World Cup Rambling

I'm joined by James Bennett as we discuss his new book 'No Show: The World Cup Teams That Never Were'. James's excellent book features some great stories of teams that missed out on the World Cup from big names (Argentina 1970, England 1978, France 1993, Netherlands 2002, Italy 2018) to minnows (Trinidad and Tobago 1990, Burkina Faso 2014) and many in between and also addresses the legacies of some leading players (Alfredo di Stefano, George Best, Eric Cantona, George Weah) who failed to make it to the Greatest Show on Earth. Follow James's social media accounts here https://linktr.ee/jbennettwriterX@MatthewOkot@WorldCupRambleSubscribe to World Cup Rambling on your podcast platform.

We have the final part of our look back at Argentina’s triumphant campaign at Mexico 86.  The England match is a saga on its own – Britain’s history in the introduction and development of football in Argentina, the legacy of the ‘Animals’ match from 1966 and the shadow of the Falklands War.  The Argentinian players are keen to downplay the war although Maradona would later admit that privately, they were keen to avenge the Falklands defeat.  On the field, Maradona scores two goals that reflect his devilment and his genius – ‘The Hand of God’ and ‘the Goal of the Century’.  Maradona dominates the semi-final against Belgium from start to finish; arguably the greatest individual performance in World Cup history.  In the final against West Germany, Maradona, despite being tightly marked, creates the winning goal and it’s the day that shows Argentina are more than ‘Maradona plus ten’, as his often-overlooked colleagues make telling contributions to clinch the trophy for Carlos Bilardo’s side.   The Argentinian National Anthem is from https://nationalanthems.info/‘Por Una Cabeza’ is from  https://www.classicals.de/gardel-por-una-cabezaAll other music is from the YouTube Audio LibraryX@MatthewOkot@WorldCupRambleSubscribe to World Cup Rambling on your podcast platform.

We’ve got part 2* of the look back at Argentina’s victorious campaign at Mexico 86.  Here we’ve got the early stages ofArgentina’s journey. Maradona shows his class by assisting all three goals against the rough-housing South Koreans, then scoring a deft equaliser against Italy.  It’s the result against Italy that slowly starts to win over the sceptics who felt that Argentina were heading for disaster.  Further wins follow over Bulgaria and Uruguay. Bilardo settles on a core of players who will carry Argentina through the competition – a contrast with the hectic chopping and changing of the previous three years.    *The original plan was to cover Argentina’s Mexico 86 campaign in a single episode but there was so much material – especially for the England game – that I’ve split the campaign into two episodes.‘Por Una Cabeza’ is from  https://www.classicals.de/gardel-por-una-cabezaAll other music is from the YouTube Audio Library X@MatthewOkot@WorldCupRamble Subscribe to World Cup Rambling on your podcast platform. 

With the 40th anniversary of Argentina’s iconic World Cup triumph at Mexico 86 approaching, we have a two-part episode dedicate to that subject.  In part 1, we look at how Argentina rebuilt under new manager Carlos Bilardo, who was determined to make a clean break with the Menotti era by sweeping away most of the Spain 82 squad, implementing a new formation, and appointing a new captain – Diego Maradona.  It wouldn’t all be plain sailing as Maradona battled illness and injury. Bilardo struggled for results and Argentina made a meal of qualifying for Mexico 86, leaving the press and public sceptical about their chances of World Cup glory.  With the tournament approaching, the tensions between the ancien regime (represented by Daniel Passarella) and the new regime (represented by Maradona) threatened to derail the campaign before it had even started. The Argentinian National Anthem is from https://nationalanthems.info/‘Por Una Cabeza’ is from https://www.classicals.de/gardel-por-una-cabezaAll other music is from the YouTube Audio Library X@MatthewOkot@WorldCupRamble Subscribe to World Cup Rambling on your podcast platform.

With the 1998 World Cup Final looming, the stage seemed set for Ronaldo – the world’s best player, the most complete striker in world football – to score the goals to confirm his status and inspire Brazil to a record-breaking fifth title.  Instead, a zombified Ronaldo wandered ineffectually through the match as France ran out 3-0 winners.  Ronaldo hadn’t been named on the original team sheet and then his name appeared on a second team sheet.  Behind the scenes, there had been chaos and carnage in the Brazil camp.  The chaoticbuild-up would become the subject of heated claim, counter-claim and conspiracy theories, leading all the way to parliamentary inquiries in Brazil.The Brazilian National Anthem is from https://nationalanthems.info/‘Pavane Op 50’ is by Abydos_Music from https://pixabay.com/music/solo-piano-pavane-op-50-gabriel-faure-350779/ All other music is from the YouTube Audio Library X@MatthewOkot@WorldCupRambleSubscribe to World Cup Rambling on your podcast platform.