Renowned football commentator, Peter Drury has disclosed that he shed tears while running the commentary when Argentina beat France to win the 2022 World Cup.
The match started favourably for Argentina as they took a commanding 2-0 lead in the first half, and Drury was in his element. With his poetic flair, he described the goals and ignited the excitement of the crowd.
However, France mounted a remarkable comeback, with Kylian Mbappe scoring a memorable hat-trick, pushing the match into extra time.
Recalling his feelings leading up to the World Cup final, Drury admitted his co-commentator, Alan Smith, "What we need is 2-0 [to Argentina], everybody's sorted, clean, make no mistakes, let's get out of here." It seemed like that scenario was within reach until Mbappe's late heroics nearly spoiled their prediction.
Drury vividly remembered the tension halfway through the match as they were getting ready to wrap up the commentary at 2-0 in favour of Argentina. However, Mbappe stepped up, and the match took an unexpected turn.
Durry stated, "Halfway through we started to pack up at 2-0 and then Mbappe stepped up and it all happens!"
As the match entered extra time, Drury confessed to feeling anxious, fearing that the narrative might take an unfavourable turn. Fortunately, Argentina emerged victorious, leaving Drury awestruck by what he considered one of the finest football matches in living memory.
"I remember at the start of extra time feeling quite churned up because I thought from here this could only go wrong. But mercifully, we seemed to get away with it. I think in context, it's hard to believe that in living memory, there’s been a better football match," he added.
He marvelled at the match's perfect narrative, describing it as "just ridiculous how perfect that narrative was." Drury admitted that he can be moved to tears by beautiful football moments, and the 2022 World Cup final was one such occasion that brought him to tears of sheer joy.
JNA/KPE
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