Ed gives us his Ultimate Everton XI, and there are a few surprises amongst the more obvious names...
Portugal 3-1 Brazil. 19th July 1966 “Pelé would say that it was only when he saw the incident on film that he realised how bad it was. He would swear, then, never to play in a World Cup again. The indulgent, flaccid English referee, George McCabe, allowed Morais to stay on the field, so that now Portugal were playing against ten men”. Brian Glanville describing Morais’ vicious tackle on an already hobbled Pelé. This was Brazil’s worst result in three decades of football. Indeed, the whole 1966 World Cup campaign shamefully skulks in the corner of Brazil’s glorious history. The fans resented how poorly their heroes played and the...
Portugal 5-3 North Korea. 19th July 1966 –Just sixteen teams played in the ’66 World Cup and only one place was reserved for Africa, Oceania, and Asia combined. Most countries pulled out of qualifying in disgust. Only Australia and North Korea remained. A two-leg playoff was to decide who would travel to England and as both countries were technically at war with each other, the neutral venue of Phnom Penh Cambodia was where the matches were played. Over the two games, North Korea won 9-2, a shock which continued to reverberate through tp the final itself. In the group stages of the ’66 World Cup North Korea had shocked...
July 12th 1966, Brazil 2-0 Bulgaria “BRAZILIANS DELIRIOUS OVER YOU STOP KISSES IN THE HEART STOP CRIOULA” – Telegram sent by Garrincha’s wife Elza after the Brazil’s win over Bulgaria at Goodison. Elza was – of course – toying with the truth a little. Brazil were not convincing against Bulgaria, they were eleven men that had never played together before. They won thanks to a Pele free kick in the first half and a Garrincha free kick in the second that corkscrewed toward goal-net. These two legends, when together, were bullet-proof. They never lost a game for Brazil while playing together. Garrincha’s first and only loss came against Hungary in their...
He’s done well to come this far considering the state of his foot this time last year. Seamus Coleman’s blistered foot was such an infected mess that it was considered career threatening by Everton’s medical staff. Having glistened in both his handful of appearances for Everton and his part in Blackpool’s promotion charge, he is now looking very lively in our pre-season tour of Australia. After years of waiting for a good right back, it appears that we may have got even more than we asked for; this boy is ruthlessly direct – like a mouthy child that spouts awkward home truths – and he has the fearless...
Spain: El Doctor Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Ball When Fabio Capello first left Milan and went to manage Real Madrid well over a decade ago he was derided by many as a dour disciplinarian and the killer of tiki-taka. As the great Sid Lowe once wrote: “No side provokes such distaste in Spain as Italy, whose football is derided as cynical, dirty and boring, somehow illegitimate.” I’m sure Capello, seen as an anti-footballer by many in Iberia, would have loved to have had the chance to play Spain in this tournament. For me this World Cup has been tinged with a little bit of a disappointment, simply because...
The third-fourth World Cup playoff between Uruguay and Germany was a good game with both teams bouncing from one end of the field to the other – the only thing that marred the game was the consistent booing of Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan forward has been accused in some quarters of being a cheat for handling Ghanaian Adiyiah’s shot when it was destined for the back of the net in the last minute of injury time. Suarez didn’t cheat. He handballed – a barefaced handball in front of the world. He didn’t take performance enhancing drugs, or get paid to lose a game – he did what happens hundreds of...
19. Ray Wilson MBE (1964-69) 153 appearances “There wasn’t a winger who played against him who could claim to have broken even in the exchange, let alone come out on top.” – Alan Ball Wilson is not only the best left back in Everton’s history, he became a world champion in 1966. Wilson was 29 when Harry Catterick bought him from Huddersfield for £40,000 and England’s Alf Ramsey regarded Wilson to be the best left back he had ever seen. Hard in the tackle, and armed with the ultimate defenders’ get-out-of-jail-free card, raw pace, he improved under the more intense Everton training system. Wilson played a clean game, and...
22. Gordon West (1962-73) 399 appearances Harry Catterick’s first signing; £27,000 from Blackpool in March 1962, for what was then a record fee for a ’keeper, turned out to be one of his most astute. West was an agile goalie whose excellent handling, shot-stopping and judgement of angles made him a virtual ever-present during two championship winning campaigns. Had he not had the misfortune to be a contemporary of the legendary Gordon Banks, he would certainly have had more than just three England caps. West turned down a chance to join the squad in the World Cup finals in Mexico in 1970 because he wanted to stay at...
