1982 FIFA WORLD CUP
Part 4
The last four of the 1982 World Cup would all be decided on penalties, but that wasn't all saying that the two Semi-Finals were drab affairs, quite the opposite, they would go down as two of the great World Cup games ever in terms of thrills, goals and controversy. The first Semi-Final in front of a packed crowd at Camp Nou would see England and Argentina fight it out for a place in the last four and memories of the 1966 'robbery' by the Argentine media were all the rage in the build up [1].
Regardless, what followed was a truly eyewatering game which started off with Maradona getting a goal in the 17th minute before less that ten minutes later that Bryan Robson would come up and score to make the game level. The game itself could've seen two more goals for either team if it weren't for rather questionable refereeing from the Israeli referee which saw said goals disallowed.
England vs Argentina at Camp Nou, 1982
Both sides would really go for it yet nether could find a winner in ninety minutes and the game went into extra time. What followed would be a dramatic game as in the 92nd and 98th minute, Woodcock would fire England into a 3-1 lead thanks to quickfire goals which looked like they were going into the final, however Argentina would not give up and two quickfire goals from them would tie the game at 3-3 and this dramatic game would now move onto penalties.
It would be here however that the start of England's penalty woes would begin [2] as two misses from Wilkins and Thompson would hand Argentina the victory which they won 5-4 on spot kicks and saw them make their first final since 1930 and England had once again fallen short. For one Maradona who remembered as a young boy when England beat Argentina in 1966, the sight of him showing emotion of what he felt was justice was seen by all.
During the closing minutes of extra time
As Argentina celebrated what was perhaps one of the greatest World Cup victories they had managed to pull off, the English were too exhausted after such a game and would've perhaps wanted to go home but had to play one more game, yet another third-place match, though it was unclear if they had the stomach for a game. For their victorious opponents, Argentina would descend on the Spanish capital in what was what they felt was a long, overdue victory.
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After such a dramatic match, few wonder if the next Semi-Final game with France and Brazil the following evening would match such a game. Many had Brazil, as ever, as the favourites to join their South American rivals in the final though that was perhaps a little bit unfair on their opponents who had talent that could perhaps match Brazil and in some alternate universe, this might've been the dream final for many [3].
The game would be quite a tight affair in which neither side found a way to break through and compared to the frantic game before, this felt quite poor with many people who were expecting goals to flow were perhaps wondering when things would finally start. Neither side would find the back of the net in the first half and the players would walk off to the sound of whistles and jeers from a mostly Spanish crowd who wanted action.
France vs Brazil in the Semi-Final
The deadlock would finally be broken in the 67th minute after a French defence mishap and it looked like Brazil would start adding more goals to give them distance between them and the French. However the French would not give up and tension started to mount as the lead remained slender and France began to push Brazil into their own half and it would be the very last minute of added time that the French won a corner and their star man, Platini, would header in a goal that sent a nation into delirium and another covering their eyes in horror. The game now went into extra time...
With the shock of losing that late goal, Brazil now looked weak and unable to regain their composure and all the talk of this Brazilian side being the real deal was begin to look foolish and the game would go all the way to penalties and this would be a rare event for the Brazil team as they may have won games, but could they win on a shootout? The answer would be a 'no'; France would win the shootout 4-3 and a great upset had happened which would see France move into their first final [4].
Platini after scoring his late goal near the end of the game
Much like with England, Brazil now had the task of playing in a third-place match themselves but with how they felt, they were gutted and wanted to go home to lick their wounds. The French now would face Argentina in a final in which regardless who won would see a new name on the cup, question now was who would it be when the two teams met in Madrid in a few days time...
[1] Look back on 1966 ITTL.
[2] As a rule up to at least 2018, England suffers from penalty woes! 
[3] TBH, that would've been a great final to see...
[4] France get to the final which they should've gotten two plus one certain player doesn't suffer a horrendous injury...
There we are, two madcap Semi-Finals which would've been something to have seen. Anyway we are now near the end of 1982 and 1986 is getting closer and we will get a new host as well as some off field events...however I'm getting ahead of myself.
Until then, stay tuned for the final update of 1982!
