Football Reheated - The 1958 FA Cup Final (Bolton vs Man United)

Football Reheated – 1958 FA Cup Final

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_FA_Cup_Final

I’m going to start this match review by talking about two superior matches. Why am I doing this? I don’t know. No idea why. No idea why I didn’t just review one of the other two. I’m weird like that to be fair.

Both Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United were no strangers to Wembley Stadium during the 50’s. Both had already lost a Cup Final in the decade up to that point, so the 1958 Final was set up to be redemption for one, while being the ultimate kick in the knackers for the other.

Bolton’s loss had been in the epic “Matthews Final” of 1953. A truly sensational 90 minutes of back and forth attacking football that had ended 4-3 in Blackpool’s favour. It was the sort of wild and exciting Cup Final that you don’t get any more. I don’t know what it is about the New Wembley but it’s essentially become the stadium where exciting football goes to die. I can’t think of one FA Cup Final since 2007 that has come even remotely close to being as exciting as the 1953 Final. So yeah, Bolton had lost, after being in the lead no less. This was a chance for the team, the City and club legend Nat Lofthouse to finally wipe those painful memories away.

Manchester United had been at Wembley the previous year and had lost, in controversial fashion, to Aston Villa. United keeper Ray Wood had been unfairly injured by the Villains, leaving United without a first choice goalkeeper for large sections of the match. United ended up going down 2-1, a result which left a very sour taste in the mouth for them and their fans. Things were sadly due to get much worse for United and the beloved “Busby Babes”. 

The Munich Air Disaster would see the tragic death of over half the 1957 Cup Final squad. As the football world mourned, something quite exceptional happened. A depleted United squad somehow managed to make their way to the 1958 Cup Final. Here was a plot from a movie actually happening in real life in front of the worlds eyes. Outside the City of Bolton, Manchester United were going to be the neutrals favourites in this Cup Final. To be fair, how could they not? This was a real life fairy-tale that just needed the Hollywood Ending to make it complete.

Football though, more often than not, likes to go “off-script”. This was one of those occasions.

The version of the match I watched was The Official Release from ILC Media. It has Kenneth Wolstenholme on commentary and he does a solid and workman like job of it all. The picture quality isn’t that great and there’s very little extras on the DVD, but for a match that was from 1958 the video and sound quality matched my expectations. ILC Media do quite well with these releases most of the time. The only thing I’d say is that sometimes they could show more of the build-up and include some post match interviews. 

I can understand why they didn’t with this final as there likely wasn’t any pre or post match interviews. I was speaking to my uncle, who used to watch the Cup Finals live back in the day, and asked him about what used to happen at half time. This was before the days where you’d cut to a studio and there would be a host and ex-pro’s dissecting the match in great detail (Or lack of detail in some channels cases). Apparently, they’d just show a straight shot of the pitch for 15 minutes until the half started or they would cut to a test card until the second half kicked off. I’m guessing this was a case of the latter as the first half ends and then the DVD cuts right back to the kick off again.

United actually have more of the ball at the immediate start of the match and enjoy a fair bit of possession in the opening few minutes. It doesn’t really go anywhere though. Bolton win a corner in opening 3 minutes, which United make a mockery of clearing. Bolton promptly put it back into the box and it falls at the feet of Nat Lofthouse who slots it away with his usual predatory brilliance, making it 1-0.

From the kick off, United again enjoy a reasonable amount of possession but they struggle to do anything with it. By comparison, Bolton look continuously dangerous every time the ball is with them. It’s a very direct approach but by no means is it an unskilled one. Dennis Violet spends the early part of the first half being United’s main go-to player. Charlton is quiet for most of the half and you can see that the plane crash is effecting his overall performance. His passing fails to retain its speed and accuracy that you associate with him. He’s even given a reasonable amount of space by the Bolton defence but he doesn’t really do anything with it.
Bolton are unforgiving and just plain ruthless. Any time a United player gets the ball he’s either charged down and disposed of or he’s reduced to having to hit it long, whereby the receiving player promptly loses it to the coldly efficient Bolton defence. Stand out players in the first half for Bolton are number 7 Brian Birch and Number 3 Tommy Banks. United keeper Harry Gregg is called upon to make a number of saves in the first 20 minutes as his defence continuously keep dropping him in it.

