1966 - WORLD CUP
ENGLAND VICTORY
The 1966 World Cup Final in football (soccer) was the final match in the football world cup final, contested by England and West Germany. England defeated West Germany by 4-2. The game was played at Wembley in London, and had an attendance of 93,000. England, captained by Bobby Moore won the toss and elected to kick off. After twelve minutes, Held sent a speculative cross into the English penalty area which Wilsonmisheaded to Helmut Haller, who promptly scored. In the 19th minutes Overath conceded a free kick, which Moore floated into the German area, Hurst ran in and deflected the ball into the net for an equaliser. The teams were all square at half time, but after 77 minutes Martin Peters found the back of the net to give England the lead they had dreamed of. 2-1 to England, however after a period of sustained German pressure, Weber levelled the scores from a free kick to 2-2 shortly before full-time. The match therefore went into extra time. With eleven minutes of extra time gone, Hurst shot from fairly close in and the ball hit the underside of the cross bar, bounces down and was cleared. Was it a goal? The definition of a goal is that 'the whole of the ball has to be over the whole of the line'. The referee was uncertain and consulted his linesman, MrBakhraamov, who waved his flag. The crowd were bewildered, some arguing that it was a goal and others not. It was a moment of high drama such as soccer has never known before. 400 million TV viewers throughout the world were privy to it. TV film has been replayed, countless films and photographs analysed from all angles, some showing the ball over the line and others that it didn't. The fact remains, the referee awarded the goal, rightly or wrongly. One minute before the end of play, Alan Ball picked out the unmarked Geoff Hurst with a long pass, which Hurst carried forward to bury in the back of the net.
