All To Play For: The Home Nations' Football Adventures
Chapter 86: Rumble in Bari
Chapter 86: Rumble in Bari
As whenever the Scots came to town to play football, the city of Bari in the southern half of Italy had been swamped by the large number of traveling Scottish football supporters all wanting to cheer on their side. Roxburgh and the players were always ever grateful for their supporters who would quite literally follow their side to the ends of the Earth and back, though for Roxburgh it hadn't been easy for him as his appointment had made the supporters be all up in arms about him being not the type they wanted, however after getting out of their group and a brave performance against Brazil, it would seemed that he had won the sceptical fans over.
The first team Scotland were to face in the round of 16 would be the Czechs and on paper both sides looked to be fairly equal and in some ways to Roxburgh at least, finishing as runners up in their group would be a blessing in disguise as had they managed to finish as group winners, they would've been faced with the task of taking on Argentina in the last 16 which was a team that Roxburgh had been hoping to avoid. Of the 47,673 spectators in the ground, 14,000 of them are Scottish with the rest being made up with Czech fans and local Italians which it look like from the off field battle has been won by the Scots, but it's never normally about just that.
As the players lined up the anthems, Roxburgh still felt the humidity in the air even though it was late in the evening. This temperature wasn't what any Scottish player liked and the Scottish gaffer was wondering with the game being a late night kick off, he wonder if anyone at home would be watching the game at this time? No matter what thoughts he might've had, the game began and for the Scots, knockout football had begun. For the line up, Roxburgh had kept faith with the same starting XI that had faced off Brazil and felt that they were best line up he could choose from.
To the delight of the Tartan Army, the Scots came flying out of the traps and begin to try and go on the counter and attack the Czechs. Great teamwork is on show as the Scottish players happily pass the ball around to prevent the Czechs from getting a foot on the ball and in the 7th minute of the game, Stuart McCall threads the ball up towards McCoist who fires the ball home some 15 yards away from the penalty area and Czech keeper Jan Skejskal does go the right way but the ball hits the post and goes out for a goal kick. It is the first chance of the game and Roxburgh hopes for more in the match.
The Scots do hold a fair bit of possession on the ball, but haven't been able to score which does seem somewhat concerning for the Scotland bench but hope nonetheless they'll still be in this. Then in the 12th minute, Czechoslovakia get a break away with Kubik making a run on the flank in which he gets in and out of several Scottish defenders trying to stop him. He then crosses the ball over towards Skuhravý who makes a brilliant diving heading to bury that goal into the back of the Scottish net and, out from the run of play, put the Czechs 1-0 up on the Scots with not even 15 minutes played.
Czech-ing out for something against Scotland
The Tartan hordes up on the terraces all look on with nervous looks fearing about the situation in hand, there had been warnings in the Costa Rica game about how fragile the team were in places and it seems that the Czechs had done their homework and were gleefully pulling the Scots apart on the field with poor David McPherson trying to make a tackle on Chovanec but the Czech player has no trouble in get past him before, in the 14th minute, passes the ball up and over towards that man again, Skuhravý, who from 30 yards outside the box decides to try his luck and fires a volley towards the goal which looks like it'll be going nowhere near goal but yet some how, even with Jim Leighton going the right way, the ball rockets into the top right corner of the net and Czechoslovakia are running away with this game 2-0 up already.
The Scottish fans are left in stunned silence at two sucker punchers which has led them going down already and over on the Scottish bench, poor Roxburgh is seen sitting on the bench showing a very sad figure in which finds himself with his head in his hands after seeing that second goal go in, a reaction that reminds some of Ally MacLeod's reaction in 1978. By now, the Czechs are starting to run the rule over the Scots and it would seem like there is no way back for the Scots in this game and that their Italian adventure is all but over and the best they can do is try and go down with a fight.
Leighton after Czechoslovakia go 2-0 up
McStay is also trying to give the suffering Scots fans some hope as in the 32nd minute, he goes on a solo effort around 3 big Czech defenders and quickly lobs the ball towards McCoist on the right side of the penalty box in which the Rangers striker decides to volley it towards goal and to the amazement of many, he tucks that ball into the bottom left of the goal in which not gives Scotland a goal in this game, but a slight chance of hope...a very slim margin of hope. McCoist doesn't celebrate as he quickly runs into the goal, grabs the ball and makes a bee line towards the centre circle willing to get kicked off soon as possible.
For the first time in the game, Roxburgh has a smile on his face as at least they have a goal but still feels it's unlikely to pull off a comeback now, but he looks over towards the now rejuvenated Scottish fans singing and looks at his tartan scarf and rubs it for comfort. For some, the idea of him wearing that scarf may seem rather silly ever since he began wearing if after the Swedish game, but he feels like be his lucky charm and wonders if it might somehow help them here. A miracle of a comeback seems to almost happen in the 37th minute when McStay gets a chance to fire on target and has every Scotsman holding their breath, but the keeper saves it to send it out for a corner kick.
The corner kick comes and go with no one getting a head on it and the game goes on with pretty much nothing happening as it seems all the excitement from the start of the half seems to have fallen apart with both sides looking to try and end the half with no more goals to concede with the game seeing both teams playing defensive which doesn't go down well with the crowd who yell and chant wanting some action. Of course, nothing does happen in the game and the first half ends at 2-1 for the Czech with the Scots down but far from being out of it so far, still another 45 minutes to go...
