This could be Rotterdam or anywhere…

This topic contains 26 replies, has 10 voices, and was last updated by MacGuffin MacGuffin 5 years, 9 months ago.

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  • #1648934
    MacGuffin
    MacGuffin
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    • :

    Since there’s bugger all United topics at the moment (and since hatters doesn’t want to play with me any more) I thought I’d share a football experience in part to bump this topic to the top as a reminder we can always stroll down memory lane over the summer.

    The world cup makes me remember being 11 years old on holiday in the Costa Brava with my mother in 1966. Walking back from the beach we went into a cafe, bar, taverna whatever where THAT match was on the TV expecting to just find out the result. But they were still playing, it was in extra time.

    The bar was packed, standing room only. Half the customers English, the other half German. I could catch only glimpses, being 5 foot something surrounded by grown men. One bloke helped out putting me on his shoulders for a while. Then I was sort of passed around from shoulder to shoulder like a mascot.

    Then came THAT goal. Pandemonium broke out and must have been close to a fight. I didn’t know. It was just a sea of bodies pushing, shoving, jumping and me being bounced around trying to avoid bumping my head on the chandaliers. It was like being on a ride at the fun fair.

    Didn’t get to see us lift the cup though. Once the game was sealed with the 4th goal my mother decided it was time for retreat while there was still time. I don’t think I fully understood the celebration. We were England, they were Germany, we’d beaten them 2 times before so surely victory was a foregone conclusion. Well that’s how it always ended up in the movies at the time!

    Will I ever live to see us win another world cup or at least be in a final. Perhaps if the government invested as much in grassroots football as they did for Olympic sports.

    #1648965
    hatters
    hatters
    Participant
    • :

    @macguffin. It’s not that I don’t want to play with you but that I don’t know how to play with you and win. You stubborn old man hahaha!

    I’m busy serving a month’s notice at my job so I have tonnes of free-time doing a handover. Your memory is awesome. You are so lucky to have been alive to witness the World Cup win.

    Having seen the Kane train leave the station last night I am hopeful that this new England side could mature into world beaters in a couple of years. The performance was much better than the scoreline shows with Lingard and Sterling culpable of missing some great opportunities.

    A childhood memory from me was when I travelled to Juventus with my dad in 1997. I was just 8 years old and only knowing Old Trafford, I just couldn’t understand why the pitch was so far from us in the stands – or at least until I realized just how completely out of control the Juventus fans can become. It’s probably a good thing we lost the game because the Juventus fans around us lowered their aggression after Inzaghi’s winner but I remember feeling very intimidated at the time.

    What stood out for me was on the way in I was bullied by another kid about the same age as me. He shouted the words “Zinedine Zidane” into my face and I shouted “Ole Gunnar Solskjaer” back at him, the exchange ended there because of the language barrier. We all know what happened on the pitch.

    #1649001
    MacGuffin
    MacGuffin
    Participant
    • :

    @hatters – I didn’t witness it live so I guess there’s not much difference between watching the television footage today compared to then … other than listening to the commentators today they sound like twerps.

    BUT my luckiest experience in football is having had the privelege to see Bestie in his prime run rings literally around defenders. He’s undoubtably the best there’s ever been not only for his football skills but entertainment as well. He didn’t want to beat his man, he wanted to take the piss out of him as well. Cruel I suppose but hey the mob demands blood.

    As for Juventus, it must have been an experience for you. And yes, I never liked how European stadiums were so big but I guess we’ve gone that way now. In my day you could literally touch the players when they took a corner or throw in. Not that I was ever stupid enough to be at the front and risk being crushed.

    PS – As for playing with me and winning, a couple of tips. Don’t see it in terms of winning. See it in terms of us both working towards finding the most probable truth.

    And to do that, start with the facts or clues then work towards the answer rather than deciding on the answer you like best and working backwards to find (or think up) points that support the conclusion.

    #1649022

    nine nine nine
    Moderator
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    As a schoolboy I had an £11 season ticket for all the Wembley World Cup games in 1966 which ended up being every England game including the Final.

    George Best prior to all his problems was one of the best players that it’s ever been my privilege to see live and in the flesh and I’ve seen a few of the great onesin the flesh too including Cruyff.

    #1649267
    hatters
    hatters
    Participant
    • :

    @macguffin. Fair dos, I typically do not mind being proven incorrect and will admit as such when I am. Let’s keep the debates going.

    “Cruel I suppose but hey the mob demands blood.” Sounds like a lot of fun. A far cry from what modern football has become.

    #1649786
    O.T Fax Machine
    O.T Fax Machine
    Participant
    • :

    For me it has to be the Barcelona game in the second leg when Scholesy scored the winner that sent us to Moscow.

    It was my very 1st trip ever out of South Africa. I was with my late older sister (God Bless her soul) who fell in love with United when we watched THAT game at the Nou Camp in a small black n white telly.

    Her construction business was doing very well and she went online, bought those 2 tickets at a cost of a brand new ford fiesta nowadays. But she didnt mind just as long as we went to see United at OT and she could see Messi and Ronaldo in the Flesh.

    Couldnt watch all of the game as i was truly overrawed but that for me is a memory that will forever be entrenched in my mind. Some mind blowing stuff at the final whistle.

    A beautiful memory indeed….

    #1650082
    MacGuffin
    MacGuffin
    Participant
    • :

    OT Fax Machine – That must have been extra special first time, not only because of the importance of the game but having to make such a long trip as well. Often the harder it is to do something makes it all the more memorable.

    For me, a memorable United game for all the wrong reasons was (forget the year) when United played a friendly here in Bangkok. It was the season Ole & Teddy joined us. They played a national XI. It was a terrible experience. The Beckham circus was its height and the stadium full of girls (well maybe not that bad an experience) shrieking and giggling. It was like being at a Donny Osmond or Justin Bieber concert. I hoped it would be like a testimonial with players doing fancy stuff but it was like walking football. Zero effort from the players other than Teddy & Ole. Forget the score but it was close to scoreless. I left the stadium feeling cheated. I didn’t expect crunching tackles but did expect entertainment or at least something resembling football.

    Thank god I only had to go down the road.

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