Iconic Moments in Football No. 17
The date was 17th May 1992, the location Wembley Stadium. England were facing Brazil in the glorious sunshine and ten minutes in, were awarded a penalty-kick.
What a fantastic opportunity it was for Gary Lineker to equal Bobby Charlton’s record of 49 goals for England!
He had scored his 48th the previous month away to the CIS (once the Soviet Union) in a 2-2 draw and here he was, ready to score in front of his home crowd at Wembley.
Up stepped Lineker and as he was about to hit the ball, Taffarel the Brazil goalkeeper dived to his right.
Lineker tried to chip the ball straight down the middle of the goal, similar to the way the Czech Anton Panenka who so coolly dispatched a penalty in the 1976 European Championship final against West Germany.
Sadly for the England man, he hit the ball with next to no power at all and Taffarel was able to block the ball with his legs before reaching out to catch the ball.
“I saw the goalkeeper commit himself early and tried to lift the ball over him… but I scuffed up some grass as I shot and couldn’t get any height” said Lineker when trying to explain his actions afterwards.
The match ended 1-1, but it was David Platt who scored for England. It was to be one of the last warm-up friendlies before Euro ’92.
Lineker had announced that he would be retiring at the end of the tournament from international football.
Sadly, Lineker would never equal or beat Charlton’s record of 49 international goals as England performed badly at the tournament in Sweden, scoring only one goal in three games. Lineker would never have an easier chance to make history.
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