It takes about 20 minutes for United to finally have any kind of meaningful attack when Violet manages to get hold of the ball in the Bolton box. However, his shot has too much welly on it and it ends up flying over the cross bar for a Bolton goal kick. Violet almost makes up for it 5 minutes later by laying off the ball for a shot from Ernie Taylor. Taylors shot forces the Bolton Keeper Eddie Hopkinson to make his first meaningful save of the contest. The resulting corner leads nowhere but United do manage to win a throw in from it. The throw goes Charlton’s way and he finally makes an impact on the proceedings by delivering a cracking shot from outside the box that forces another save from Hopkinson.

The next 10-15 minutes ends up being a bit of a midfield slog as both teams jockey for position in the middle of the park. Bolton spend most of their time looking for the defence splitting pass necessary to unleash Lofthouse on the hapless United defence. United spend most of it trying to retain possession and play Violet or Charlton in with a long ball. The game never really settles and neither goal keeper is given too brisk of a challenge. There’s a lot of work-rate but there isn’t really an end product for either side. United look more comfortable in attack for the remainder of the half but they always seem to be missing the last piece of the attacking puzzle that they need. Bolton seem content to sit back at points and wait for their chances. At no point do you sense any immediate urgency from the Bolton players to close the United players down. The defence are patient and keep the United attacks at bay until the ref blows for half time

United start the second half reasonably brightly but their game lacks that killer blow or viciousness that you sense it requires for them to draw level. Bolton clearly do not have the same problem and this is proven in the 50th Minute where, after a sustained few minutes of Bolton pressure, Nat Lofthouse bundles both the ball and Harry Gregg into the net for Bolton’s second. The fact that this goal is allowed to stand is nothing short of farcical. Dennis Stevens scuffs a shot and Gregg manages to get a hand to it. The ball hangs in the air and Gregg catches it quite comfortably. From behind comes Lofthouse at, and this is a conservative guess, about 83 Miles per hour. Lofthouse delivers a pro wrestling like shoulder charge that sends Gregg careening into the back of his own goal, along with the ball still in his hands.

As you would imagine, Gregg is knocked out cold upon impact. It really is disgusting when you watch it back as Gregg is inches away from smashing his head off the goal post. Thanks to some smelling salts and liberal use of the magic sponge, Gregg is eventually able to play on. It should be noted that Lofthouse doesn’t even bother to check on Gregg. In fact the only Bolton player who seemingly gives a crap is Ray Parry, who actually comes over to check on the United keeper.

Despite there being nearly 35 minutes left at this point, the game is all but over. United are thoroughly demoralised by the goal and as the half rolls on, it becomes painfully obvious that they just aren’t capable of breaching the Bolton defence. Colin Webster does manage to get free for a run on goal with around 25 left, but his shot is saved with relative ease by an in form Hopkinson. Webster gets another chance with about 20 minutes left when Violent plays a nice pass to him in the box, but it’s a tight angle to shoot from and Hopkinson has it more than covered.

The match slowly starts to grind down around this point as Bolton sit back again when it becomes obvious that United are not likely to score. The Bolton players are content to hang back and just catch United on the offside trap, rather than go in for the jugular. Things get a bit bad tampered towards the end of the game as Stevens ends up on the ground with the Bolton players accusing Webster as the guilty party. Sadly, this was back before instant replay so we never find out what actually happened. Wolsestenholme doesn’t see it either. This is really the last thing of any real interest during normal time. Bolton get close to a third in stoppage time but Greaves manages a clearance off the line to keep the score respectable. The ref brings proceedings to an end not soon after and Bolton are crowned FA Cup Winners.

So, the question arises, is this match any good? The quality of football on offer is by no means terrible but it really lacks the sort of pulse and excitement that would draw the neutral audience in. I think what this final is missing more than anything else is a United goal. I think what led to Bolton’s undoing back in ’53 was that Blackpool were able to get a goal back. Once that goal went in, it had the two fold effect of firstly putting Bolton a bit on edge but also giving Blackpool the impetuous to keep attacking. You really get the impression here that after about the 70 minute mark, United really don’t believe they’re going to get one back. This seeps through to the United fans and it kind of sucks the air out of the match.

Bolton never really appear to be in much trouble at any point during the Final and mentally seem to be much stronger than their United opponents. A goal maybe at the start of the half or right after Lofthouses second, could have really spiced the remainder of the Final up. As it is, it’s a good game of football that doesn’t really play that much with your emotions. It’s a solid kick about, but is also pretty much by the numbers.

