It's the hope that kills you

We review the Round of 16 at Italia'90 and there is a LOT to talk about. There's a wonder goal, an apparent poisoning and the romance of a couple of unfancied sides pushing through to the quarterfinals. On top of all of that, there is the West Germany vs Netherlands game which creates some of the most iconic scenes of the entire tournament. Which is saying something, when you consider we have Nessum Dorma, Gazza greetin' like a big wain, Toto Schillaci's bug-eyed celebrations and Roger Milla's dancing.

With Scotland sadly, but not all together surpringly, out of the tournament, we turn our attention to England's group. Its a mouthwatering one, with Ireland, Egypt and the Netherlands, the reigning European champions. Things start slow for Gazza but then begin to move at lightening pace...and the same can be said for Lineker!

This was a tough one to record. Our deep dive into historic football tournaments sees us reach the group stage of Italia'90. The Scotland national team are drawn against Brazil, Sweden and group minnows, Costa Rica, who clearly won't present any problems! What the Scots hadn't predicted was Bora Milutinovic who is definitely in the running for the boldest international manager award. Appointed as Costa Rica manager only shortly before Italia'90, he changes personnel, team strategy and then deploys 'tactial midsirection'...the mans a genius!

As we continue down the rabbit hole that is Italia'90, we discuss the dysfunction within the Dutch squad, the brazen match fixing scandals the mired Italian football in the 1980's and how corruption, the CIA and the fall of communist Soviet Union all played their part in the collapse of the Italian government system and the rise of Silvio Berlusconi.

As our journey into historic football tournaments continues with Italia'90, we cover what's happened to England and Maradona since 'that match'. The English tabloids have decided that the England team were robbed in '86 but are destined for victory in '90...because why would you let the truth get in the way of a good story. Meanwhile, Maradona spends half his money on drink, drugs and fast women, whilst, carelessly squandering the other half.

We're back to discuss Italia'90! A heady mix of iconic players, corruption, the final throw of the dice for 4 countries that will be no more and a Dutch football song, so dystopian, it would deserve to be the theme tune to a zombie, post-apocalyptic hellscape series...if you could call it a tune! Join Nick and Stevie as they venture back down memory lane to 1990. Football becomes middle-class because a fat man sings an aria, Gazza cries, Klinsmann dives, Rijkaard spits and the whole world falls in love with Toto Schillaci.

In the final episode of the series, we cover the final. Schumacher forgets how to be a keeper, Jose Luis Brown plays with a dislocated shoulder and we discuss an apparent poisoning within the Argentine squad.

Listen to series 2 where Nick and Stevie turn their short attention spans to cover Italia '90. The rise of icons like Toto Schillaci, Roger Milla and Paul Gascoigne…and, of course, Gazza’s tears. They uncover political corruption that would eventually see the fall of the Italian First Republic, ‘Tactical misdirection’ by Costa Rica to unpick Scotland and a Dutch football song that has all the charm and innocence of a horror film set is a creepy fairground where unsuspecting victims are set upon by a drunk Van Basten and Rijkaard.

It's the turn of the semi-finals. Whilst the games are interesting, things take a disturbing turn when we find a song about Rummenigge.

Having dedicated an entire eposide to Argentina v England, we review the other quarterfinals. We decide to divide up viewing responsibilities for games and Nick manages to select one of the few truly honking games of the tournament.

We review the most famous game of the tournament...and just maybe, the most famous game of all tournaments. Argentina versus England in the quarterfinals. If you're an England fan, you might want someone near by to give you a cuddle.

We review the knock out phase of the World Cup...which sadly, doesn't involve the Scots. That said, we do watch some brilliant games and it sets up one of the most famous games in football history in the quarterfinals.

We immerse ourselves in the group stage. The Danes look like worldbeaters, the German look like sex tourists and the Uruguayan's look like butchers.

We discuss the selection of Mexico as host, which was much more controvertial than we had imagined, and the build up process for both Scotland and England as they look to acclimatise to the heat and altitude of Mexico.

Yes, it's a football podcast, but we uncover a host of intruiging stories when we research the 1986 World Cup.

In this episode, we examine England's route to qualification for the '86 World Cup. During which, they have to navigate a fairly straightforward group but a carnivorous press and the impact of the tragic Heysel Stadium diaster.

In this first series, Nick and I trawl through our memory banks to recall the 1986 World Cup in Mexico from the perspective of a couple of Scottish football fans. Episode 1 sees us delve into Scotland's route to qualification where we faced Wales, Iceland and the mighty Spaniards.