Celebration

On 24th May 1996, the finest footballing talents on Planet Logica (with the exception of Readie, of course, who couldn't make it) gathered in the beautiful and historic Belgian city of Antwerp to contest the second ever Logica World Cup. The event turned into a celebration of The Great Game which produced some memorable matches, some high-quality and entertaining football, as well as some outstanding individual performances. The quality of football on the field was only surpassed by the fine all-round performances off the field, as celebrations of a more traditional nature overflowed way past Clarkie's bed-time.

The Logica teams from England, Holland, and Sweden all arrived in Antwerp with expectations high. The host team, FC Molenberg waited with trepidation just across the border in Holland, in the small town of Putte where the great tournament was to take place. Logica Scotland had also qualified for the Finals, but actually exited the competition sooner than normal, some three weeks before it started in fact. The official reason given was financial problems with their sponsors: apparently the rumour doing the rounds in Aberdeen that Logica Costa Rica were sending a team had nothing whatsoever to do with their decision.

England Lose Their Way

After a sensible early night that befitted a group of world-class athletes, the teams awoke the next morning in the luxurious Hotel Tourist to find the rain teeming down with such force that the square in front of Antwerp Station resembled the floor of a Hong Kong night-club after the other England team had passed through. With little belief that the tournament could possibly survive such a deluge, the three Logica teams set off on the short journey across the border to Putte.

An early mishap found the luxury coach containing the bulk of the England squad getting badly lost on a number of occasions, and arriving just in time for their first game. Any thoughts that bogus maps had been supplied in an attempt to scupper the pre-tournament favourites chances were removed when it emerged that Mark Abbott, the Chief Navigator on the England bus, had in fact supplied the directions for all teams; it was just rank incompetence.

Double Dutch

World Cup holders Holland again arrived with a strong squad under the unconventional leadership of Bondscoach McCabe, and it was widely predicted that they would give England and Sweden a good run for their respective moneys. In fact, Holland retained the World Cup to make it two out of two. They mainly achieved this by leaving the prestigious trophy behind in Rotterdam, thus ensuring before a ball had been kicked that they would get to keep it. A small technicality was that they qualified for the Final ahead of England and Sweden, and although losing to Molenberg in a great and close play-off, they became Logica World Cup winners as the highest placed Logica team (Molenberg not laying claim to any Logica offices).

So three cheers to the Dutch maestro's, and it has to be said that they won many friends en route to glory. This despite new International Bad-Boy, John "The Penguin" Staunton, becoming the first player in Logica World Cup history to be sent off, evicted for what may be politely termed "a rash challenge" on the Molenberg perma-donna in the last minute of their group game. Holland's open, attacking brand of football contributed to every one of their games being a classic. Opening with a 6-5 thriller against Molenberg, they then fought back with two goals at the death to earn a 5-5 draw against England in possibly the best game ever seen in a Logica World Cup. They again kept their supporters on the edge of their seats against the unlucky Swedes, fighting back from 2-0 down to edge a close game 3-2. The final game saw another hatful of spectacular goals, but Molenberg always had the slightest of edges and ran out 6-4 winners.

Hosts are the Toast

Thus the overall honours went to the little known principality of Molenberg, which is sandwiched cosily between the long-established football powers that are Holland and Belgium. Only recently welcomed into the international fold, along with the likes of San Marino and the Faroe Islands, they in fact displayed a wealth of experience, which they coupled with deft skill, strong organisation and the odd silly hair-cut to emerge victorious and pip the Dutch at the post.

This was the second time in a row that the host nation had made home advantage pay, but in fact the chosen venue turned out to be to all the teams' advantages. Molenberg's hospitality as well as the facilities they provided were second to none. The Putte World Cup Stadium, built especially for the occasion (nearly), offered excellent changing facilities and a splendid club-house, as well as a pitch with a superb playing surface which withstood not only Saturday's monsoon, but also the destructive hooves of the England back four. Special mention should go to Alan Snow, who not only organised for us the use of these facilities, provided a post-tournament barbecue, and refereed impeccably eight games of football in two days, but also found time on the Saturday evening to guide the Logica teams around some of the finer and lesser known drinking establishmentd in Antwerp. So many thanks to you, Alan, from all the Logica teams, for making World Cup 96 such a big success.

