On This Day – 30th May
Bruce Grobbelaar showed the world on this day back in 1984 that even in highly pressured situations he can still clown around.
Liverpool were playing against Roma in the European Cup Final in the Italian sides own stadium. The game had finished 1-1 after extra time and gone to penalties.
Liverpool’s Steve Nicol took the first penalty of the shootout and blasted it over the bar. Roma’s first penalty was hammered in to the back of the net by Agostino di Bartolomei.
Phil Neal levelled the score, sending Franco Trancredi the wrong way before Bruno Conti hit the ball well over the bar.
Graeme Souness then gave Liverpool the lead for the first time in the shootout. Ubaldo Righetti scored for Roma before Ian Rush made it 3-2 to Liverpool.
It was at this point that Bruce Grobbelaar put his name in European Cup history with his mind-game antics before Ciccio Graziani’s penalty.
Taking his place on the goal line, the Zimbabwean began swaying about and then made his legs go wobbly. He did this as Graziani was preparing to take his kick to try and put the Italian off.
It did the trick as the Roma striker’s penalty his the crossbar and went over, leaving Alan Kennedy to win the European Cup with Liverpool’s fifth penalty. He made no mistake, hitting the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
This was Liverpool’s fourth European Cup win in seven years and came in a period where they dominated English football. Bruce Grobbelaar’s wobbly legs routine in this shootout is one of the most memorable moments of his career.
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