Football isn’t really about results. It’s about moments. And one Sunday in 1996, George Weah provided us with one we still talk about nearly a quarter of a century later.
Normal people can remember where they were when they learned of major world events. I remember where I was when I saw some of football’s greatest goals.
And on September 8, 1996, I vividly remember the series of events that led to me watching Weah score a goal people would still be talking about more than two decades ago.
My dad’s cricket matches were a family affair, and my siblings and I would head along to some corner of north London or Hertfordshire most weekends to play made-up quasi-sports with the other players’ kids, scavenge for sandwiches and cakes during the lunch and tea breaks, and – on one occasion – get locked in a toilet for what felt like hours but was probably about 20 minutes.
While my brother and sister weren’t really into football at that age, part of my routine also involved catching up with whatever match was being played on that Sunday.
Normally it meant listening to the radio, but on September 8, 1996 an away game in Sudbury presented me with the holy grail of watching a live match on a clubhouse TV.
There was no Sky TV, but it turned out the unremarkable-looking Football Italia live game would be a very special one indeed.
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I’m not sure what possessed me to head inside and – to the best of my memory – watch the game on my own in an empty clubhouse adorned with photos of local-boy-done-good John Barnes.
Maybe my brother and sister hadn’t made the trip for that particular game, or maybe I’d eaten too many tuna sandwiches and needed to take it easy for an hour or two.
Either way, it paid off and then some.
Growing up with a love of football but no Sky subscription, Football Italia’s occasional Sunday games were often my best chance to watch live football.
That, combined with regular viewings of sister show Gazzetta, meant even a nine-year-old version of me knew Verona v AC Milan was not the most even of match-ups.
But for whatever reason, I was still watching. And I was eternally grateful for my decision when George Weah did this.
Where it started
Let’s break it down.
First, Weah receives the ball a couple of yards inside the Milan area.
Now what is he even doing there at a defensive corner? Who…
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