There's only one game that John Aldridge wants to tune into tomorrow - and it’s not the World Cup opener between hosts Qatar and Ecuador.
“I don’t care, I’m not interested really, for the first time,” said the legendary Liverpool striker, “because of where and when it is getting played and we’re not in it.
“I’m only looking forward to it so Liverpool get a break and get people back for next year.”
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Aldo would much rather watch Ireland’s friendly in Malta.
End-of-year fixtures don’t come much more low-key than this, but for Aldridge the game brings back some happy memories.
It’s 33 years ago this week since he opened his competitive account for Ireland - two goals against the European minnows that confirmed Ireland’s place at Italia ‘90.
“It was nuts,” said Aldridge, who failed to notch in his first 20 caps, before scoring in a friendly against Tunisia a year before the trip to Valetta.
“I wasn’t a striker for Ireland, I was a runner. You know how we played.
“My game was outside the box. Ball to the full back and both Chris’ would put it to the corner flag, we’d run and push up, get to the halfway line.
“I’d hold it up, lay it back to Ray, Ray would put a ball in the box.
“That’s my excuse anyway!
“I missed a penalty against Czechoslovakia. The Tunisia goal was such a weight of psychologically. You doubt yourself.
“I did get a few chances, but for some reason they wouldn’t go in for me.
“I remember scoring against Luxembourg, a great goal. I was never offside. This was before the Tunisia game.
“I was celebrating, giving it all that with all the fans. The next minute I heard Ronnie saying, ‘Aldo, get back’.
“I turned around. I was never offside. I was about two yards onside. How could that be disallowed? That was another killer.”
Then came Malta. Ireland had one foot in the World Cup at that stage. Only Hungary could stop them, and they faced a much trickier assignment, away to group leaders Spain.
But Big Jack Charlton was paranoid.
“When we played Malta, Jack thought we might be getting stitched up,” Aldo explained.
“Hungary were playing Spain, so Jack was saying, ‘Make sure you win, because we could get stitched up here’.
“We won 2-0 and I felt like I repaid Jack for sticking with me.
“When you score a couple of goals, like the Tunisia one, you get your belief back.
“The next 50-odd caps, I was off as a sub or on as a sub or whatever, I was back to nearly one in every two games, if you look at the minutes.
“The first 19 games were just crazy, but I have to say I did enjoy that night in Valletta.
“We had a great night that night with the supporters in some nightclub. It was just a great night all round. It was buzzing.
“We also had the experience of ‘88, which was unbelievable. Beating England, that was the most memorable game that I played for Ireland.
“Then to know that we were going into the World Cup for the first time was just an amazing time.”
Aldridge had left Liverpool for La Liga side Real Sociedad by the time the Malta game came around.
He was prolific in Spain, scoring 40 goals in 75 appearances over two seasons, before moving to Tranmere Rovers, where he continued to bang in the goals.
His first competitive strike for Ireland was from a well-rehearsed training ground routine.
“It was a well worked corner,” he recalled. “I think Kevin (Moran) might have flicked it on at the near post and I swung around the back. Easy.
“Then the second one was a penalty. Andy Townsend got chopped down, I did the old shimmy and sent him the wrong way.”
While the Irish fans in the Ta'Quli Stadium went wild, hundreds more hadn’t made it to Malta in time for kick-off. Fog at Dublin Airport had delayed several departures.
“There were still Irish people on the planes, who didn’t get to the game. They didn’t land on time. It was a nightmare for them,” Aldridge said.
“But they landed and had a good night out anyway. There was a good show anyway, they were brilliant, the fans, as always.”
Back to tomorrow’s World Cup kick off and Aldridge doesn’t even sense great excitement in his hometown of Liverpool, even though England are involved in Qatar.
“There is no buzz no,” he said. “Liverpool is not really pro-English if you like. It might be down in London and other cities.
“The timing as well and where it is. How can a World Cup be played in November and December?
“All my life I have loved the World Cup. 1966 is the first one I remember. I have loved them in June and July.
“It might be entertaining and there might be decent games. There are not many standout games you are looking forward to already.
“Maybe it’s because of the way everything is crammed in to sustain the World Cup, to make sure it happens.
“Jurgen (Klopp) goes on about it and he is right to, especially when we’re not doing well at Liverpool. There has been no break.”
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