Gerry Cranham/Offside Winners: 1966 Excerpted from The Espn World Cup Companion, by David Hirshey and Roger Bennett. The English national team employed a blood-and-thunder style to lift the World Cup on home turf in 1966 and have deviated only marginally from this strategy ever since, but with inferior results. Their performances in subsequent Cups can be summed up best by the title of a popular tome published in the aftermath of the 2006 World Cup, 40 Years of Shite. The volume celebrates four decades of “the endless torment inflicted upon millions of England supporters doomed to watch endless replays of the only World Cup Final hat trick in history in lieu of any more recent successes.” This hasn’t stopped the English, who invented the game, from regarding victory as their right and their destiny. But the island nation often plays as if isolated from the evolution of the sport since its founding.
- 6/12/2010
- Vanity Fair
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.