Learning from Ronnie’s rocket

Pardon me while I pick this name up off the ground but I once found myself standing next to Pele while the great man marvelled at a great Irish goal.

The occasion was a sponsor’s launch in Dublin a couple of months before World Cup ’94 and it just so happened that, as Pele was watching some video footage of classic goals in international football, up popped Ronnie Whelan’s acrobatic stunner against the USSR at Euro ’88. The great Brazilian’s reaction was an appreciative ‘ooh’ — but then he did see it from the best angle.

“Everyone says it’s a shinner especially when they see if from the camera angle behind the goal,” grinned Ronnie yesterday, moments after that goal had once again been shown on a big screen to another appreciative audience.