managed to get his double by blasting the ball into the roof of the net via from a poorly defended corner which not only helped turn the result around and win the match and thus sending his side through to the Semi finals of the World Cup. After such a high of the victory over England and going in front of the Italians here, it had all come back down to Earth with not a bump, but a crash as McCoist lay on the ground with his hands over his face sobbing at their heart-breaking after coming so close and no doubt that penalty miss eating at him and what might have been had he scored it. The Italians were more interested in celebrating their victory with their delighted fans and the poor Scots had only each other to try and comfort over their sorrows. Italy of course would go all the way to the final in which they finally came undone by Brazil though there was a feeling by the Tartan Army that it could have been them if things had gone differently...

Much like it was four years ago they had lost in the last eight and would be heading home and Scotland had, despite bravely, lost to a better side who simply managed to hold their bottle better. Scotland's American adventure was over and Roxburgh would announce he would be stepping down after the result with his assistant coach Craig Brown to take charge of the National side, who now had to task of making sure the Scots qualified for Euro '96 down in England. Roxburgh's time though would be best remembered by all Scotland fans for that result over England for obvious reasons but for everything else, they would be sadly seen as nothing more than footnotes for the Scotland team. However it wasn't all bad news for the Scots. Tom Boyd would bag himself a £4.7 million move to, rather ironically, to Italy to play for Juventus and would hopefully be a finished article for the next campaign. Lessons would be learned and soon there was a sound to be heard across the UK that football was coming home...

Final results of the knockout stage of the 1994 World Cup

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​

And with that, 1994 is finally over and like in the old TL, Scotland lose out to Italy though there have been a few wee differences and as you can see above, the last four is now more or less the same as OTL's last four and when you think about it, 1994 is perhaps the one tournament ITTL that doesn't have more change to it in contrast to the other tournaments here.

Anyway, yes, the next time we shall see football action will be Euro '96 which will have differences to it even compared to the old TL but before that, we shall be getting back to football on the domestic front around the Home Nations so keep and eye out on that. Until then, hope you enjoyed this update and hope to see you all later for the next update!