World Cup Spain 1982: Final Part

The biggest event in world soccer, the World Cup Final. Roy Race is in Spain to attend the World Cup, now he previews the final between Italy and West Germany, before travelling to Madrid for the match itself. Will
the star Zardelli dominate for Italy or will Kurt Gruber keep him quiet?

Italy vs West Germany World Cup Final 1982

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9 Comments

  1. Zardelli was the topscorer of Italia '90 (official storyline). Has he been mentioned since 1982 as Morino player?

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    1. Yes Zardelli was topscorer at WC90. Like 99% of non-Melchester players he only appears once. I assumed he would have played in 82 because he looked and played like a veteran in the Morino match. RotR players are allowed lengthy careers!

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  2. What about the other Italians u mentioned (Gusco, Monetti) and the Germans (Meisner, Kurt and Rudi Gruber, Fischer) do they come from ROTR teams or just from National Teams of previous clashes?

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    1. All the players are named in club matches against Melchester.

      Kurt Gruber signed for Carford after the 82 World Cup. Rudi Gruber was Germany's top scorer at the 82 World Cup, he signed for Portdean. Hans Fischer was star for Rassburg v Rovers in the UEFA Cup Final in 79. Rudi Meisner was goalie for Stroberg in the 1986 Annual.

      Gusco was team-mate of Zardelli at Morino. Monetti was star for Dorino against Rovers in European Cup Semi-Final in 1978.

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  3. good to know all these important details. so have they ever been mentiined as internationals in rotr?

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    1. Most were mentioned as international players, but very few were ever shown in an international match. I think between 76 and 93 there were only 3 full international matches in the comics. 78 - Eng v Holland, 85 - Eng v France, 87 - Eng v Turkey. No opposition players were named except for Seegrun and Valker for the Dutch.

      There are lots of references to players international careers during other matches, for example in the match v Portdean in 1982/83, one fan says "Rudi Gruber! Their new signing!" and his friend replies, "He was West Germany's leading goal-scorer at the last World Cup!"

      I think it's okay to assume that the stars of the best European teams were also internationals!

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  4. only three international matches in 17 years? but im sure other rotr strips had had more international games... like "the legend" agostino da silva played games for brazilin 1985. or maybe the "hard man".
    anyway what i was thinking : as i saw u keep the world cup realts correspodent to reality which i think is great. but maybe u should change the scores a little bit (not effectingthe winner) making more surprising. if not the score, the order of the goals ie the 3-1 italy s win could have been 0-1 and then 3-1 so the readers would be in more suspense. just a suggestion

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    1. The 3 international matches are just from the Roy of the Rovers strip itself. There are others in the comic, but most don't name any of the opposition players.

      There is a Marks Brothers story in the 1982 Annual, when Steve plays for England vs Bulgaria. In the England team are Jimmy Slade, Kenny Johnson and Kevin Keegan. No-one else is named or recognisable. Which explains why these 3 appear in my England WC82 squad.

      It is hard to decide what to do with World Cup stories, with regard to results and winners. What I try to remember is that my stories are Roy of the Rovers, so adding to the story of Melchester Rovers must remain as the main focus, even during a World Cup.

      The aim of the WC82 story was to give readers more connection/history with McKay, Logan and Pancho. The matches were secondary, just ways of telling the story.

      I won't just follow the results from WC78, I didn't realise it was so obvious. I was born in 82 so don't know the results without looking them up and assumed others wouldn't either.

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    2. i guess we were born in the same year pal! the good think about british football is there are 4 national teams (plus ireland) so it ll always be some connection to a brit (or not brit melchester player). a nice idea -for not having roy travelling every four years- would be roy and teammates watching the final or blackie and roy going to the host country to scout some wc superstar. but im sure u got already some thoughts about it. Its ridiculous that tiger and rotr disappeared roy from world cups or euros

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