IS THIS TRUE ?
World champions just eight years earlier, England’s decline as a footballing power was dramatic. For the first time England failed to qualify for the World Cup. A casual loss to Poland in Katowice and an unnecessary draw against Wales meant that England had to beat Poland at Wembley. There was still much home belief, epitomised by Derby manager Brian Clough who before the match began described Poland’s goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski as a “clown”.
None of the home spectators could conceive of any result other than a home win. The first half of the match was totally dominated by England; yet the “clown” gave a master class in goal keeping, aided by the woodwork, which seemed to catch every strike missed by Tomaszewski. Apprehension began to creep into both the crowd and the team at the start of the second half, but surely Tomaszewski would crack? Concern gave way to alarm when Domarski scored for Poland after fifty-seven minutes. Six minutes later a dubious penalty was awarded to England which Allan Clarke converted. A frantic England launched attack after attack, Kevin Hector was brought on as a substitute, his debut for England, not that anyone noticed. But it was not be to, a header by Hector missing by inches. Later on Poland showed in the World Cup itself that they were far from a weak side, but it hardly lessened the pain for the serried ranks of England fans, England were out. This time Britain was to be represented by England’s gleeful neighbour and rival Scotland.
Every dog has his day.
klickster.
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Topic: 1966 and all that (Read 2934 times)