---------
There are no changes at the start of the second half as the teams prepare face off each other again with the Scots still having a lot of work to do in this game. That being said, McCoist's goal has given the Czechs a cause for concern and Roxburgh in the half time team talk meeting to go all out offensive and try and expose any fears Czechoslovakia may have and use them to the Scots' advantage. What he and perhaps every other Scot watching both in the stadium and at home is what happens next. No sooner as the whistle is blown and the Scots kick off from the centre circle, and the likes of McStay and McCall work together passing the ball that seems to get rather close into the Czech half with the opponent's defensive looking rather slack.
With a low yet powerful pass from McCall, the ball is sent towards Johnston who is situated inside the penalty box as he raises his hand to motion his teammate to give him it. With a blind, side footed volley he thumps the ball into the back right of the net in which the Czech keeper can't get his hands on it and a massive roar follows as Scotland have so soon in the second half have come back from the dead to be drawing 2-2 thanks to Mo Johnston. On the bench, Roxburgh and the others celebrate as Johnston races down towards the bench to embrace the Scottish manager in a moment of unbridled joy.
For the Czechs, it is the worse possible start as that 2-0 lead has now gone up in smoke and the Scottish fans start goading any poor Czechoslovakian fan nearby by chanting '2 nil up and you fucked it up', to them. The Scots now seemed to have come to live in this game with them playing positive football and it isn't long until Czech nerves start to go as in the 53rd minute, their captain Ivan Hašek is booked for a dangerous challenge on McCoist which nearly sent the Scot flying and sent the Tartan Army into uproar wanting a more stern punishment.
Johnston after scoring Scotland's equaliser
Then in the 67th minute after a fair bit of open play from both sides, Collins makes his presence felt when he takes the ball into the Czech half, sends it to McCoist who after getting blocked by Kocian, knocks the ball back towards a running Collins who threads the ball through towards McStay who takes the ball into the penalty box and the noise levels from the Scots in the stadium rises with most, if not all of them, screaming at him to shoot in which he does...the ball is directed towards the left post and hits it before going in the right direction to go in for a goal and to the utter amazement of many, Scotland who were 2-0 down earlier have suddenly turned the game upside down to be leading 3-2!
Total bedlam in the Scottish half of the stadium follows as they have all witnessed perhaps one of the greatest comebacks ever seen in a World Cup and it looks set to be a game of the tournament for good reason. So far, the 1990 World Cup had proven to be one of nothing but cynical fouls and dour 1-0 results and shaping up to be a pretty poor World Cup, this game however has certainly bucked the trend in many ways for being so far a 5 goal thriller with perhaps even more to follow. That said, it seems that such celebrations don't go down with just a minute later after the goal, František Straka is giving a yellow card after a flying tackle to bring down McStay and the Scottish fans take great delight at the Czech's misfortune.
The Scots pretty much dominate the remainder of the game and now look set to make it to the next stage, but perhaps maybe confidence is a bit too high as in the 76th minute, Kubík makes a run into the Scottish box and is brought down by Alex McLeish and the East German referee with a second thought points to the penalty spot to award the Czechs a penalty and to book McLeish. Kubík is up to take it and it is all down to Leighton to try and prevent the Czechs to make a comeback of their own and a hush falls around the stadium.
The referee blows and Kubík takes his spot kick, with everything it seems going in slow motion as the ball goes to the bottom left. A huge roar goes around the stadium, though it's not for the Czechs, the Scots celebrate loudly as Leighton has guessed right and tucks the ball close to him to make sure no one from the opposing team can get at the ball, who said Scottish keepers were all that bad? Without losing a second, he lobs the ball far up the field were several Scottish players rush forward to try and get something from it. In the 81st minute, McCall has the ball but loses it thanks to Hašek getting in the way and passes it up towards one of the Czech forwards, however his shot is a weak one and McCoist runs in to snatch the ball and make a mad dash up the field where he nears the penalty area with many Czech players near him.
Then he pulls off what can be only describe as a tribute act to Gemmill's goal in 1978 as he pulls off a wonderful solo effort around the defenders before lobbing it over the keeper and sending the ball to land into the back of the net...its 4-2 for Scotland! McCoist runs over towards the celebrating Scotland fans behind the goal and no one can blame them for the utter joy they are feeling while on the other hand, the Czechs are pretty much out of it and can't respond to it with some of their supporters heading to the exits of the stadium. In the end, the referee blows his whistle and the Scots have performed one of the greatest comebacks in a World Cup and are into the Quarter-finals!
Celebrate when you're winning, McCoist after scoring the final goal in the game
---------
We're on our way! How would've this game ranked in terms of what we got in 1990? Anyway, the Scots have now a big challenge ahead of them as the last 8 will be as follows:
---------
Argentina vs. Yugoslavia
Republic of Ireland vs. Italy
Scotland vs. West Germany
Cameroon vs. England
----------
If you know who faces who in the Semi's do you think what I'm thinking for an encounter in the last four if it happens...?
Anyway, next up will be Scotland vs. West Germany, can the Scots do it? What'd you think? See you next time...EDIT: PS, also, wiki boxes for 1966, '68 and '78 have been added, go and check them out and see what you think, more to follow!
Great update being Scottish I love the fact they are doing so well but also being Irish I am hoping and praying it doesn't go the same way it did OTL against Italy.
Chapter 87: They Come In Three...
Chapter 87: They Come In Three..
In terms of performance from the last World Cup, Scotland had done better and reaching the last 8 could be considered to be a success for Roxburgh and his team. The bad news was that lying in wait for their next game in Milan's San Siro was favourites West Germany and many simply rubbished Scotland's chances by saying that the next game would be their final one at Italia 90. For Roxburgh, he really thought there was still more for this side to go further, didn't they watch the Czech game in which ended in a 6 goal thriller?
