http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYC2witL__gendofvid [starttext]The highest ever win in a World Cup tournement. I was 10 when I watched the 1982 World Cup and I suspect it changed my life. Here was a month of vital parables in a form far more enchanting that Aesop's Fables. Three morals abide. Firstly, from the gloomiest circumstance joy can be wrung – El Salvador's Luis Ramírez Zapata taught me that, by going crazy with delight when he scored against Hungary even though his side were 5-0 down and on their way to a record 10-1 defeat.
Secondly came confirmation, on the global stage, of what school had already suggested: authorities must be questioned because they're probably incompetent or worse. Cameroon were eliminated after having a goal wrongly disallowed; rich kids Kuwait got one against them chalked off after the intervention of their dad or whoever; and Algeria, whose adventure had been so uplifting, were foiled by a conspiracy between Austria and West Germany, whose bully goalkeeper would later escape without so much as the concession of a free-kick despite knocking out Patrick Battiston in the epic semi-final victory over France.
Lesson three came courtesy of Billy Bingham's band of brothers. The team they beat may not have been the finest in Spanish history but they were decent and, more significantly, benefited from some extraordinary decisions by a referee who sent-off the Northern Ireland captain, Mal Donaghy, for a non-existent offence while allowing the hosts to chop and foul. But through guts, guile and a famous goal by Gerry Armstrong, the Irish prevailed, proving that injustice can be thwarted and realpolitik resisted. Yay! Paul Doyle[endtext]
Secondly came confirmation, on the global stage, of what school had already suggested: authorities must be questioned because they're probably incompetent or worse. Cameroon were eliminated after having a goal wrongly disallowed; rich kids Kuwait got one against them chalked off after the intervention of their dad or whoever; and Algeria, whose adventure had been so uplifting, were foiled by a conspiracy between Austria and West Germany, whose bully goalkeeper would later escape without so much as the concession of a free-kick despite knocking out Patrick Battiston in the epic semi-final victory over France.
Lesson three came courtesy of Billy Bingham's band of brothers. The team they beat may not have been the finest in Spanish history but they were decent and, more significantly, benefited from some extraordinary decisions by a referee who sent-off the Northern Ireland captain, Mal Donaghy, for a non-existent offence while allowing the hosts to chop and foul. But through guts, guile and a famous goal by Gerry Armstrong, the Irish prevailed, proving that injustice can be thwarted and realpolitik resisted. Yay! Paul Doyle[endtext]