In a lot of ways, this Final reminds me of Everton’s win over Watford in the 1984 FA Cup Final. Both matches are very similar. Everton and Bolton both take a 1-0 win into half time and then essentially kill off the game with another in the second half. Andy Gray even assaults the Watford keeper on the way to the second goal (Although it’s nowhere near as controversial as Lofthouses goal here)
Lofthouse is the MVP from the Bolton end of things. He scores an excellently taken goal in the first half and then commits an atrocity in the second half to put the game beyond doubt. While it is nice to see him shake Gregg’s hand at the end of the match, it would have been comforting to see him give a crap during the match itself. Still, Gregg ends up being fine so I guess it’s not that big of a deal in the long run. It does give the match its main talking point as well.

Gregg would probably be United’s best player. It would be him or Violet really. I would say that Gregg just edges it as he makes a number of good saves and does well to continue the game after being legit knocked silly for a few minutes. He ends up with a lot more work to do than Hopkinson at the other end due to the numerous errors made by his defenders.

Lofthouse passed away during the 2010/2011 season. That season also saw Bolton and Man United get to the FA Cup Semi Finals that year against Stoke and Man City respectively. A lot of people were into the prospect of seeing the clubs battle in the Final again. It would have been a fitting piece of symmetry had Bolton Vs United been the Final, with Bolton perhaps pulling off the upset with Kevin Davies, almost the modern equivalent of Lofthouse, getting the winner. Once again though, football refused to read the script and we ended up getting a dour Man City Vs Stoke Final. What can you do eh?

Overall I would only recommend this Final if, like me, you already own ’53 and ’57 and want to see the eventual conclusion to the story. It’s by no means a bad game of football, and has been better than every Wembley Final since 2007, but it doesn’t have the excitement that would appeal to a neutral fan. If United had been closer to winning, or had even managed to actually pull off the upset, I reckon this Final could have been one of the all time greats. As it is, it’s merely a composed and disciplined Bolton performance from back when they were a real force in the game.

Highlights below.

 

Below is the link for the Match on Amazon (I do like how an angry Man United fan has given the match a * rating )

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Final-Bolton...fa+cup+fina%3B

This and That by Mikey Fitzgerald: Random Comics Thoughts

I’m not entirely sure what’s happening with DC Comics at the moment, but a lot of people I talk to are really starting to go off them. I am not a full fledged comic nerd. I like to read comics and my house is chock full of the blasted things, but I’ll be honest and say that I’m not up to date with all the ins and outs of the industry. What insider knowledge I do know I usually get from the website “4thletter” or the occasional chat with my pal Phil.




The whole comic industry does seem like a bizarre and interesting place to be. I’ve always secretly wanted to write a comic or graphic novel. I have never given it more than a glancing thought though because I can’t draw for toffee and it seems like such a weird industry to get in to. It’s mainly the drawing though. Seriously, I struggle to draw a convincing looking stick man, the idea of drawing a sprawling fight scene across a murky dystopian landscape would be far beyond my piddling abilities.



The thing is, whenever I’ve thought about writing a comic I usually always want to write about the DC characters, this despite the fact that right now I’m enjoying reading Marvel much more than DC. This seems to be the general consensus from other people that I talk with. Everyone just seems so much more into Marvel. Some aren’t even buying any comics from the supposed “Big Two” and instead are buying comics from independent companies.



That being said, if someone offered me a contract tomorrow to write a story for an existing character from DC, Marvel or anywhere else, I’d still likely pick a DC character just because I find them so interesting. Make no mistake, the DC universe is a grim and depressing place filled with a host of brooding dark characters. With characters like Batman, Jason Todd, Deathstroke, Lex Luthor, Sinestro and others, DC has a very rich talent pool to draw from. Why then, is the current drop of DC books seemingly failing to grip people’s attention? I mean, I buy quite a few DC comics and I’m sure DC makes a reasonable amount in sales each week, so commercially I don’t think they’re failing. But critically, the stories really seem to have missed the mark with more long time readers.



As someone who buys DC, I find most of the time that I am buying the books I buy more for the characters they contain than the actual stories they offer. For instance, I’ve been a regular buyer of “Red Hood and The Outlaws” since its inception. We’re at issue 20 now and none of the narratives have gripped me in any noteworthy way. I keep buying the book because I’m a fan of Jason Todd and occasionally he has an interaction with Starfire, Arsenal or someone else in the Batman universe that I find intriguing. Outside of that, there’s no other reason why I buy it. The current story of Jason wilfully having his memories wiped and the team having a bounty on them isn’t a bad story but it’s not exactly rocking my world either.



