From James LeBlanc : it was 1998 not 1994
1998 in Marseille.
I easily remember that, as on the day of England v Argentina I gambled & lost on paying £150 train fare return from Lille to Marseille to see England if they’d won that match.
Dutch fans were snapping up the train tickets so I couldn’t wait to see if England won. It was a sensational goal & I remember when watching it live on TV & jumping up & cheering as if it was an Arsenal or England goal.
Do you have any insider gossip on likely Arsenal signings?
Myles says :
Very few whispers around at the moment.
Was told where AW was dining on Friday night. Apparently he looked ten years younger than he did on Cup FInal day and was with a woman & three men and took a phone call during dinner.
We all know that Arsenal don’t need squad players, they need starters.
Spinal starters. Cech is one. Hoping coach Christophe will join Petr this week.
From Mike in California : Bergkamp vs Argentina
Hi Myles,
Bergkamp’s goal against Argentina was in Marseilles, France ’98.
From Brian Mc Auliffe
Bergkamp’s goal vs Argentina – Joe Canning’s goal vs Kilkenny
Before I read your post yesterday – “Remembering Arsenal’s brilliance, especially Dennis Bergkamp”, I had already been thinking about that Bergkamp goal.
I was watching Galway vs Kilkenny in the Leinster Hurling Final and Joe Canning, the Galway wunderkind, scored another trademark amazing goal. A friend texted commenting with high praise that it was just like Bergkamps goal against Argentina…
What do you think?
http://www.the42.ie/joe-canning-goal-galway-kilkenny-2199531-Jul2015/
Myles says: electrifying – love it!
You’re reminding me of a happy trip to Galway to interview the Saw Doctors for The Scotsman.
While we were in their studio in Tuam an old boy came in and had a chat with the recording engineer and then went out. He had a problem with his satellite dish and the engineer had promised to drop round and fix it for him later on.
The old man was tall and lean and somehow had the look of a former athlete. I was told he was “the greatest hurling player who ever lived.”
Maybe, Brian, you can supply his name?
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On that Bergkamp goal: I did blog it
Before that, this was what I wrote about Netherlands v Yugoslavia:
But Holland had three strokes of luck on three big incidents.
No team has so far had so much luck on three match-deciding incidents.The Dutch were never going to lose in Toulouse with this kind of luck.
One, after 50 minutes when Stam idiotically pulled the shirt of Jugovic, who did not fall over or appeal, but a penalty was awarded. But Mijatovic, who scored the winner in the Champions Cup Final, missed the penalty. He hit the bar.
Two: a foul by Dennis Bergkamp 15 seconds later. From the penalty rebound, the Dutch cleared a long ball down towards the corner flag. Mihailovic chased it with Bergkamp. The Yugoslav should have kicked it out, but he shielded it. Bergkamp fouled him and he fell. Mihailovic was on the ground, Bergkamp stood on his chest.
When the French director finally stopped the penalty replays and showed this incident, BBC commentator Barry Davies immediately said, “For that, Zinedine Zidane was sent off!”
Argentina 1 Holland 2
“There’s only one Dennis Bergkamp
There’s only one Dennis Bergkamp
One Dennis Bergkamp
There’s only one Dennis Bergkamp!”
(popular song, London, 1997-98)
Bergkamp scored the best goal of this World Cup in Marseilles in the 92nd minute.
A power goal from a power player who had had a patchy afternoon up until then, mixing sloppy touches with good passes. The goal was better than the Michael Owen goal because it won the game. And it was better than the Marcelo Salas goals against Italy because it put Holland into a semi-final against Brazil.
Dennis Bergkamp’s late strike was a sensational goal, a dramatic goal, a winning goal, a goal-of-the-month goal.
It was also a historic revenge goal which assuaged bad memories of 1978, when the ruthless gamesmanship of Argentina disgusted the world and soured the greatest day in sport.
Argentina, then captained by current coach Daniel Passarella, came out five minutes late, then delayed the kick-off even longer by protesting about the light plastercast on Rene van der Kerkhof’s wrist, which he had worn in previous games.