There was also good reason to be motivated to get into the Semi finals as right after Scotland's game on the 1st July, England and Cameroon would face each other later that day and Scotland would face either of those sides which Roxburgh believed that either team would be a side that his Scotland team could beat. That said, he was getting ahead of himself as they had to take on West Germany first if they were to have any chance reaching the last four of this World Cup and even that wasn't the only problem that Roxburgh had to deal with. The Scotland manager had to make two changes to the starting line up with David McPherson being replaced with Gary Gillespie due to the latter's suspension for this game following the last game and also Paul McStay was left on the bench thanks to injuries he had suffered following the Czechoslovakia game and Gary McAllister had to step up to take his place in the starting XI
As the teams lined up on the field for the anthems in the San Siro, Roxburgh knew pressure would be on the Germans to do well and that the Scots were the clear underdogs in this game and he had told his players this as a way of taking the pressure off their backs and had told them to play freely and not to worry for anything. From the start of the game, it seemed that this idea might have been not a bad mindset to go for as Scotland immediately got right into the West Germans' faces by playing pressing football and try as hard not to give them a chance of getting on the ball, all encouraging stuff for the 20,000 something Tartan Army supporters roaring on the team with encouragement, all liking what they were seeing so far.
Such was a small burst of confidence from the Scottish players that Johnston attempted in the 7th minute to make a run into the box in which he was blocked by Buchwald before side passing the ball towards McCoist who looks set to score but he fluffs the shot and the ball skies over the bar in which the poor Scottish forward places his hands on his head in disappointment. To make matters worse for the Scots, it might've been the only chance they would be getting as McCoist's miss wakes up the Germans and they begin to push forward as in trying to put the Scots back in the place and Uwe Bein in the 16th minute nearly scores from the far right side of the penalty box, but thankfully Jim Leighton is there to knock it out for a corner kick.
Scotland fans in the San Siro during the Quarter Final with West Germany
Despite the referee being correct with not having to go into his pocket to bring out a card, both captains for either team race up to the Austrian referee demanding action to be taking but he rightly waves their protests off and orders them to get back into the game. At that same time, both players both very shakily get back up and blood can be seen trickling down the sides of their head even though Roxburgh is getting ready to bring on John Collins to replace McCall, he is astonished when he see's McCall simply waving off their planned substitute and after a bandage job by the Scottish medical team he is back playing again which the Tartan Army can't help but applaud his never say die attitude.
However, with this World Cup having already shown itself to be a rather cynical tournament so far, a card was never going to be far away in this game in the 32nd minute, Gilliespie would get a straight yellow card on Klinsmann which sent the German flying off his feet and landing on his back following a sliding tackle. The Scot tried to prove his innocence but there was no getting away from something like that and Roxburgh cold only pray things wouldn't get any worse for them, funnily enough though, just a mere 2 minutes later, the two players would come together yet again though this time it would be Klinsmann who would be out of order after Gilliespie managed to knock the ball out of play, the German lost his cool getting into a playground argument giving him a push and he myself getting a yellow card.
Klinsmann during the Quarter final
---------
For anyone who might've been lucky to have been in the German dressing room at half time would've perhaps seen their manager Beckenbauer rant at his players not getting the goal in the first half while in contrast, Roxburgh's team talk had been a pleasant one with the Scotland manager pretty much saying to them that they had done well and wanted them to keep it up for the second half. For some of the players, it seemed a little odd why he was wanted to take the game into extra time and maybe go for penalties? The shocking truth was that unlike the Germans, the Scots hadn't even considered the thought of penalties, let alone actually practice them. Didn't Roxburgh know how well those Germans were on a shoot out?
Regardless of what anyone might've debated, the second half began with West Germany trying to push the Scots back into their half with them showing much more deamination to score and for their supporters, it was what they expected their side to do by running over the Scots. The Tartan Army hordes around the San Siro were beginning to think that their failure to get something in that first half when they were the better team was going to bite them in the rear. However the combined performance of McCoist and Johnston was vital in helping get their side further up the field and trouble the German defence and thus in the 49th minute, one heart stopping attempt arrives for the Scots when Johnston tries to cross it to McCoist but finds three German defenders getting in his way and thus has to back pass it towards McCall who quickly lobs the ball towards McCoist running towards goal in the box in which he does a superman leap to header to knock that ball in.
All that happens next is an agonizing groan from the Scottish supporters as they witness the ball just sneak past McCoist head by a mere whisker and the poor Scottish forward ends up landing flat on his face beside a now very much relieved Illgner standing between the sticks. The Germans don't have much luck either to be fair as just 7 minutes later, Uwe Bein runs down on the Scottish flank and crosses the ball towards Riedle who quickly makes a short pass to Klinsmann and fires on target from the right side of the goal and poor Jim Leighton is sent the wrong way. But to the German player's dismay, the ball hits the Scottish keeper's foot and heads skywards up into the air before landing on the top of the net in time for a German corner.
A brown trousers (or kilts) moment follows from the corner kick in which Berthold nearly headers in the opening goal, but Leighton punches the ball forward where Scotland captain Roy Aitken collects the ball and takes it far up the pitch and away from Scotland's penalty area. It is truly an edge of the seat game with either side looking like scoring from anywhere. If this was Roxburgh's plan of holding off the Germans then it was working well and truly bloody well, all that was missing was a goal in this game and one would come, but not in a way anyone would imagine and would forever define this game.
