I have seen matches in La Plata, San Juan, and Salta. But it was the match in Mendoza that I had been looking forward to.
33 years ago. June 11, 1978. Minute 68. Archie Gemmill scored 'that goal'
In 1978, Argentina hosted the World Cup. After a bad start, Scotland faced Holland in the last game of Group 4 needing to win by 3 goals to advance to the second round. The game took place in Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza.
Holland scored first on a penalty and then Kenny Dalglish tied the game just before half-time. At the start of the second half, Archie Gemmill number 15 scored on a penalty to put Scotland up 2-1.
Then 'that goal' happened. In minute 68. Dalglish number 8 received the ball on the right of the penalty box and dribbled but a Holland player poked the ball away to Gemmill. Archie picked up the ball and danced past 3 Holland players before scored with his left foot. 3-1 for Scotland and 1 more goal and Scotland would go to the second round and Holland home.
The dream lasted 3 minutes. Johnny Rep of Holland scored in minute 71. The ball deflected off Gemmill´s leg. Holland won 3-2 and Scotland went home.
see 'that goal' here in youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyJTBrbPIHQ&feature=related
To put things in perspective, many Scots believed Scotland had a great team and believed in their coach Ally MacLeod when he said they would come back from Argentina with the Cup. Such was the euphoria before the World Cup that the elimination of Scotland in the first round of the 78 WC ranked among the biggest dissappointments in Scottish football history.
well there was no Scot in Mendoza the last few days but plenty of Chilenos. With Santiago only 400 km away from Mendoza, one report said about 30,000 Chilenos showed up to support their team.
this is a replica of a famous statue outside of Estadio Nacional
in Santiago, Chile
It was a South American clasico last night in Mendoza. Chile vs Peru for first place in Group C.
I had a ticket in the main tribune. Row 2 Seat 20. The view was bad because I could hardly see anything (see photo below) but I did not want to move. I wanted to watch the benches, the fourth official, the police, the mastcot, the ball boys, etc.
when half time came, I saw that statue again and a group of Chile ladies asked me to take a photo for them with him.
in minute 68, I thought of Archie Gemmill. But the actual game was quite poor. Chile rested many key players to avoid getting more yellow cards and suspension for the quarter-final. Still Chile scored at the end of the game to win 1-0.
As I left, I thought about the current name of the stadium.
I also thought about that WC in 1978.
Back then I had just emigrated to the US and I used to buy a french soccer magazine named Mondial. In that magazine, I saw an ad for pen pal from a boy in Argentina.
We corresponded for 4 years when in early 1982, he wrote to me to say he had been drafted into the army and that he would go to war. Argentina invaded those two islands that they claimed the English had taken from them. England went to war against Argentina, with support from the US and Chile.
Many soldiers died on both sides and England won. To this day, Argentina is still trying to get these islands back, diplomatically.
I did not hear from my friend for most of the rest of 1982. That summer, the World Cup came to Spain and Argentina with Maradona crashed out in the second round. Italia won.
In early 1983, I finally got a letter from Argentina. My friend wrote that he had survived the war and went on to give me his opinions about WC 82. The day I got that letter was one of the most emotional moments in my life.
Unfortunately, we lost touch over the years. In the last few years, I have been trying to find on the internet the old magazines of Mondial from the late 70's. I hope to find his name and address in one of these magazines.
I have not found them yet but I am still looking.
greetings from Mendoza.
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