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That tonight’s showcase game is being played in England evokes memories of that night in Rome, on May 30, 1984, when an English team, Liverpool, powered to glory and, in the process, handed Zimbabwean football its only date with Uefa Champions League glory.
Legendary goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, who did his apprenticeship at Highlanders, was part of that All-Star Liverpool team that stunned Italian side Roma, in their own stadium, to win Europe’s premier inter-club football tournament after a nerve-wrecking penalty shoot-out.
It was Liverpool’s fourth European crown, during a golden period for the Merseyside giants, and it handed maverick goalkeeper Grobbelaar, and Zimbabwe, their only taste of success at this high level of the game.
When you go to the sites where football history is stored and look for the 1984 European Cup final, you will see the red liver bird, the symbol of both the city of Liverpool and the football club that carries its proud name, and a group of names of heroic men who broke Italian hearts.
Besides each of the names of the Liverpool players, who weathered the storm and triumphed in Rome that day, and their English coach, Joe Fagan, there is a little flag that tells you where each of these men came from.
There were four Englishmen in that Liverpool starting XI — right-back Phil Neal, left-back Alan Kennedy and midfielder Sammy Lee and forward Craig Johnston, three Scotsmen — centre-back Alan Hansen, forward Kenny Dalglish and captain Graeme Souness, two Irishmen — Mark Lawrenson and Ronnie Whelan and a Welshman, super-striker Ian Rush.
And, of course, there is a Zimbabwean flag right at the top indicating the identity of a goalkeeper who would make such a huge impact, in this game, he would leave lasting images that are still discussed on international football forums 19 years later.
Neal gave Liverpool a dream start by scoring after just 13 minutes but Roma, pushed on by their fans in their city, fought back superbly and Grobbelaar was beaten in the 42nd minute by Roberto Pruzzo for the equaliser.
Despite decent chances on either side, the match ended 1-1 and extra-time could not produce a winner.
The drama, and Grobbelaar’s eternal stamp on the final came in the penalty shoot-out and the Zimbabwean ‘keeper introduced to the world the “spaghetti legs” to distract Bruno Conti and Francesco Graziani.
The trick worked and the Roma players missed from the spot as Liverpool, who started by missing their first penalty, converted the following four kicks to win 4-2.
Twenty-one years later, another Liverpool ‘keeper Jerzy Dudek would remember Grobbelaar, in a Champions League final, and do the wobbly-legs dance, in a penalty shoot-out as the Reds stunned AC Milan to win their fifth European crown.
Having trailed 0-3 in the match, Liverpool refused to be buried and produced one of the greatest, if not the greatest, comeback in the history of the tournament to tie the game 3-3 and force extra-time and penalties, which they won.
Recently, in an interview with the official Uefa website, Grobbelaar went down memory lane, to that iconic moment, when he left a lasting impression on world football.
“When you walk out into a stadium like that, playing against the home team in a Cup Final, the noise was deafening — unbelievable. You couldn’t hear yourself speak to the person next to you.
“It was a magical occasion with both sets of fans chanting loudly,” said Grobbelaar.
Then, after normal and extra-time had failed to produce a winner, came the penalty drama.
“We won the toss in the shoot-out and took the penalties towards our fans, which helped tremendously; had we lost it, it might have been a different story,” said Grobbelaar.
“The penalties started off badly with Stevie Nicol missing the first one. He only took it because Phil Neal was tying his boot laces. Otherwise, Phil would have been first and Stevie second, but he thought he would get it out of the way and skied it over the bar.
“Then they scored and Joe Fagan came up and put his arm round me. ‘Listen,’ he said. ‘No one’s going to blame you but if they miss you’re a hero, so try to put them off.’ That stuck in my head.
“Neal scored, then Bruno Conti comes up so I put my hands on my knees and crossed them over and he ballooned it over. That’s when I thought to myself that this might work.
“Souness then put the ball down and, bang, it was 2-1. I knew where there next guy was going to put his penalty, but he made me look like a chump. Rushy then made it 3-2. Then comes Graziani marching towards goal, needing to score to equalise.
“I went into the net and pulled it with my teeth. I thought: ‘I’m in Rome, the national dish is spaghetti, so I’ll do spaghetti legs.’ I went right and the ball clipped the bar.
“I was supposed to take the fifth penalty, but it took me one-and-a-half minutes to get back to the huddle and when I got there Alan Kennedy was putting the ball down. I looked at Joe and he said: ‘If it takes you this long to get back, you can suffer like the rest of us.’
“The rest is history – Alan put the ball in the top-left corner when he was going for bottom right and that was it.”
Grobbelaar said that was one of the greatest moments of his life.
“Kennedy was jumping up and down, but we were all ecstatic – one of the most magical feelings you could ever feel in your life,” he said.
“We went out for dinner with our wives in a nice big villa overlooking the city. It was absolutely magical.”
Almost 30 years down the line, the Champions League trophy returns to England today but it’s stay will be brief, unlike on that occasion when Grobbelaar and Company stunned an entire city, and nation, in a spectacular smash-and-raid mission.
When the formalities are over, and the trophy has been handed out to the winners tonight, some who are likely to be displaying their national flag, it will bring some comfort, watching from a distance, to know that one of our sporting heroes enjoyed such a golden moment one unforgettable day in Rome.
Online Reporter