In the 78th minute, after a oddly uneventfully part of the game, Scotland are awarded a corner kick and while the ball is knocked away by Bein, Mo Johnston finds himself on the right place in the right time as the ball lands near his feet and a group of panicked Germans charge at him to get the ball away from him and seeing he has nowhere to go, he volleys the ball towards the goal some 30 yards away and it hits the crossbar but heads downwards in which Illgner makes a frantic save as he lands on top of the ball but the Scottish players and fans are already celebrating scoring the goal that is surely going to take them through...or is it?
Johnston before scoring...
The Scots begin to forget their plan that Roxburgh has worked out for them and the poor Scotland manager tries his hardest to remind his players yelling at them to keep to the plan but it's all going horrible wrong and worse still, Roy Aitken is still gripped by a sense of injustice and throughout the game seems more interest in chasing the referee wanting answer than the match in question which only leads the Scottish players trying to find someone else to act as a skipper. This cat and mouse game with the Scottish captain and the Austrian referee becomes almost comical in a tragic way and in the 83rd minute, the referee has enough of his antics and to utter shock of everyone, thrusts a red card in the face of the captain and this leads to pretty much all of the Scottish players to surround the referee again and even the Scottish bench become enraged by this.
The Scots are now at boiling point and Aitken is forced to walk off the field presumably ending his World Cup on a sorry note and the angry Scottish supporters are at the end of their tether too as they shout abuse one the German players and especially the referee. With them now down to 10 men, the game becomes one-sided with the Scots' plan pretty much gone down the drain with the Germans rushing forward to find the sucker punch goal to end this match. To things had not gone Scotland's way as Roxburgh watched in dismay, the ghost goal and the stupid sending off, but as the old saying goes, things always comes in threes and the third was about to happen...
Roxburgh watches in dismay as his side start to lose their nerve in the closing minutes of the Quarter-final
The Scots argue with the referee for the good knows untempt time with him but the referee is wanting it and for the spot kick up steps is German captain Lothar Matthäus to take it. It is now down to poor Jim Leighton to stop the Scots suffering from more injustice, but the calm German captain thumps the ball home into the top right sending Leighton the wrong way and putting the Germans 1-0 up in this game. The game in the final minute becomes a really bad tempered affair as with a Malpas tackle on Riedle nearby the dug outs gets both sides involved in a minor brawl in which is sadly in the end the last thing that happens for the Scots in this World Cup as the Germans win in a game in which while on paper they should've won, it was far from a fair one.
Even the mostly Italian crowd in the San Siro can't help but feel sorry for the Scots as they begin chanting 'Sco-zia! Sco-zia!' in trying to help lift their spirts but alas, Scotland have dumped out of this World Cup and now the Scots will find themselves cheering on whoever will face the Germans in the next round, even if it has to be the Auld Enemy...England.
The German players celebrating the goal that ultimately won the game for them.
---------
Anyway, stay tune for the next update and will Scotland have justice? Find out soon!That update reminds me of when Ireland got screwed outta the 2010 World Cup by a French handball and a few months later England played France in a friendly and no one in Ireland knew who to support because of it.
OMG!!!! Codesal's penalty against Argentina in Italia 90 final...but before?... Totally plausible this ATL Quarterfinal
Klinsmann's dive because as infamous for Scotland fans as what Maradona's hand of God goal is for England fans, 'Dive of God' you can call it!
Klinsmann's dive because as infamous for Scotland fans as what Maradona's hand of God goal is for England fans, 'Dive of God' you can call it!
Well I definately won't be doing that celebration when he signs for Spurs in the 90's in this TL.
Chapter 88: One Night In Turin
Chapter 88: One Night In Turin
The 4th July, somewhere in Turin, England would take on West Germany for a place in the final and while the build up had been all hyped up as one would expect but for England manager Bobby Robson was trying to not think about that. His thoughts had been about his Scottish counterpart Andy Roxburgh's who side had been defeated by the Germans in controversial means involving a ghost goal, a stupid sending off and above all, the now infamous 'Dive of God' that was being used by the Scottish press with Klinsmann becoming a public hate figure in Scotland as what perhaps Maradona was in England.
Prior before the Scotland team flew back home, Robson managed to get in contact with Roxburgh to offer his commiserations for their unfortune exit and agree with the Scotland manager that they had been cheated from a place in the last four and it was a disappointment for them to miss out as had they got through, England and Scotland would have been facing each other on this very night in Turin for a place in the final. But of course, fate had been a cruel thing for the Scots and now all that was left was to think about was 'what might've been', but Robson had a job to do and had no time for that for what was perhaps the biggest night in the history of English football, not including of course Brian Clough's 1980 victory.
In the England dressing room, there is was feeling of both disbelieve, giddiness and some trepidation going into this match as the players pulled on their famous white shirts and right before the were called to come out into the tunnel to join the awaiting Germans, Robson, stopped them briefly and had something to say to the players. "Before this game starts, I want to say how proud I am of each and everyone of you of getting here and..." he pauses for a while with the players not knowing if he doesn't know what to say or if he is about to burst with pride.
"Gaffer?" Terry Butcher asks with some concern.
The England boss finally speaks up with one phrase only. "Make us proud, lads." With that, he lets the players leave the dressing room and into the tunnel to join the West Germans awaiting them for this huge game. He didn't know why, but something was telling him that tonight was going to be an action packed game, he didn't know who would come out of this on top, but there was certainly something in the air...
