Russia

My favourite game: Panini pest Zoltan Peter comes unstuck against USSR | Paul Doyle

06-May-2020 10:59:52 | The Guardian

Before the 1986 World Cup my brother and I had nearly 100 stickers of the Hungarian and we wanted him to lose, badly

Before the internet ruined the World Cup there was wonder in ignorance. You could look forward to discovering great players and teams about whom you knew next to nothing. In 1986 my brother and I hoped the tournament would be all about some Hungarian called Zoltan Peter. Our reason was bad.

All we knew about Peterwas his name and his face because he seemed to be in every pack of Panini stickers we bought. Every time we removed that shiny wrapper there he was, seemingly mocking us with his Lego-man hairdo and the haunting expression of someone who knew there is no problem so grim it cannot be made worse.