Peter Shilton can rightly be called the greatest goalkeeper of England. After he ended his career in the national team in 1990, the British can no longer be calm for the safety of their gates. Largely because of this, the national team either doesn’t get to major football tournaments at all or, when it turns out, it is doing very badly.
Guy from leicester
Peter Shilton was born shortly after World War II, in 1949, in the English Leicester. It is not surprising that he began his career for the club of the same name. First in the youth squad, and since 1966 already in the adult team.
“Leicester” at that time played in the First Division of the championship of England (analogue of the current Premier League), but fought for survival. As a result, in 1969 the team took the penultimate place and went to the second division.
It was possible to return to the elite after 2 years, largely thanks to the brilliant play of the young Shilton. In 1971, “Leicester” missed the least championship (only 30 goals in 42 games) and confidently took first place, beating Sheffield United by 3 points.
In total, for a team from his hometown, Peter Shilton spent 8 seasons, having played 286 matches.
The path to the championship
In 1974, Shilton changed “Leicester” to “Stoke City”, and soon went to Nottingham Forest. It was with this club that he won the only champion title in his career.
In the 1977/78 season, Shilton took a double, winning not only the championship, but also the Football League Cup. “Nottingham” became the champion for the first time in history, and largely thanks to a reliable game at the last frontier. In 42 matches, the team conceded a total of 24 goals. Silver medalist Liverpool is 7 points behind.
European trophy
Thus, for the next season, “Nottingham” received the right to play in the European Cup. The British were extremely dissatisfied with the draw. In the first round, the champion of England went to the vice champion - “Liverpool”. “Foresters”, as they call “Nottingham”, won at home 2-0, and away were content with a goalless draw.
In the second round the Greek AEK was defeated - 2: 1 away and 5: 1 at home, and in the 1/4 finals the Swiss Grasshopper - 4: 1. The second leg ended in a draw.
In the semifinals, the British in the rivals went to the German “Cologne”. The first match turned out to be nervous and plentiful for goals. By the 20th minute the Germans were leading 0: 2. However, Burlts, Bower and Robertson turned the course of the meeting, pushing “Nottingham” forward. Unfortunately, it was not possible to keep the winning score. 5 minutes before the final whistle, Okudera scored. Many then believed that it was Peter Shilton who became the culprit. The goalkeeper was very worried and with a double concentration held a return match, the outcome of which was decided by one goal scored by Bower, “Nottingham” won 1-0.
In the final, the British met with the Swedish “Malmo”. And in this meeting everything was decided by the only blow Trevor Francis delivered in the 45th minute. So Peter Shilton won the main club European trophy.
Shilton won the European Cup with Nottingham the following year. In the final, the German “Hamburg" was also beaten 1-0.
Career Team
In the England national team, Shilton made his debut at the age of 20. True, the national team got to a major tournament only 10 years later, in 1980. It was the European Championship in Italy.
The British started with a draw with the Belgians - 1: 1, then lost 0-1 to the hosts and before the last round lost their chances of winning the group. As a result, the Spaniards were defeated - 2: 1, but due to the fact that Belgium and Italy scored a goalless draw, the team of Misty Albion was left only in third place.
The World Cup in Spain was much more successful in 1982. The England team left the group from the first place, having won 3 victories, and ended up in the second group stage. Shilton Peter ruled there. Soccer teams showed little effect. As a result, the English goal remained intact, but they could not score either: two goalless draws with Germany and Spain. As a result, a ticket to the semifinals was obtained by the Germans, who were able to beat the hosts of the tournament.
Mexican hand of God
Most of all the fans Peter Shilton was remembered for playing at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Two years before, the national team did not qualify for the Euro, and fans were waiting for the result.
In the first match, the British lost to the Portuguese in a bitter struggle, conceiving a single ball a quarter of an hour before the end. And then they could not beat the national team of Morocco - 0: 0. Only a confident victory over the Poles could help out. And then Gary Lineker showed himself in all its glory , making a hat-trick.
In the 1/8 finals, the opponent is Paraguay, and again a 3-0 victory, this time Lineker takes a double, and the goal of the British again leaves Shilton Peter intact. The biography of this goalkeeper became legendary thanks to the next match with Argentina.
The first half did not bring goals, but at the very beginning of the second one of the most famous goals in the history of football happened. Argentinian forward Diego Maradona in the 51st minute made an unsuccessful pass in the direction of the English goal, the ball hit the Hodge, who threw him in the direction of the penalty area. Peter Shilton (whose height is 183 centimeters) ran out of the goal, hoping to knock the ball out with his fist, but Maradona was the first and left-handed sent him into the goal. Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser scored a goal, and Maradona later said that it was "the hand of God." Argentina won 2-1.
Highscores
Shilton's records deserve special mention. The most matches for the England national team are 125 (with only 80 goals conceded). He holds the world record for the number of official matches - 1391 games, and the record for England in the number of meetings in the national championship - 1005.
Shilton spent his last match for the national team at the World Cup in 1990, when he was almost 41 years old. For him, it was the 17th meeting in the finals of world championships (a record for the British), and in terms of the number of “dry” games at the world championships, he shares the championship with the Frenchman Fabien Barthez - 10 matches each.