---------
Despite the hype of this game, there is only about 3,000 English supporters in the ground with the rest being either German supporters or curious locals though really it isn't a surprise why that's the case. Italian authorities are still wary of English hooligans and many have been turned away in fear of any trouble taking place and thus, the stadium is filled with many empty sections that could've been quite easily filled by their supporters. Yet despite their small number, the English fans in the ground make themselves heard by sadly booing the German anthem and Robson can only shake his head at this, he give a look of symphony towards his German counterpart, Franz Beckenbauer.
Nonetheless the game began and the within 2 minutes of the game, England come storming out of the traps surprising the West Germans who weren't expecting this all so soon and Lineker wins a corner on the right. Beardsley is up to take it and it is half-cleared to the edge of the box, where Paul Gascoigne hooks the bouncing ball back where he manages to connect it with his left foot. However his attempt just goes swerving just wide of the near post, Illgner leaps to his left to palm it behind for another England corner which unfortunately nothing comes of it but yet still goes out for another England corner.
Peter Beardsley, played onside by Guido Buchwald, breaks into the box from the left. He has Lineker and Waddle in support and it what feels like a nanosecond, he debates with himself to go on his own and go for goal but with Buchwald on his back, he chickens out of the idea and passes the ball over towards Waddle and without fuss, he fires that ball with such force towards goal that Illgner can't react in time to try and defend and the best he can do is get his hands on the ball but he only succeeds in guiding the ball upwards to hit the roof of the net and the stunned silence of the Germans, England have taken the lead within 3 minutes and they can only watch the celebrating English players celebrating with joy.
Waddle before he gets the shock opening goal for England in the Semi final
After 10 minutes, one would have thought that the Germans would've gotten back into this game after going down so soon but the utter astonishment for both sets of supporters, commentators and press folks alike, England had been the better team so far and the West Germans have failed to into this with perhaps those watching closely with the tactics would see that Des Walker and Mark Wright are keeping Völler and Klinsmann away from finding their footing into this game and thus disabling the Germans' main attacking threat.
In fact in the 11th minute, West Germany nearly go 2-0 down when Beardsley breaks the offside trap on the right wing but with Gary Lineker supporting him and passes to him to make something off it. Sadly his shot shanks his cross wide of the near post and the Germans can take a sigh of relief from not suffering from more embarrassment. The game itself however within a minute later begins to open up a bit more with finally West Germany getting their first half-chance of the match with Hässler manging to cheekily dupe Butcher on the edge of the box before hitting a left-footed shot that spins off Stuart Pearce and doesn't go too wide of the far post. Something for the nervous German supporters to cheer about.
After that attempt, it has now seemly awakened West Germany and the game becomes an end to end game which compared to the other dubious and dour games that have happened in this World Cup, it makes this sort of game very much welcomed for the neutrals. Most strangely however just barely heard on TV but clearly by those the stadium is the chanting England fans who catch the attention of Bobby Robson who hears what they are chanting, it's the Hokey Cokey song but it has different lyrics to it and the England manager listens closely to what they are saying and he would clearly remember every little word they said.
"You put your whole self down, your whole self up, up, down, up, down shake it all about, you do the Jurgen Klinsmann and you turn around, for he knocked Scotland OUT! OUT! OUT! Whoa, Jurgen Klinsmann! Whoa, Jurgen Klinsmann! Whoa, Jurgen Klinsmann! For knocked Scotland OUT! OUT! OUT!"
For Robson, he knew it was a reference to the now infamous dive Klinsmann had done in the last game that sent the Scots out in a dubious manner. Then again, the Scots had began singing the same tune about Maradona's hand of God goal from 4 years ago so for the England fans singing this was perhaps their way of showing karma perhaps? Robson wouldn't lie that the tune did make him grin a little bit while he looked back at the bench seeing that everyone was having a laugh about how funny the chant was and he did wonder if anyone from Scotland would be watching, though more likely they perhaps wouldn't know who to support.
The minutes drag on and nothing for the most part seems to happy with England seemly happy to hold onto a 1-0 score line but Robson doesn't want it to remain like that. That thought does become a reality though not for the right reasons as in the 30th minute, Völler runs down the right-hand side of the box on to an angled pass from the sweeper Augenthaler. Shilton tries to meet him unnecessarily and Völler moved away from him with Gascoigne coming in trying to block his cross but Völler fires the ball into the right hand side of the goal to help give the Germans the equaliser.
Just before Völler helps give his side a goal to get them back in the game.
In the 39th minute though, some worried looks appear on the German supporters faces as Völler can't take anymore thanks to his injure and thus has to go off with Riedle having to replace him and thus, brings the curtain down on his actions for this match. Despite his loss for the team, the West German supporters need not have worried as England find themselves now under the cosh and seemed to be getting pushed back and punished for getting the better of them earlier on the game and the tables are now turned on England here which only makes the game more tense for the English supporters.
Robson keeps checking his watch for how long half time will be, giving how much the Germans have pushed them back and trying to look to take the lead, they would very much want half time now giving how much the Germans are now swarming all over them. It takes a few scares and 'behind the couch' moments before the referee blows for half time and England can get a much deserved break. Nonetheless it has been a thrilling game so far and both sides will perhaps go into the dressing rooms at halftime feeling both satisfied to have scored in this game. Just another 45 minutes to go...
---------
The Second half had started as how the first had ended, with the Germans dominating and England now on the back foot. It would seem all that hard work they had put into the game looked to have come to nothing and there had been many chances for the Germans to try and find the second goal for themselves but so too have England at times, but most of the game is clearly with the Germans. Both sides are refusing to budge but then in the 58th minute, West Germany are awarded a free kick thanks to Pearce fouling Hässler 22 yards from goal, to the right of centre.