In 1978 Rob Rensenbrink hit the post in the final minute of normal time. Holland then lost 3-1 in extra time, four years after losing to West Germany, another host nation, in the 1974 final. Bergkamp, a boy of eight in Amsterdam, remembers watching the game on TV.
The Arsenal striker missed the FA Cup Final against Newcastle and did not start Holland’s first two World Cup games after seven weeks out with a hamstring injury. He still looked well below his sharpest form, as did centre forward Patrick Kluivert, who replaced Marc Overmars.The winger was not 100% fit.
Holland’s first goal came in the 12th minute after a run and pass from Ronald de Boer that was pure genius. He found Bergkamp, who needed to make a very quick decision. The Arsenal striker improvised by collapsing forward to reach the ball with his head, cushioning it down in front of Kluivert, who beat Carlos Roa easily.
Six minutes later Argentina equalised. Juan Veron split the Dutch defence with a killer pass to Claudio Lopez, who took the ball close to Edwin Van der Sar before nutmegging him to make it 1-1. At first Lopez looked offside. But replays showed that the pass was perfect, the run well-timed. Thanks to the wonders of VeronVision, the Valencia striker had been put clean through on goal.
Ortega hit a 25-yard shot which crashed against the post before half time.
It was a match of huge technical quality, utterly fascinating, as intense as England-Argentina, but in a different way. As Terry Venables said later, the shooting was fantastic, better than in any other game in the tournament. Veron, invisible for ten minutes at the start of the second half, strode forward and passed to Batistuta, who swerved suddenly inside Frank de Boer and fired a left-foot cannnonball against the post. Van der Sar did not even move. He barely saw it.
My friend Gassan Waked, who was in the stadium, says that moment astounded the 60,000 crowd, because it happened so quickly. Marc Overmars came on for Ronald de Boer after 61 minutes, as a right winger. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says Marc hates playing on the right. But within seconds Overmars had almost made a goal, producing an excellent cross which Kluivert headed firmly. Roa arched back to tip over.
Passarella then brought on wingback Pineda to mark Overmars, taking off cenral midfielder Almeyda. After 78 minutes Edgar Davids made a fierce tackle on Veron, just after Veron had played the ball square into the centre circle. Simeone went for the 50-50 ball at the same time as speedy left back Arthur Numan, and got there first. Numan clattered him, and the Argentine rolled over seven times. Mexican referee Arturo Brizio Carter gave Numan a second yellow card, and then a red. Numan had been booked earlier for a foul on Ortega.
After 88 minutes, Ortega took on Stam in the left back position, where Numan would have been, inside the box. When Stam pulled back his leg, Ortega hooked his boot round Stam’s shin and went down.
Van der Sar, having had a perfect view of this appalling gamesmanship, decided to try some gamesmanship of his own. The lanky keeper placed himself above Ortega as he was standing up, inviting contact between the little man’s head and his own chin. Ortega had to stand on tiptoe to headbutt Van der Sar under the chin. The Dutch beanpole then keeled over backwards, and got Ortega sent off. A goalkeeper rarely scores an equaliser, but it was now 10-10!
Claudio Lopez was still living on the shoulder of the last man, still looking for another killer pass, but being flagged offside. There were only two minutes left before both sides were facing extra time trying to score a golden goal.
Holland then produced a move of devastating simplicity and power.
They gained possession after Lopez made a run down the left from inside his own half, beat Stam and crossed a yard above the head of Batistuta.
Frank de Boer collected the ball on the far side of the six-yard box, turned calmly, and cruised upfield to a position just wide of the centre circle. Then he launched a pass that was typically Dutch, right out of the Ruud Krol-Ronald Koeman book of megapasses.
The ball flew 61 yards diagonally downfield to the sprinting Bergkamp, who was stretching as he reached it on the volley. Dennis needed one touch to control the ball before it bounced, a second touch to snap it inside Ayala, a third to blast it past helpless goalkeeper Carlos Roa.
“Oh, what a goal!” screamed BBC commentator Barry Davies and about 500 million televiewers all round the world.
Time of Lopez hitting his cross: 89.08.
Time of Bergkamp’s shot hitting the back of the net at the other end: 89.25.
Funny game, football. A lot can happen in 17 seconds.