Reminds me of the Bozemen in Scotland’s World Cup final

Costa Rica didn’t exactly break a gasket when they qualified for their first World Cup in 1990. They beat Panama 3–1 and got a walkover against Mexico after the Mexicans violated age eligibility rules.

Hey presto, Costa Rica was going to Italia ’90.

We all know how it turned out. Juan Caiasso is an immortal, a player who means a lot to people who weren’t even born when he scored his country’s first goal at the World Cup – against Scotland, of course.

He is perhaps Scotland’s ultimate bogeyman, one of nine children, a player they call ‘El Nene’ – The Kid. He scored the only goal at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on June 11, 1990. Disaster for Scotland. again

“Kids stop me in the street to greet me and say, ‘You’re Kayasu, who my dad said scored a goal in 1990’.” He did and that’s why Scotland made an early exit from the tournament.

Kayso said his goal was written in the stars. “We were playing so badly that I thought we didn’t have much of a chance before going to the World Cup.”

He made Scotland count without being bowled over once more.

“I don’t know if I remember it because I always see it on video,” Keyasso said a few years ago. “But I could never prepare for that moment.

“My teammate, Claudio Zara, pushed the ball to me – we call it a taquito here. I was close to him, I stepped back and when he did the taquito I read it. At first, I thought, ‘Oh…’ I’m scared. But then I have to react, it’s at my feet.

“Jimmy (Litton) is out. Then it hits him in the stomach and goes over him. I turn around and look at the referee, and he’s going to the center of the field.

“At first I was scared, then I didn’t believe it, then, ‘Yes, the goal’. At that moment I was too far away. My mind was on Costa Rica. I wrote a book called ‘The Goal from Italia 90: Destiny, Luck or Chance’. It was so crazy.”

Cayasso’s goal helped Costa Rica secure a place in the knockouts – they lost 4-1 to Czechoslovakia – and a Toyota Corolla gift from the country’s president. All teams got one.

This led to his transfer to German football with Stuttgart Kickers. He won promotion to the Bundesliga with them.

Cayasso won 49 caps, but one stands above all others. Unforgettable in two different countries but for very different reasons.