The free-kick is giving to Brehme to take it in which he does just that. It looks like it might hit the England wall but the shot takes a vicious deflection off Parker before looping high in the air with it looking it might go out of play, instead it falls down towards the goal and agonizingly Shilton can't back-pedal quickly enough and ends up backwards as he can only watch the ball land into the back of the net. It is now 2-1 for West Germany and while perhaps the Germans are deserved of getting a goal, it shouldn't have happened like this and now the England players will have to play yet another comeback game like with Cameroon, though lightning never strikes twice...
The free kick that help gave West Germany the lead
Robson from the touchline keeps yelling at the players to keep pressing forward and don't give up now and the players take this to heart to put up a hearty performance to show the Germans that they aren't giving up already yet luck doesn't seem to go their way. A few miss chances go by and a penalty for England in the 69th minute is not given and some begin to wonder if they may get another chance though some are already thinking it is all over for England at this point. In the 79th minute, the tireless Parker who, despite his blunder from that goal eairler, is making it up for it but putting on a brave performance and runs Brehme down the right to win a corner.
It’s tossed deep by Beardsley and Wright’s looping header is comfortably saved by Illgner. On the bench however, Bobby Robson is about to roll the dice for the last time as Steve Bull is comes on for Beardsley. It is now or nothing for England if they are to take this game into extra time, though the Germans look comfortable with how things are going the way they are. Then in the 81st minute, Parker wings over a long cross towards Lineker from near the halfway line on the right. It hits the thigh of Kohler, who was running towards his own goal, and as it bounced up Lineker kneed it away from Augenthaler and Berthold before cracking an excellent left-footed shot across goal and into the far corner. It is 2-2 in a breath-taking game and lord knows what reaction will be going on in England with that late equaliser.
The West German players look at each other with dismayed looks, this England side just won't give up and lord knows what will happen now in the last few minutes before he last few minutes are up. On the bench however, Robson remembers something from that Roxburgh told him that one should go in for the kill in the last few minutes if the score is still level. That moment had now come and taking the Scottish manager's advice to heart, he makes a major decision as he runs up to the touchline and barks out a final order...
"Go for it! Go for the kill!"
The England players nearby decide to risk it and begin to push back and now shaky German defence and the heartbeat is going on pretty much every Englishman watching as yet another goal maybe about to happen as every player in white moves forward in order to kill the game off. With every English player pushing forward, Gascoigne nails a glorious 60-yard crossfield pass to Lineker in the 86th minute, who is 15 yards away from the box with a rare opening in the German defence and every English person watching the game either in the stadium or on TV cry out for Lineker to send that ball home.
He does that and the ball goes flying into the top right hand corner of the post before it heads, in a rare moment of luck, heads into the direction of the back of the net and utter bedlam from English supporter everywhere as in a few minutes of magic, England have gone from 2-1 down to lead the game 3-2 and now...they are so close to the final, providing they can hang onto this lead. The England players start knocking the ball around happy to waste time and the West Germans, well, half of them, try their hardest to get the ball off the England players and get yet another goal in this thrilling encounter, but the rest of the team look disheartened at not only losing their lead, but be behind in a shot space of time. Surely it is all over?
England players celebrate the goal that makes them lead 3-2 in the last few minutes of the Semi final
Italian police stop them from getting anyway, but what has happened has been a really dramatic game of football here in Turin and England have defeated West Germany 3-2 and have made it to the final in Rome. For Bobby Robson, he now realises that he has now another big rival to worry about and this time, it's going to be a match of revenge in the eternal city...Maradona and Argentina awaited them. The match of their lives was about to take place and for Robson, his final game as England manager that would either see him as a hero, or villain.
---------
What about that!? If you thought the game was a classic IOTL, it's a mad cap one here and there is one thing I did notice after Lineker's goal. If you remember, they decided to hang onto extra time which actually proved to be a mistake IMO. For had they decided to go in for the kill in the last few minutes of normal time rather than hold back, they might've actually found another goal and won the game so ITTL, they do just that. Anyway, next update will be the last of Italia '90 and a battle between England and Argentina in Rome. Hold on folks, it's going to be a rough one and don't think I've forgotten about the tears just yet...
Chapter 89: Lionhearts
Chapter 89: Lionhearts
In the United States, most Americans would've had been celebrating that evening on the 4th July as they always would've had, but that evening, it was being celebrated across pubs and households all over England for their national football side had made it to the World Cup final after defeating West Germany 3-2. Just 4 days later, Bobby Robson's men were off to the eternal city for their third World Cup final and one that they hoped they'd win for the first time in 24 years, but it wasn't going to be easy for who they had in the final...Argentina.
The build up to this game in the English press was more akin hyping it up as grudge match with a never ending stream of clips of the now infamous 'Hand of God' incident and so much was this so that it almost made people forget about the game in question was the final of the World Cup. Robson though had wisely not allowed his players to see all of this information from back home encase it might affect their minds going into this game, though he did allow for the players to see footage from back home showing what their World Cup run meant for everyone in England. They couldn't believe how much football fever had gripped the nation and it only showed them what it would mean if they were to win this game.
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 'grudge' feeling 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.
Did any of the players have doubts? Fears? Uncertainty? Revenge even? Either way, much Brian Clough's side 10 years ago, could they do the same in the same stadium where that side won the European championship? Robson took another look from his window on the bus and saw the thousands heading towards the stadium and it only begin to dawn on him the task in hand of trying to rip Argentina's 8 year grip on the trophy...no one said it was going to be easy.
