You've probably already seen elsewhere, but this is an Argentine football website, so I couldn't
let it pass un-noticed. 25 years ago today, Argentina took on England in the quarter-finals of the
1986 World Cup in the Estadio Azteca in ... Continue reading →
When men were men. When shorts were short. And when a grocer's daughter from Grantham was lord and
master of all she surveyed.
Younger readers might also need some reminding that back then Scotland played in World Cup finals.
All the ruddy time.
A simple but surprisingly effective formula of having decent players in a smaller footballing world
won us a regular seat at football's grand jamboree.
Canada qualified for the World Cup finals once, in 1986. Never before, not since. To get there,
the Canucks beat Honduras a momentous day in Canadian soccer history but then lost all three of
their group games in Mexico that year. They didn't disgrace themselves, however, losing only 1-0 to
then-European Champions France (to a late Jean-Pierre Papin goal), 2-0 to Hungary and then 2-0 to
the Soviet Union.
Scotland's trip to Mexico in 1986 would be their fourth World Cup in a row. We might have been
hopeless when we got to the finals but we were proving astonishingly consistent at qualifying. Our
route to the 1986 World Cup was, as we all know, steeped in tragedy. Jock Stein's death on a tense
night in Wales as Scotland clinched a play off place cast a long shadow over the whole 1986
campaign.
Whether it is the fear of losing, lack of fitness or early tournament nerves England have
consistently struggled to grab all three points in their recent opening matches at International
tournaments.
In fact, a quick look at the history books shows that since 1986 The Three Lions have only won
their opener on two occasions – against Paraguay in 2006 and Tunisia in 1998.
Posted By Eric Beard, A Football Report Co-Founder
Just like Pique, the jalapeno pepper who was the mascot for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, and
Gerard Pique, the Barcelona and Spain defender, here at AFR we've kept our name, but we've changed
our site's look a little bit.
As Diego Maradona prepares to return to the forefront of international football it is quite fitting
that he will make his managerial debut of the Argentine national squad in the cauldron of all
English hatred, Hampden Park. Anyone that can somehow contribute to the demise of the England
national football team is embraced with great [.
Will Maradona make 50 look cool or will 50 finally be the year that tames Diego? For my own
personal entertainment, I hope its the former and not the latter. But, should Diego finally
decide to abandon the lime light (and the press let him...) and disappear into football history
oblivion we can't really complain.
This may be the most controversial goal in World Cup history. It's from the 1986 quarter-final
between Argentina and England, a game Argentina won 2-1 with Maradona scoring twice. We all know
about his second goal, so this post will focus on his first. The infamous "Hand of God" goal.
In the 51st minute, with the score at 0-0, Maradona played a ball out wide to Jorge Valdano.
In American football, size does matter. In soccer size does not matter. Some of the best players of
all time--Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, and Pele--are short. But boy, do and did they play big.
Scotland clinch a draw with Wales to get to the play offs for the 1986 World Cup final. A typically
Scottish story. Needing a point we go behind, lose a goalkeeper when he loses a contact lense and
need a late penalty to get the job done.
Bend it like Beckham
One of the better free kick flash games I've played.
Virtual Foosball with Premiership teams
Fun, but not very hard
Stan James original free kick challenge
Probably one of the most unique and original plays on free kicks. Not easy.
Rooney on the Rampage
Very little to do with soccer other than it uses the likeness of Wayne Rooney, who gets the idea to
head butt his opponents by watching Zidane in last year's World Cup.
- Maradona and his 1986 World Cup-winning Argentina teammates have agreed to an unofficial rematch
with the English side that El Diego scored the 'Hand of God' goal against in the quarterfinals of
that competition. Peter Reid, a member of the English squad, had this to say:"This is our chance to
show what we can do and get a little bit of revenge." Sounds kind of sad to me, old men not being
able to let bygones be bygones.