The book itself is a collection of good moments but the actual substance of the stories themselves never really infuses. For instance, in one of the earlier stories, Jason and his date end up getting roped into an interplanetary war. Cue plenty of nice scenes where Jason’s date is freaking out that she’s on a space ship while Jason is off shooting aliens. But that’s the only real joy I got from it. I found the actual story of Starfire trying to repel invaders to her home planet rather dull if I’m honest.



I seem to buy DC books now more as a force of habit than actually being interested in the story. Batman and Robin, Red Hood, Batwing, Green Lantern, Red Lanterns and Suicide Squad have all become things I just buy when I’m in the comic shop. In fact, from issue 21 onwards I think I’m going to cut all of them. I might stick with Red Hood and possibly Red Lanterns, but the others are just taking up space now. Suicide Squad in particular has been a massive disappointment for me. I’d been such a huge fan of “Secret Six” and was dismayed when it was pulled. “Suicide Squad” started off looking like it would be the natural successor to that book, and it was probably intended as such.



Ultimately though, it’s gone from being quite interesting to being pretty much a slog. It really is a shame because a comic whose main characters are Deadshot, Harley Quinn and King Shark should really be a great read. King Shark hasn’t been as funny or as entertaining in “Suicide Squad” as he was in “Secret Six”. I really don’t like the new design for him either. It’s weird how a character who is essentially one dimensional can actually lose depth of character, but it’s happened in this book.



Deadshot is by far the best thing in the book and he’s the only character you truly find yourself rooting for. He’s not a traditional bad guy. To call him a bad guy is probably going too far. Deadshot is a selfish person who does bad things because of it. He can equally be capable of doing good things as well, but again it will always be for a selfish reason. That being said, I still kind of like him. He’s the main reason I’ve stuck around as long as I have in all fairness.



Quinn has just kind of got annoying now. I think, more than any other character in DC at the moment, Harley Quinn is the most over-exposed. I just don’t think we need anymore Quinn right now. For the past 10 years they’ve just been shoving more and more Harley at us to the point that I think I’ve hit my Quinn Tolerance Level. She’s a great character but I really think it would do her good to disappear for a little bit. Character’s need a break now and then. For instance, I’d be highly interested in a Killer Croc comic right now because it seems like ages since I last saw him (It likely isn’t of course).



One of the reasons why I’m so into the new “Justice League of America” and spin off “Vibe” comic is that it’s using some characters that we either haven’t seen in a major role for a while (Martian Manhunter) or incorporating some of the brand new ones they’ve just brought in (Vibe, New Green Lantern). JLA has a feeling of freshness to it, even when it also contains other regular characters that have been popping up elsewhere (Catwoman, Green Arrow, Amanda Waller etc)



I tapped out on Catwoman somewhere around issue 11 or 12 I think. I can’t remember. I kind of liked it at first and even when I didn’t, I stuck around as I wanted to give it a chance. It just got to the point where I wasn’t enjoying it anymore and even my admiration for the character couldn’t get me to stick with it.



On the other side of the coin, I’m really starting to get more into Marvel at the moment. A vs X was excellent and felt like a proper “event”. It left the Mutant and Marvel landscape in such a way that I’m excited to see where it goes. Marvel was also smart to introduce a slew of new mutants to enrol at Wolverines school and work hard at giving them recognisable personalities. Quentin Quire in particular has been a stand out but I like Kid Apocalypse too. X-Force went out in a blaze of glory and I was genuinely upset to see it fall by the wayside. Fantomex and Deadpool were excellent with Fantomex being toned up, while Deadpool was toned down. It also had a major role for Daken towards the end, which always scores comic points. Daken’s book getting pulled caused me to lament for a long time, so it was good for him to get a run in the finale of X-Force.



So yeah, Marvel is rocking my world more than DC right now. The number of DC books I buy is going down where as the number of Marvel ones I buy are on the up. I’m sure financially DC will do just fine, but we’re swiftly moving to a time where I will be buying a mere 4 DC books a month, where it used to be nearly 10. Meanwhile, my Marvel intake is going to swell from about 3 to something like 7 or 8. Take into account the ID books I buy and the percentage of income I send DC’s way is going to be considerably lower than it used to be.



