Tim Vickery

I ran into his son, actually the son of the center back the other week, just by clear, clear, clear coincidence.

So finding that, that, that made me feel like a kind of, uh, a Sherlock Holmes of, of, of football.

Um,

Finally, that mystery could be explained.

It was a penalty.

Uncle Arthur was right.

And he wasn't after all.

I can clear him of the charge of blowing his whistle in the service of the Kremlin and international godless communism.

Yeah, 100% record.

Brazil won in Mexico 70, Argentina won in Mexico 86, and Brazil won in USA 94.

It is a long, long way away.

There's a statistic that people who follow me will tire of hearing me say during this competition.

The distance between Buenos Aires and Mexico City is further than that between London and Mumbai.

That's a long, long way away.

We're in midwinter here.

Look at the temperature that the players are going to be subjected to.

But yes, South America has a 100% record, although I think that this is going to be the most difficult one.

If you look at that Brazil win in USA 94, you look at the European teams and their level, and you compare it with the European teams now,

France didn't even qualify for USA 94.

Spain did, but they were a completely different footballing animal.