Buried away at 11pm on a Wednesday night is what promises to be a fascinating series on world football. Kicking off this week (March 6) with the superstars of football, this British offering looks like the real deal and an ideal lead-in to World Cup 2002.

A feature of the first show was the revealing one-on-one interviews with the greats – Pele, Beckenbauer, Best and Maradona. Each one talked at length and openly about their lives and their football careers. De Kaiser, for instance, revealed that he had modelled his now famous ‘libero’ role on the Italian player Facchetti.

Pele, as a child, remembered seeing his father cry when Brazil was beaten in a World Cup Final, and vowed he would help his country win it for his Dad – eight years later, as a 17-year-old, he did.

The show also focussed on Johann Cruyff and the Dutch football revolution, Zinedine Zidane and the late Brazilian Garrincha (who died in 1983). A womaniser and drinker, Garrincha's voracious sexual appetite with nurses at one hospital while the player was recovering was one story of a Brazilian star who has not received the recognition he deserves.

I should say I’m a huge Maradona fan and so the interview with Diego was a real highlight. ‘The Great Man’ talked about how he first started taking drugs in 1983, the contrasting attitude of the presidents at both Barcelona and Napoli, the abuse he copped from fans in Spain during his Barcelona years and how English players were “the most noble in the world”.

Maradona – forever the working class people’s player – also had a gentle dig at other greats like Pele, Platini and Beckenbauer who “wore ties and attended FIFA”.

Interspersed throughout these first episode’s interviews were some outrageous goals and exhibitions of skill from these greats. An utter joy to watch if, like me, you love ‘the beautiful game’

The lowdown
The History Of Football screens on Wednesday March 6 at 11:00pm on ABC TV. It’s a definitive 13-part series that tells the international story of the game. Produced and directed by Dario Pleic, Series written and produced by Guy Oliver and narrated by Terence Stamp.

Ormondo says
Set the VCR and watch it on the weekend.

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