Sort it out DC. I want to like you, but you’re not making it easy.

Football Re-Heated: Romania Vs Argentina, USA '94

Football Re-Heated – Romania Vs Argentina – USA 94

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_FI...a_vs_Argentina

I’ve never liked Argentina. In football obviously. I have no beef with them outside of the sporting arena. I don’t think I’ve even met an Argentinian before. But when it comes to sport, I despise them. I think everyone outside of Argentina hates them too. They are the archetypal villains. They will cheat outrageously and do whatever it takes to win. Other teams are guilty of this too, but what sets Argentina apart is the sheer brazenness of the way they cheat. For them it’s a way of life. Win at all cost. Sod the rules, They are only there to be broken! The sad thing is that if Argentina ever actually played the game fairly they probably would still win quite a lot of matches and be universally well liked. When Argentina actually play fairly they end up producing some excellent football as this match readily shows.

USA 94 was kind of a miserable experience for Argentina, highlighted by their star player Diego Maradona getting suspended for failing a drug test. The terrifying clip of Mardona celebrating a goal against Greece, his eyes wide as saucers and his mouth frothing like a gopher with rabies, will live in my mind forever. Whatever he was taking, it seemed to be working. I find the story of Maradona a living example that there is such a thing as karma. I know a bunch of people are going to be falling over themselves saying “Don’t have a go at Diego, he won a World Cup in 86’ single handed!”

This one has always rankled me. Yes Argentina won the World Cup in 86’ but outside of England (Who they had to cheat against to beat) and Germany, who of any consequence did they play at that World Cup? I’m sorry, but getting a soft draw to the Quarters and then having to PUNCH the ball into the net to beat ENGLAND leaves a lot to be desired. “But Mike, that other goal he scored was amazing!”. Yes, it was a very good goal and Maradona fans cling to it like a security blanket. To them, this is the proof that Maradona isn’t the cheating scum bucket that he’s made out to be. This one goal has somehow rose this cocky little scoundrel with small man syndrome into one of sports greatest heroes. Look, the goal is excellent, that I’m not disputing, but that doesn’t excuse Diego’s prior actions. If a man saves a child from a burning building but then murders 15 others in a bank robbery, does that make him a good person or a bad person? I know which side of the fence I’m on in this one.

Anyway, a Maradona-less Argentina had made it to the second round of the World Cup where they were scheduled to face an impressive Romanian side. Romania had got to the second round by beating pre-tournament favourites Columbia and also sneaking past tournament hosts USA 1-0 in their final group game. The Yanks, by virtue of also beating the Columbians, had pretty much already qualified at that point.
Despite a shock loss to Bulgaria, Argentina had qualified with relative comfort from their group and most fancied them to do well despite the loss of Maradona to a drugs ban. Maradona, always needing to be centre of attention, still attended the game and did some commentary for Argentinian radio, a mere stones throw from where Motty and Trevor Brooking were sitting. The version of the match I watched was the BBC TV version and despite the fact it was clearly taped off a VCR and then copied to a DVD, the quality was surprisingly good.
Romania had done well in Italia 90’ and had ended up going out in Round 2 to Jack Charlton’s Ireland on penalties. Key players for them were the uber talented Hagi and a determined Dumitrescu. Argentina of course had used every single trick in the book to make it to the final at Italia 90’ and, in true panto villain style, had managed to knock the hosts out in the semi-finals before going on to enter a performance so vile in the final that it went from being infuriating to just plain embarrassing. Their play in USA 94 had been a lot more positive and that was a trend that continued here in this match.

The action was hot a heavy with both teams playing counter attacking football. Pretty much every goal in the game was a result of a counter attack as both defences were exposed on a number of occasions. Ortega had been shuffled into the Maradona role and performed admirably. Rather than diving all over the place when tackled, he often stood firm on his feet and had a number of very good chances towards the end of the first half.

Romania were able to take the lead after a mere 11 minutes into the contest. Hagi won a, admittedly soft, free kick outside the Argentine box. Dumitrescu aimed to cross the ball in to the box and find the head of one of the two Romanian defenders who had come up for the free kick. He needn’t have bothered. The “cross” swung over a helpless Islas in the Argentine goal and landed in the corner of the net. Dumitrescu quickly acted like he meant it all along but he wasn’t fooling anybody.

