Iconic Moments in Football No.28
Wales had been knocked out of a World Cup Qualifying Play Off against Scotland in 1977. As a result, they missed out on the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.
This didn’t stop a Welshman from causing one of the most controversial moments in the 1978 Finals though. That Welshman was a certain referee by the name of Clive Thomas.
Thomas was known for his controversial ways and certainly enjoyed taking centre stage over the course of his career. The incident that features on today’s ‘Iconic Moment in Football’ is one of these moments.
The Welsh referee was in charge of the group stage game between Brazil and Sweden. Both teams had competed in the Final 20 years before, with a 17 year old Pele stealing the show with a hat-trick. This time around, it was Clive Thomas who took the limelight, but for all the wrong reasons.
The game itself was uneventful. Sweden took the lead on 37 minutes, Thomas Sjoberg scoring with the outside of his boot, latching on to a through-ball from Bo Larsson.
Reinaldo forced in an equaliser for Brazil in first half stoppage-time. Cerezo whipped in a cross from the right and Reinaldo controlled the ball, before hitting the ball into the top corner of then net.
With no further goals in the second half, Brazil won a corner in the last minute of the match.
Right back Nelinho was given the task of taking the corner and was in no hurry to take it. At first, the Brazilian set the ball down outside the arc and the Polish linesman stepped in and asked him to move it.
Alojzy Jarguz (the linesman) was finally happy with the ball’s position inside the arc and the clock ticked over into stoppage time.
Nelinho’s kick was taken six seconds into stoppage time and Clive Thomas blew the full-time whistle with the ball in mid-air.
Thomas had already turned his back on the action and didn’t see Zico leap above the Swedish defence to head in what the Brazilians thought was a winning goal.
Zico ended up in the back of the net with the ball and thought that his goal had counted. Thomas was walking away and suddenly Zico was kneeling in the net with his head in his hands. He couldn’t understand what had happened. The referee was followed by several angry Brazilian players and he continued signalling that the goal wasn’t given by waving his arms.
This was far from the only controversial moment in Thomas’s career. He took centre stage in both the 1977 and 1981 FA Cup Semi Finals that he refereed in.
In the 1977 Semi Final, Thomas had disallowed a perfectly good winner by Everton’s Bryan Hamilton. Four years later, he awarded Wolves a very dubious last-minute penalty against Spurs. Wolves scored from the spot-kick and the semi-final went to a replay.
This moment back in Argentina though went down as one of the most controversial moments in World Cup history. It is for that reason that it features as this week’s ‘Iconic Moment in Football’.
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