Our panel - Jeff, Charlie, Thommo, Merse and Le Tiss - tell us about the first World Cup they remember.
Our panel look back to yesteryear
It's not long until the World Cup kicks off - and our panel of experts are here to tell you exactly what you can expect in South Africa. Here on skysports.com, we've brought together the studio stars of Soccer Saturday - Jeff Stelling, Matt Le Tissier, Paul Merson, Phil Thompson and Charlie Nicholas - to share their thoughts on football's showpiece tournament. In the coming days they'll bring you their tips on the players and teams to look out for in South Africa - as well as debating some of the big World Cup talking points. But first they'll share their memories of the World Cups of yesteryear...skysports.com: Right then lads. Let's take a trip down memory lane. Tell us about the first World Cup you can remember... THOMMO: The first World Cup I remember was 1966. I was only about 12 at the time so I didn't go to any of the games but it was great because Goodison Park held quite a lot of the games and so you still felt like you were really a part of it on Merseyside. JEFF: It would have to be 1966 and it's been all downhill from there of course! I remember watching the World Cup final at my home in Hartlepool on a black and white TV but the game that sticks out is the one between North Korea and Portugal. North Korea were 3-0 up and ended up losing 5-3 and it's one which I will never forget because it was just so amazing at the time. THOMMO: I also remember North Korea and one name that always sticks out is a guy called Pak Doo-Ik. I remember watching him score against Italy in one of the group games and his name has always stuck with me. That and of course the great name of Eusebio who melted the hearts of everybody. Those are the things that really made the whole tournament so magical along with England winning. CHARLIE: The first World Cup I remember with vigour was 1970 in Mexico. It was a football education for me at eight years of age and I remember sitting there feeling blessed to be watching it. I was a Celtic fan and they won the European Cup in 1967. I was fortunate enough to go and see them play Leeds, the best team in England back then, so I had seen some great European games at Celtic Park. But to watch international football was a total fascination for me at that time. I just remember total flamboyant football. I recall England were the holders and had a fabulous team, the Germans were talking about revenge for 1966 and Italy were a champion side. But Brazil were the star turn; everything they did was about pass and move and style.
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