---------
As the two teams walked out onto the field, 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 in charge of the national side. One of them at the end of this would end his international manager career as a hero 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 that game in Mexico in which Bilardo's men had defeated Robson's team in controversial circumstances and it would seem that here was a chance for England to get revenge on Argentina and in a more fair world, England would be champions here and get the revenge they wanted. However, Robson 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 latest 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.
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. For the football neutrals and the local Italians in the stadium, it was a final that neither wanted with everyone else wanting a final with the hosts, Italy and the favourites West Germany, a game that did turn out to be the third place game in which the Italians won 3-2. The Italians were still scarred from Heysel and had no intention to cheer on the English as evident with 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. Treated like savages they were like but in truth the reputation had brought on them was their fault with their hooligan behaviour and it seems the Italians weren't taking any chances.
In the other hands, the Argentinians had been given a rough ride from the Italians throughout this World Cup thanks to Maradona's comments in the media putting fuel to fire commenting on the north-south divide in Italy and that wasn't including the fact he had made himself hated by the northern half of the country due to his time winning everything at Napoli while in contrast, the south treated him like a God. Despite all this trying to act against Argentina, they had, despite playing poorly, somehow gotten to the final and after they knocked the hosts out in the semi final, it was the final straw for some.
From the moment the Argentinian anthem was being played, it was showing just how cynical and ugly this World Cup had been as it was jeered and whistled relentlessly by the largely Italian crowd with their venom being aimed at the reviled Maradona with the camera panning past him famously cursing the Italian crowd for this. Strangely for Robson, as much as he'd called him a cheat from that game 4 years ago, 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 orgy of hate...alas, they were indulging in it as well.
Maradona cursing the Italian crowd during the Argentinian anthem
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 was that Quarter final in Mexico and clearly the England captain was wanting to get his own back on the Argentine star man after how Maradona had humiliated them before and playing out of his skin, Butcher was putting on a brilliant game to deny Maradona 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, though Shilton managed to save it comfortably, much like Butcher, Shilton was going to make sure that he wasn't going to fall for any dirty tricks this time.
After 15 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, the game had been a dull one with tackles taking place with no cards being shown just yet and 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 with how the games had been in this World Cup had been, no one could really be that surprised.
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 34th 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 (the first being Dezotti in the 5th minute 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.
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 for what had been a dreadful final so far and Robson looked over to Bilardo both managers shook their heads. As much as they both wanted to win this game, they knew a World Cup final had to be better than this.
---------
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 49th 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 56th 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 shimy 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 people.
Lineker celebrates getting England's first goal in the final
To add more to Argentina's woe, the 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 64th minute pull 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 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 as in the 65th minute, 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 as the referee ordered for the game to carry on. It wasn't all that good for the English too as 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.
"It's not a red card!" Maradona and his teammates confront the referee over the red card
In the 78th 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 net to give his side the goal that they deserved and poor Shilton just missed out on keeping it out. Maradona though doesn't celebrate the goal and instead runs into the net to grab the ball and rush back towards the centre circle for the game to restart quickly and in that brief second Shilton looked up and saw Maradona's face, he would say he'd never see a more determined looking man than Maradona who was going to do everything he could to stop England taking the World Cup from them.
Argentina's equaliser changed the game yet again with the South Americans pressing for a late winner and it was now concerning for Robson, most especially as he looked over at Gascoigne who was clearly rattled by that goal and was now starting to lose his composure. In the 82nd 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 winner to end this game.
Gazza's tears of relief that he is not sent off
There was still time for Argentina to take the game into extra time, but realising now that the English were going to win this game, they now all lost the plot and the final minutes of the game became bad tempered with Maradona getting booked in the 87th minute and also his teammate Dezotti getting a red card for his troubles in that same minute trying to strangle poor Wright who had been trying to waste time and run the clock down and the last few seconds, the game turned into a brawl that had been building up after 90 minutes with 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.
The Argentinas eventually calmed down to collect their losers medals but everyone will remember the tears Maradona soon showed as he and his teammates watched as Butcher lifted the cup. 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 adding 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 that for that night, utter delirium followed all over England with 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 90's had arrived and it was up to anyone what happened next.
Final outline of Italia '90 in the Knockout phase
England, 1990 World Cup winners
---------
I'm crying...no, kidding...despite loosing, this ATL final was great.... excellent job QTXAdsy!
Not everything can be perfect in every TL, and sorry for the draw with Iceland yesterday mate.
With also a good Scotland team too, so would I and many Welsh and Irish folk too LOL!
Does the Hillsborough tragedy still happen (from what I've been reading, something like it is bound to happen sooner or later)? That triggered a lot of changes with regards to football stadiums...
In addition, because of its coverage of the Hillsborough tragedy (to wit, it really victim-blamed the Liverpool fans, 96 of whom died IOTL; some in the Sun's own office thought that it was a bad idea, IIRC), the Sun is banned in Liverpool to this very day (you can't even give it away); that's no big loss, IMO...
In addition, because of its coverage of the Hillsborough tragedy (to wit, it really victim-blamed the Liverpool fans, 96 of whom died IOTL; some in the Sun's own office thought that it was a bad idea, IIRC), the Sun is banned in Liverpool to this very day (you can't even give it away); that's no big loss, IMO...
Hillsborough might not have happened in this timeline if The Bradford City fire might have been enough to change it as the only reason it wasn't worse was because the stand didn't have fencing if somehow they fence it off in this Timeline then a crush and the fire would be more than enough for a Taylor like report.
