Irish football legend tackles World Cup, Mayo FC, and more
Ray Houghton is an Irish football legend whose famous goal against Italy at the Giants Stadium in New York at USA 94 has been etched in Irish football folklore, writes Patrick Hennelly.
In a chat with The Connaught Telegraph, Ray spoke on the current World Cup tournament, where is he commentating for RTÉ, and also his memories of Italia 90 and USA 94.
When asked for his thoughts on the current World Cup so far, Ray said: “There have been a lot of games, and I think four years ago we would have almost finished the competition after this number of games. There were 64 games in total at the last World Cup and there are 72 in the group stages alone of this competition. Over the last few days there have been six games a day. It can be difficult to watch a game as they have screens showing different games at the same time. I don’t know how the folks back home are coping with it all. It has been different.
“I have got to say when you go to a game at this World Cup it is not like going to a game back in England or Scotland, or indeed Europe, as it is more of an event here. Supporters get to the stadium three to four hours before kick-off, and they stay two to three hours afterwards and the game is just part of it. You don’t get the sense of tribalism from one set of fans to the other and everyone goes to the games together and enjoy themselves.
“It has been fairly happy and comfortable here. I was commentating on the Scotland v Brazil match and afterwards we walked around the whole perimeter of the ground inside the stadium and the Scottish and Brazilian fans were just having a laugh and joking together.”
At the time of our chat, Ray explained that he was based in New York of the England v Panama game. “It is hard to get around New York, and I thought that London was busy!" he said. “We got a car from the airport to the hotel, and I don’t think our driver got out of second gear due to traffic jams – and it was only 13 miles from the airport to the hotel. It took roughly one hour 30 minutes.”
Like most football supporters, Ray is not in favour of the long hydration breaks. He also experienced difficult playing conditions at USA 94.
“I can assure you, we needed hydration breaks back then when we played in Florida as it was 110 degrees. At that time, we used to have plastic bags of water, and they were located around the edge of the pitch. When you were using the water bags you would have to bite into them to open them, but the problem was that all the water went down your shirt and nothing really went into your mouth!
“The new hydration break is aesthetically poor when you look at it, and it goes on for far too long. Three minutes for a water break is nonsense. It should only take 30 seconds. I am all for the welfare of the players in the heat and having played in those conditions I know what it is like. I have been in stadiums here where there is air conditioning and it is only 20 degrees, and then all of a sudden a water break breaks up the flow of the game. I don’t think the players like it and certainly the fans don’t like it. It is what it as at the minute and you have to do it across the board.
“It would be interesting to see a colouration of when you have a hydration break and to see who comes out afterwards and plays poorly. I have seen some teams who have been on top of a game before the break, and after the break they come out and are a bit slow to get started. It doesn’t fit well with some teams when you are trying to play at a high tempo.”
As for eventual winners of the World Cup, Ray feels France stand a great chance. “I think this could be a World Cup of the survival of the fittest, who travels the best, who recovers the best, and it also comes down to who has the best team. I think of all the teams that I’ve seen so far, France have been that side. Michael Olise has gone to another level since he left Crystal Palace and gone to Bayern Munich, and he has just become a superstar. Olise always looks like he has time on the ball, he never looks hurried, and he is picking the right pass. He has got players around him who will make the right run for him.
“There is also a great balance for the team, with Dembélé, Mbappé, and there is cohesion and joy about that team. The death of Didier Deschamps' mum will galvanize the players even more. It is also Didier Deschamps' final tournament as France manager and the players will want to and win it for him.”
At Italia 90, Ray took the second penalty in that famous last 16 shootout win against Romania. What thoughts went through his head in the lead-up to that moment?
“I hadn’t taken a penalty before in my career and at the time we were struggling to find five penalty takers. We had Kevin Sheedy, who took penalties for Everton, and Andy Townsend had taken spot-kicks for Norwich City and Southampton. We were in a huddle trying to decide and the huddle was getting wider. I had an okay game and no more than that against Romania, and I had very little highlights in that game. I put my hand up and said ‘I’ll take one’. I don’t even think Jack Charlton had realised that I had never taken a penalty before in my career. However, he trusted us to sort it out.
“I have to tell you, that was the longest walk in my life from the halfway line in Genoa to the penalty spot. Every emotion goes through your head – positive, negative. You think: What happens if I score? Brilliant! But what happens if I miss? If I miss, all of the Irish fans in the stadium and all the ones watching on TV are going to be disappointed, and I didn’t want to disappoint them. When I placed the ball, I then looked at their goalkeeper, and it looked like his head was touching the crossbar and his hands were touching either post, and I’m thinking: ‘Where am I going to put this?’
“My dad had told me something, and he said: ‘Son, if ever you get a penalty never change your mind. Pick your spot and don’t change your mind’. That is exactly what I done, and I put it where I wanted to put it.
“I wouldn’t say it was a top corner finish, but I did send the goalkeeper the wrong way. When the ball hit the back of the net I went on my knees – not through joy, but just pure relief. I remember looking around at the next players who were preparing to come up to take a penalty, Tony Cascarino among others, and I felt sorry for them as I had just done that walk.”
FOOTBALL FOLKLORE
Four years later, Houghton scored another famous goal against Italy at USA 94. He described how he applied the finish past Gianluca Pagliuca for a goal that is etched in Irish football folklore.
“I had done well to reach Franco Baresi’s cleared header, and I had anticipated as to where he was going with it. When I collected the ball I had wanted to play it out wide to Steve Staunton on the left, but he was marked by the Italian full-back and there was nothing else on. And I just thought 'Hit it, why not?' If it goes over the bar it doesn’t matter and if it goes wide it doesn’t matter.
“However, it was amazing the emotions that go through your head when you strike a ball like that. My first thought was that it was going over the bar; my second thought was that the ’keeper was going to save it; and the last one was that it was going to go in.
“When it hit the back of the net there was pure joy and delight, and then I did the silly goal celebration with the forward roll – which I couldn’t remember after the game as I had never done a celebration like that before!
“I felt that at the time there was a lot of criticism of me coming into that World Cup – that I wouldn’t play, and a lot of people were doubting me. It is moments like that that you realise the main people who stand by you are your family and friends. And my wife and children were there, and I wanted to go and celebrate it with them.”
While the World Cup rumbles on, football continues closer to home. When asked for his thoughts on Mayo FC being part of the new National League, which will kick off in September, Ray said: “I am absolutely delighted any time that anyone in Ireland puts some money into any county and tries to get youngsters playing football and give them a pathway to playing football, and who knows to get them into the national team, then I am all for it. I am delighted for Mayo and I hope it is a great success.
“I hope that everyone knows the importance of giving youngsters opportunities. I hope that it also gives young girls a chance to play in the league as well.
“Being here at the World Cup, seeing 48 teams and we have not made it, and then you start to think what Boston would have been like if we had qualified.
“That is what you have to look at bringing through the next generation of kids. We need to find areas of rural Ireland where people are prepared to put money into the grassroots and into the professional game and to give opportunities to improve the standard, to get the international team better and to get us to tournaments like this.”
Ray Houghton was speaking in association with Tonybet. Tonybet’s World Cup Card Collection campaign is currently available to Irish customers.