Peter Brackley and Jim Proudfoot tell us about Hernan Dario Gomez, the manager of Ecuador who survived an assassination attempt; Argentina's next wonderkid, Leandro Romagnoli; the city of Munich's two big football teams, Bayern and 1860, plus near neighbours Unterhaching; sweeping changes at Valencia with their manager and best player having departed following successive Champions League finals; and the climax of the inaugural Women's United Soccer Association league season. This episode was originally broadcast on Sunday, 30th September, 2001.
To take that last one first, the WUSA was apparently the world's first professional league for women. It went bust after only three seasons, but I suppose some of those hypothetical young girls dreaming of being a pro back then could be living that reality right now as I write this. To save you Googling, Leandro Romagnoli went on to play for Argentina precisely once, and his big European move was to Lisbon, where he spent a whole four seasons at Sporting. Nearly all of the rest of his career was spent playing for San Lorenzo, and heart-warmingly he is currently their manager.
Ecuador did indeed go on to qualify for their first ever World Cup, and their manager's Wikipedia page quite bizarrely doesn't seem to even mention that attempt on his life. Imagine being shot for footballing reasons and fleeing to Colombia for your own safety. Meanwhile, Valencia went on to win La Liga this season, under the new attractive more attacking playing style of Rafa Benitez. They remain the last team not from Barcelona or Madrid to win it, and going back 40 years, Deportivo La Coruna are the only other side to clinch the title in that time - once.
Interesting stuff, completely undermined by the occasional dubbing of a Spaniard or Argentinian in pure Geordie, Eurotrash-style. Oh, and don't miss that classic late-night ITV ad break which consists entirely of a single Horrible-and-Unnecessary-Ways-You're-Going-to-Die PIF.
Many thanks to Ben for sending me this recording.
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