We Made Them Angry

Scotland at the World Cup Spain 1982

Tom Brogan

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing
• eBook ISBN:
  9781801502535
• Year: 2022

We Made Them Angry is the story of Scotland's journey to and participation in the 1982 World Cup in Spain. The task for Jock Stein's men was to exorcise the demons of the disastrous campaign in Argentina in 1978. With the final squad containing some of the finest footballers playing on both sides of the border, Scotland looked in fine shape to do just that. But after a successful qualifying campaign, obstacles began to spring up. A ticketing disaster, a World Cup group draw fiasco, a threatened boycott of the tournament by the UK government due to the Falklands War, and of course there was no one better at beating Scotland than Scotland themselves. However, none of that would stop the Tartan Army from having a good time - not with Scotland stationed in the Costa del Sol. The group provided three pulsating games where the Scots faced minnows in New Zealand (who provided a shock), the world's most exciting and glamorous team in Brazil (who received a fright), and a dramatic but calamitous exit against the Soviet Union.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Dedication
• Introduction
• 1. Stockholm to Belfast: Qualifying 1980/81
• 2. A point at Windsor Park: Qualification achieved
• 3. A Fiasco in Madrid: The group stage is drawn
• 4. We Have a Dream: Recording the World Cup song and finding a formation in Valencia
• 5. Preparations Continue: A change of hotel in Spain and a win over the Dutch
• 6. Back to Belfast: Stein continues to tinker, and a boycott threat emerges
• 7. The Final Preparations: The Falklands crisis escalates and the Home Internationals conclude
• 8. The 22: A warm-up in the Algarve
• 9. The Scare: New Zealand
• 10. The Toe-poke: Brazil
• 11. The Collision: USSR
• Acknowledgments
• Bibliography
• Photos