Flying The Flags

Despite Molenberg's eventual success in the minor matter of the football, Sweden were perhaps the stars of the show. Logica Svenska totals a staff of some 80 or so people, and it was a healthy and enthusiastic proportion of these (25) who made the flight from Stockholm to Antwerp on the Friday evening. Not content with parading their footballing skills, their mixed squad also entered a team in the neighbouring international volleyball tournament and won most of their games impressively. They also brought with them thousands of miniature Swedish flags fluttering from little cocktail sticks which they handed out generously to all the supporters in the stadium.

Unlucky to finish in fourth place, Sweden had some consolation in providing both the player and the champagne moment of World Cup 96. Their goalkeeper Johan Näslund was so impressive that he soon earned the nickname 'Schmeichel' from a large posse of frustrated opposing strikers. His performances between the sticks were only surpassed in the second half of Sweden's last game, when 'Schmeichel' cast off the gloves to play a roving midfield role and score Sweden's fourth goal of the weekend. The champagne moment occurred in the final group game as Sweden scored again to take a 2-0 lead against a Holland team who needed a draw to qualify for the final ahead of England. Unable to contain his excitement anymore, England centre-half Duggan raced fully 50 metres from the touch-line to plant a big kiss on the cheek of Sweden's female outside left, Anna Wendelin.

They're Coming Home...

For England, who were at pains to remind everybody throughout the two day tournament that it was they who had invented most of the great game of football's clichés, it was definitely a tournament of two halves. After an impressive first day, which included a narrow 3-1 victory over a difficult Swedish team, and being pegged back to a 5-5 draw in the game of the tournament against old rivals Holland, they were ideally placed as joint group leaders to qualify for Sunday afternoon's World Cup Final.

All they needed was a draw against Molenberg the next morning. Quite incredibly, however, England were a shadow of their former selves on the Sunday morning, and crashed to a 6-1 defeat against the host nation in their last group game to miss out dramatically on the chance of glory. It was such a mysterious transformation that it was almost as if something strange had happened to the players overnight. England's previously tight defence fell apart as Molenberg ran up a 4-0 advantage by half-time.

The more mystifying, since it had only been some six hours earlier that England Supremo Clarke (flanked by his solid back-line of Duggan, Dick and Hatton) had boasted, at an impromptu press conference held at the Bar Chaise De Dentiste, of his "Defence That Never Sleeps". Perhaps Clarke had really meant to refer to his "nocturnal defence". The only consolation afforded to the English was that, in world class striker Kevin Spence, they had the joint-winner of the Golden Boot award. Both Spence and Dutch left-winger Harry Garnaat netted an impressive five goals in the four games that they each played.

There's Always Next Time...

And so after a weekend of tears, joy, excitement, drama, goals and fricandels, it was nearly time to head for home. There was just time for a quick beer or two on the Sunday evening, and perhaps the abiding memory of the whole weekend, was the order for over fifty Belgian beers placed with a somewhat non-plussed waiter, as all three Logica teams took over the upper floor of the fine Grote Witte Arend bar in the centre of Antwerp and celebrated anything they could think of long into the summer night. Roll on World Cup 97.

The Cast of Thousands:

Holland: James McCabe, Rene Oude Vrielink, John Staunton, Philip Veale, Paul Greenan, Erik van Vliet, Laurens Zandbeldt, Jack Kennes, Peter Huis in 't Veld, Justin Chaffey, Harry Garnaat, Dirk Jan Luijkx, Rolf Appel, Louke van der Steen, Frank Meijers, Hans Zandbeldt, Marco Schroot.

England: Ian Clarke, Mark Abbott, Jeff Hatton, Simon Duggan, Malcolm Dick, Eugene O'Keeffe, Colin Duff, Steve Lambert, Simon Woolhouse, Ian Borrett, Graham Mallam, Kevin Spence.

Sweden: Ulf Johansson, Ola Hemb, Johan Näslund, Lars Westlinder, Erik Rosengren, Philippe Margery- Petterson, Anna Wendelin, Ulla Lillie, Bas Meijer, Hans Skan, Johan Åtting, Per-Erik Öhrner, Björn Böhme, Tobias Fransson, Thomas Wehlin, Göran Eklund, Christina Lilienberg, Åsa Netterberg, Anette NystrOm, Åsa Persson, Monica Villot-Berling.