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Unread 30-10-2020, 06:20 PM
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Default Nobby Stiles obituary

Robust Manchester United and England footballer who made a memorable contribution to England’s 1966 World Cup victoryOf all the players who contributed to England’s World Cup victory in 1966, Nobby Stiles, who has died aged 78 after suffering from prostate cancer and dementia, was the most unlikely of heroes. But, with his socks round his ankles and his false front teeth left in the dressing room, he was a formidable opponent, a robust tackler and an implacable marker, as he showed in a memorable and crucial performance in the semi-final against Portugal, when he comprehensively – and fairly – squeezed the life out of the great Eusébio.

Eusébio had been a glittering star of the tournament, a gloriously talented and incisive attacker who had scored four of Portugal’s five goals in the quarter-finals against North Korea. But in the semi-final, Stiles man-marked him into ineffectiveness, enabling England to win 2-1. When Alf Ramsey had instructed him during the pre-match briefing to take Eusébio “out of the game”, Stiles had asked: “Do you mean for life, Alf?” However, his shepherding of the Portuguese star was not only beyond reproach but, in the estimation of his colleague George Cohen, “technically and morally brilliant”.

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