A goal by Denis Law was no mere statistic.It could be like you were witnessing a comet flashing across the sky, his blond mop a beacon of crowning glory as he would turn away from the achievement, his hand raised in triumph like he had just fulfilled his side of a bargain he had set with the terracing masses with whom there was mutual devotion.
I witnessed this for the first time on 26 September 1961 when Scotland were trailing a great Czechoslovakia team 2-1 in the second-half at Hampden and Denis’s two goals to win the match, particularly his searing second, was like he had endowed himself with a special responsibility to be the irrepressible saviour of the Scottish cause.Indeed, in the years thereafter, you need only have mentioned the name ‘Denis’ within any company anywhere in the world, and faces would lighten up as if you were reminding them of someone who truly personified the undying optimism of the Scottish character that would produce the cheery irreverence of playing golf rather than watch England win the World Cup in 1966.He donned the dark-blue jersey 55 times and it seemed like when he went to Wembley in particular he was wearing his heart on his sleeve, like a man conscious that his birthright was at stake in the very home of English football.
His opening goal there on 15 April 1967 which led Scotland to become ‘unofficial World Champions’ by beating the current holders 3-2, seemed to us like he was puncturing an oversized ego that surrounded him daily in English club football.Of course, we had other great players in that side that day like Baxter, Bremner, Gemmell and such, but it was the stirring goal-scorer who seemed to carry our aspirations more.
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