Argentina were very quick to get back into the match and at the 15 minute mark Batistuta (sporting what I could only describe as a lions main on his head) went down in the Romanian box and the referee pointed to the spot. The penalty, similar to the free kick earlier, was pretty soft. At most he fell into the Romanian number 3 Prodan. Batistuta stepped up and coolly slotted the spot kick home. 1-1.

Argentina had little time to relax though as Romania were soon straight back up the pitch. Hagi went on a teasing run down the right side of the pitch and played in a peach of a through ball into the box to Dumitrescu who tapped it past Isla with alarming ease to put the Romanians back into the lead. The Romanians had essentially created two goals from nothing and only 18 minutes had passed by!

You’d think the match would settle down this point but you’d be dead wrong. Romania had another run up the pitch where Isla barely denied Dumistrescu his hat-trick with a great save. Argentina immediately broke down the other side with Ortega almost clean on goal before being smothered by both a defender and the goal keeper. Romania then went up the pitch AGAIN with Petrescu’s long range shot smacked away by a desperate Isla. This all happened in the space of 45 seconds. It was like watching your mates play FIFA.

The first half continued in this vein with both teams taking it in turns to attack the others goal. Argentina made a conscious effort towards the end of the half to try and slow the pace down and build attacks up slowly but the Romanians stuffed 4-5 guys in the box and waited to steal the ball back. The Argentinians continued to give the ball away at silly times and Romania aimed to punish them at every turn. Batistuta did a fine job of scuffing a shot wide at the 25 minute mark.

Argentina dominated the first 15 minutes of the second half, instigating attack after attack on the Romanian goal. However, every attack was subdued by the Romanian defence. The fourth goal in the match came from a, say it with me, counter attack. Ortega’s corner kick at the 56 minute mark was headed out to Basualdo who was easily dispossessed by Dumitrescu on the outside of the Romanian box. Dumitrescu stormed down the middle of the pitch. All three Argentine defenders pounced on him but none of them noticed a sprinting Hagi stampeding down the right hand side of the pitch. Dumitrescu played Hagi a peach of the ball and Hagi easily tucked the ball away to put Romania 3-1 up.

Argentina was not to be outdone and continued to pressurize the Romanian box. Romania decided to keep it on the ground and hold on to the ball whenever they had possession. Watching them calmly hang on to the ball and pass it between themselves reminded me a little bit of the famed “Tiki-Taka” style of play that Spain employs.

The game didn’t so much fizzle out at this point but the pace did noticeably slow as Romania were trying to hold on to their lead. Both sides were still willing to attack with Argentina desperately trying to drag themselves back into contention. At the 75th minute, they managed it. Caceres had a long range shot from way outside the Romanian box. The shot was saved by Prunea in the Romanian goal but he couldn’t hang on to it and Abel Balbo knocked the rebound into the net to make it 3-2.

Despite this goal, Romania were able to hang on and get a famous win. The Argentinian fans, in a show of class, applauded Hagi as he left the field at the 86th minute to be replaced by Galca. The game itself was played in a good spirit and the usual cheating and chicanery that you expect from Argentina was not on display. This may have been the most fun I’ve ever had watching Argentina play football. It was miles away from the horrid displays at Italia 90. That being said, playing exciting and relatively clean football against a talented Romanian side led to Argentina crashing out of the tournament. Maybe this is why Argentinians prefer to play dirty?
Overall, this match is not just the best match at USA 94 it may very well be one of the top 10 greatest matches in World Cup history. Unlike some other matches, this match stands on it’s excitement factor alone. There’s no grudge between the two sides or intense rivalry between the players. That being said, it’s captivating stuff and is a constant and dizzying exhibition of attacking football. It certainly helps that Romania get the early goal. This forces Argentina to chase the game and leaves them open to more counter attacks from the Romanian Mega Powers of Hagi and Dumitrescu. Hagi’s performance is excellent throughout as he is a constant threat and causes the Argentinians no end of bother. That being said, I’d go with Dumitrescu as the man of the match. He really had something to prove here and stepped up to the plate to deliver a cracking performance. 

Ortega would be the player who stood out most to me for Argentina. Filling Maradona’s shoes is not a task most men would inherit happily. In fact, pretty much every attacking chance that Argentina had involved Ortega in some form or another. Batistuta, despite winning the penalty, entered a below par performance up front. He really didn’t play up to his potential at all and really should have done better with some of his chances in the first half.

This match is certainly “must see”. If you’re never seen it before, it’s worth trying to hunt a copy down or watch the highlights in the youtube link below