Gordon 'Naranjito' Strachan, 1982: Leeds at the World Cup
"I had heard the name of Gordon Strachan before," said Eusébio, "but did not know he was that good. He was better than some of the Brazilians."
Scotland had a few options for getting out of their group at the 1982 World Cup in Spain. One was to avoid conceding two silly goals to New Zealand in their opening game and fail to gain any advantageous goal difference from scoring five. But that plan was scuppered when 3-0 at half-time became 5-2 at full-time.
The next idea was one of Gordon Strachan's, occurring as he and his teammates contemplated being played off the park by Brazil in a 4-1 defeat. How could they ever get to that level, they wondered? Strachan, after spending an hour with Socrates as they were drug tested, came back with the answer. "We have to start smoking," he said.
The third and final option was beating the USSR. And for an hour that plan was going very well. Manager Jock Stein had selected decisively, moving Kenny Dalglish from starting against New Zealand, to coming off the bench against Brazil, to out of the squad altogether. Asa Hartford was dropped too, allowing Willie Miller to play as a sweeper. In attack former Leeds United striker Joe Jordan was back in the team alongside Steve Archibald. At the back Frank Gray was the only ever present through qualification and the finals, pushing his recent relegation with Leeds to the back of his mind.
Stein's plan was oriented away from Gray to the right side, where Nottingham Forest's John Robertson moved from his usual left wing to force a lopsided overload, with Aberdeen's Gordon Strachan an inside-right. Strachan influenced things from the start, turning a bad pass into a good one by stretching his heel behind him and flicking the wayward ball up in the air where Jordan could bring it down and give it him back. The Russian players didn't know who to defend, whether to worry more about Robertson being on the wrong wing, or stick close to Strachan, or how to handle things when it didn't make any difference who they marked. Robertson was running infield with the ball, then Strachan was zapping around him into a gap between three Soviet shirts to take the ball and flick it around them towards Jordan. If Jordan wasn't available, Strachan had the balance and the scampering feet to dribble around three to the byline anyway, and try to seek him out from there.
To keep reading, please become a More to Read or More Listening member
Leedsista is supported by Leeds fans who think decent writing about their football team is worth £3 a month to read, or £5 a month for a podcast version.
Try free for 30 days.