“I SCORED A GOAL IN THE Fifa WORLD CUP FINAL”
In 2010 there were only 34 people alive on the planet who could honestly say, “I scored a goal in The World Cup Final.” I set out to photograph, interview and film them all. The outcome was the book, ‘GOAL!’ which was an official FIFA book for the Russian World Cup finals, translated into five languages, and was nominated for Illustrated Sports Book of the Year.
The ESPN film “I Scored a Goal in the FIFA World Cup Final”, produced by John Battsek, which I co-directed with Daniel Gordon, was nominated for a Sports Emmy and won a Webby for Best Online Film & Video — Sports.
It took in thirteen countries, from Alcides Ghiggia in Montevideo to Mario Götze in Munich. The film was delivered to ESPN in 2010; the photography continued unpaid until 2014 to make the set complete.
Carlos Alberto. 1944 - 2016. Brazil. 1970. He was captain at 25 years old, scoring the fourth and final goal at the Azteca in Mexico City. Arguably the greatest World Cup final goal ever. "Zagallo said, watch on the right side, there'll be space. If you watch you'll see, he doesn't look round, he just rolls the ball out, he knows I'm coming. And I scored the goal." Photographed in the Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro.
Jairzinho. Brazil. 1970. He scored in every match in the Finals. "I scored to make it 3-1 and they basically gave up." Photographed in a Rio de Janeiro favela street.
Sir Geoff Hurst. England. 1966. Scored a hat trick to win at Wembley. "I was thinking I’m just gonna hit this with my left foot high into the crowd, the game’s nearly finished. I miss-hit it and it flew in." Photographed in the room he stayed in at Hendon Hall the night before the ‘66 Final.
Pelé. 1940 - 2022. Brazil. 1958 and 1970. Talking about 1970 he said, "It was God’s work. God took hold of me and lifted me up to score the goal." Photographed in São Paulo.
Zinedine Zidane. France. 1998. Zidane scored in the 27th and 45th minute. "It’s the World Cup…I mean, winning it and scoring two goals, I don’t think many players can say the same thing. I’m very proud of that." Photographed at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo. Brazil. 2002. "To me it was the pinnacle of everything. To score two goals in the final to win the World Cup. I can’t describe that feeling." Photographed at Corinthians FC, São Paulo.
Amarildo. Brazil. 1962. "Pelé got injured early in the tournament and I was brought in to replace him. I mean, how do you replace Pelé!? But somehow I did and I scored in the Final to win." Photographed in Rio de Janeiro.
Josef Masopust. 1931 - 2015. Czechoslovakia. 1962. Masopust equalised in the fifteenth minute. "Before I could comprehend the joy I should have been feeling the score was 1:1. They scored and ruined it for me." Photographed at Dukla Praha, Prague.
Dick Nanninga. 1949 - 2015. Holland. 1978. "The final whistle blew and we went in. We had lost. We went back into the changing room and the first thing I did was roll a cigarette and light it up. We flew back the next day and I went back to work in the flower shop the day after. The neighbours had decorated the shop because we had reached second place but I just went back to work." Photographed at home in Belgium.
Mario Kempes. Argentina. 1978. "After the game Loco, my friend, dropped off at my house, I grab my bags, and there was nobody on the streets. With all the peace in the world I went to my front door, rang the bell, my mother asked who it was, I answer ‘me,’ and went up the elevator with my medal. Nobody saw me." Photographed at home in Buenos Aires.
Roberto Boninsegna. Italy. 1970. "I wasn't selected to go. I was on holiday but then Anastasi got injured. Valcareggi (Italy's manager) called from Mexico and said I had to go. I was out fishing on this lake in my boat. My wife got the call and came running down this pier shouting to me to come back in. I couldn't hear her so I didn't come back. But the next day I was on a flight to Mexico. And then I scored in the final." Photographed in Mantova, Italy.
Alcides Ghiggia. 1926 - 2015. Uruguay. 1950. Scored the winner to beat Brazil in the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil have never recovered. "Only three people have silenced the Maracanã, Frank Sinatra, the Pope, and me." Photographed in Montevideo old town.
Mario Götze. Germany. 2014. "After 85 minutes it was still 0-0. I hadn't gotten on the pitch. Then Joachim Löw (the German coach) just said to me, 'Go and show the world you're better than Messi. I know you can pull it off.' And I did." Photographed at Bayern Munich.