BlogIt’s a goal every fan of the Scottish national football team remembers fondly – regardless of how old you are.
Whether you joined the Tartan Army on the road to Argentina, supported the team from home or you weren’t even born yet, the footage of Archie Gemmill’s goal against the Netherlands at the 1978 World Cup is engrained in the memory of every Scotland fan.
The 2018 World Cup marks 40 years since THAT wonderful goal in the 3-2 victory over the Netherlands in Mendoza.
The sight of the Paisley-born midfielder gliding past three defenders before sprinting into the box and curling a left footed strike past Dutch goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed is bound to leave you grinning from ear to ear.
While the tournament may have ended in disappointment for the Scots – who needed to win by three clear goals to progress from the group stages – Gemmill’s goal is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever scored at the World Cup.
It was a sublime moment in an illustrious career which saw Gemmill lift the European Cup and three English league titles.
During his career, Gemmill would play for hometown club St Mirren, Preston North End, Derby County, Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City, Jacksonville Tea Men and Wigan Athletic, before a second spell at Derby.
The midfielder collected 47 caps for his country, scoring eight goals and captaining the side 22 times.
As the 2018 World Cup gets underway in Russia, look back on Gemmill’s stunning strike from Argentina ‘78 with the video above.
Then see the goal recreated using LEGO and stop-motion animation by local filmmaker Morgan Spence below. The talented teenager created the video in support of Paisley’s bid for UK City of Culture 2021.