Chapter 90: Dragons in Sweden (Euro 1992)
Chapter 90: Dragons In Sweden
Back in 1984, of the 8 places that were there for the participating nations, there were actually only 4 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 the Home Nations taking part and many accused the UK for having an unfair advantage for this and giving that one of the nations, Northern Ireland, won it the ugly debate of having one UK team would raise it head again which made the Home Nations shudder. However they would fire back with the idea of perhaps expanding the tournament to 16 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 Irish could do then so could they. Plans to expand it for Euro '88 were seriously discussed but it was decided to carry on the format for one last tournament before it would go ahead with 16 teams for Euro '92 and the timing couldn't be more perfect. The Berlin Wall had collapsed and newer teams were starting to emerge, though frustratingly, the Soviet Union would still play for one last time under CIS and those Easter European nations would have to wait a little longer.
With the expansion of the tournament, Sweden had to use 8, rather than 4, stadiums and with it being the largest expansion of the tournament yet, the irony of it's tagline of 'small is beautiful' was not lost on anyone. While there were more European Nations in this tournament, it did see a return of all 4 Home Nations again and it would be Wales that would have the honour of playing the opening game of Euro '92 against Sweden in Solna and after a 6 year absence from the tournament football, the Welsh were itching to return to the big stage and the '90's saw a Welsh side that was coming off from an exciting period to start the decade off.
Venues of Euro '92
After missing out on Euro '88 and Italia '90, the Welsh side were keen to get back to tournament football again and most notably was the now 31 year old Ian Rush who was making his 4th appearance at a tournament and had done his bit in helping get his country to qualify but even he couldn't say that it wasn't purely down to him, but their new manager Terry Yorath. After Mike England and what he had done for Welsh football, it was always going to be big ask to fill his boots but after Mike England decided to step down in 1988, Yorath took on the job and despite a disappointing qualification campaign for the last World Cup, the Welsh had made up for it and were here. In the Welsh dressing room of the Råsunda Stadium, the players were getting themselves ready with Rush jogging on the spot, Dean Saunders and Ryan Giggs making a few stretches and the others were sitting on the benches nervously and trying to calm their nerves with a radio in the corner of the room playing the ELO song Telephone Line that was there to try and relax the players. There is nothing like the pressure of playing an opening match at a tournament.
With just 3 minutes to go until they were due to make their way into the tunnel to line up with their Swede counterparts, Yorath cleared his throat to get the players attention in which they duly followed. They all though he was going to give them a last minute instruction of what to or any last words of confidence, instead, he gave them what Ryan Giggs would later say as one of the strangest yet best confidence booster comments you'd ever hear before the match. "We're up against the hosts, they want to win, they are brave guys out there...so let's fuck them up."
---------
Despite the stadium being able to hold up to 40,000 people, only a grand total of 29,890 were only there to watch the hosts and a mere 3,000 of that crowd were Welsh who had made the journey to Sweden to follow their team, 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, too late in the evening for 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 18 year 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. Speaking of which, it is during one such cross into the box in the 19th minute that Rush manages to get away from the likes of Nilsson and Eriksson and tries to header the ball forward but the ball instead flies clear over the bar and Wales' best chance of the game goes by, still, it might've been something for the Welsh supporters to cheer for.
However in the 24th 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 over Wales
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.
Despite the miss, there is some cause for being positive for Wales in this game. In the 53th minute there is a tackle from a young Chris Coleman on Limpar when a sliding challenge doesn't going to plan and see's him get a yellow card and awards Sweden a free kick. The free kick is taken and the ball goes flying into the box but thankfully it is clear away by Eric Young and allows Ryan Giggs to make his way up the field and take the ball away to safety. While the stadium is still noisy, the feel of the crowd isn't as loud as before as it seems that Wales' new found performance in this game has gotten the locals on edge.
Then in the 58th 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?
Saunders celebrates scoring Wales' first goal of Euro '92
He hasn't time to think as Sweden take a quick goal kick and the brief lapse in concentration from the Welsh is taking advantage off by the Swedes who push forward with Brolin rushing down on the flank and it's only thanks to Eric Young stopping the Swedish player from getting anywhere and knocks it out of play for a Swedish throw in. The game ends up become a very open game with no one having any idea who might score and the second half goes flying by with it being a free flowing game which other than Hughes getting tackled in the 73rd minute right on the edge of the penalty box in which the Welsh players and fan cry foul wanting a spot kick but the referee doesn't allow it.
Before anyone knows it, the game ends in a draw for both sides and while a result from the opening game, Yorath feels that they might've been able to get a win from this game, he is more than happy to get something and knows that results over the likes of Greece and Czechoslovakia will be crucial if they are to go all the way. For now though, everyone in Wales is more than happy to see their boys back playing in tournament football again, now all British eyes looked towards Northern Ireland taking on Romania next and hopes of something happening there.
---------
With the World Cup already underway IOTL, here we start off TTL's Euro '92 and see Wales make a return again. If any of you are interested about anything happening ITTL, feel free to ask and who do you think will win TTL's Euro '92? Catch you later for another update soon and for my English readers...good luck against Tunisia from a Scotsman.
Hillsborough and Bradford still sadly happen as per OTL along with the improvement to stadiums across the UK afterwards, though with there being a different government in power ITTL, Justice does come about much quicker to the victims than our OTL. And The Sun is still banned in Liverpool in this ATL.
This is awesome and I almost just left this because it doesn't affect the story in any way, but that's Willie Miller, not Graeme Souness.
Souness fires his shot on goal, before taking another shot to tuck it in for goal.
Alex McLeish, Willie Miller, Richard Gough.
Last edited: