This week ESPN FC is counting down, in chronological order, 10 of the best goals to have been scored at the World Cup. We'll be bringing you two of the finest per day, but add your own and join the debate in our comments section or via the hashtag #FCWorldCupgoals. Users in the U.S. can watch each goal in the video above, but those outside please click here.
Reaching eight World Cups is a record that any nation should be proud of; unfortunately for Scotland, each of those tournaments has ended with a first-round exit. The Tartan Army have endured disappointment after disappointment, with even the great Alex Ferguson unable to conjure World Cup progress in 1986. Eight years earlier in 1978, however, Scotland did at least give their long-suffering fans something to savour. It was to be a moment of glorious failure.
Pre-tournament expectations were at an all-time high for the Scots, chiefly thanks to their outspoken (read: loudmouth) coach, Ally McLeod, who genuinely seemed to have convinced himself that his side could be champions. When initially presented to the media as Scotland manager, he said, "My name is Ally MacLeod, and I'm a winner," and when qualification for the finals in Argentina was assured, he vowed, "we will medal."
It quickly became apparent that McLeod’s confidence -- which had inspired the novelty ditty "Ally's Tartan Army" to reach No. 6 in the charts -- was misplaced, his promises no more than delusions of grandeur. The opening game brought a 3-1 defeat to Peru, and after a 0-0 draw with minnows Iran in the second match, Scotland were left embarrassed and on the brink of a familiar first-round exit. The Tartan Army’s only chance of advancing was to beat 1974 finalists Netherlands by three goals -- most supporters had their bags packed already.
In Mendoza, Netherlands awaited. The Oranje were a team packed with stars -- the likes of Johnny Rep and Johan Neeskens among seven players in their starting lineup to have tasted defeat in the final against West Germany four years earlier. Scotland battled through the first half, but it was no surprise when Netherlands took the lead, Rob Rensenbrink scoring his fourth at the finals and the 1,000th goal in World Cup history. Scotland refused to roll over and die, though, as Kenny Dalglish snatched a leveller just before halftime. A minute after the interval, Scotland were ahead. Graeme Souness was felled inside the area and Archie Gemmill showed iron nerves to convert from the spot. Then, at 68 minutes, came Scotland’s finest World Cup moment.
Nottingham Forest midfielder Gemmill picked up the ball on the right wing and with his first touch lunged past Wim Jansen. He played a delicious one-two with Dalglish before tiptoeing past Ruud Krol and slaloming beyond the reaches of Jan Poortvliet. Left one-on-one with goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed, Gemmill defied a difficult angle to deftly curl the ball into the net. Netherlands were left stunned by the diminutive schemer, while Scotland were left needing one more goal to progress.
“In 68 minutes, Scotland went 3-1 up when Archie Gemmill scored one of the great goals of this World Cup so far,” wrote the Scotsman newspaper in its match report. “It was an extraordinary goal and an extraordinary moment. Suddenly Scotland were dreaming of glory again.”
Unfortunately for the enraptured Tartan Army, that moment was all too brief. Just three minutes later, a stunning long-range strike from Rep -- an incredible goal that is too oft forgotten thanks to Gemmill’s effort -- reduced the arrears once more. The game finished 3-2 and though Scotland were heading home after losing out on goal difference, they could at least celebrate a famous victory against a Netherlands side who would go on to feature in the final again, this time losing 3-1 to hosts Argentina.
“You can't plan it. It's just instinct,” Gemmill later said of his goal to the Guardian. “I didn't think about putting it through one player's legs or going one way or the other; you make your decisions when the opposition players make theirs. So when Jan Poortvliet slid in, I just knocked it past him. When I found myself one on one with the goalkeeper, Jan Jongbloed, though, he made it easier for me by committing himself and going to ground ... all I had to do was open my body up and flick it over him.
“It's fantastic that people regard it as one of the greatest goals ever, but I think that's only because it happened in a World Cup and against one of the best teams in the world. If I'd scored that goal when I was at Derby County or Nottingham Forest or Birmingham City you wouldn't hear about it today, but because it was in front of a worldwide audience and against a team as talented as Holland, it's now a piece of history."
The goal by "this hard little professional," as 1978 World Cup commentator David Coleman fondly referred to the 5-foot-5 midfielder, has since transcended the boundaries of popular culture. A famous climactic reference to the goal appears in the cult British film "Trainspotting," while dancer and choreographer Andy Howitt was inspired to create a ballet routine in tribute to Gemmill’s exploits.
"Football is poetry and it is dance," Howitt explained of his ballet. "The movement he makes is incredible. ... That’s what I tried to capture, that quite simple beauty of one man understanding that he is about to create something truly amazing. Nijinsky, Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev -- when they are on stage, they create the same quality that Archie Gemmill did."