Of course, death was not in the air back in 1981 and the first half of 1982 – the season was going on, preparations for the World Cup, the big excitement of the finals, the great expectations of a new format and more teams. The very trophy was new, to be contested for the first time.
The hype and the buzz were building up – the stars, the teams, the favourites, the internal scandals, the injuries, the stars, the prophets, the critics. The fretting over the question will be Spain ready for the finals and as if this was not enough, will be Colombia able to host the 1986 World Cup. Criticism, speculations… ever new, yet, so old. No matter what, the World Cup rules a particular year and is a culmination of the 4 years since the previous one. No doubt, 1982 was special: 24 teams at the finals, a feast.
The feast was emphasized by the official poster, done by Juan Miro, the most famous painter ever engaged to create World Cup poster.
The logo captured the new format of 24 teams, although it was abbreviated immediately.
The new formula provided almost a month of high-end football: 6 round-robin at first, then 4 groups of 3 teams each, semi-finals, the match for bronze medals, and the peak of all that – the final. By tradition, the reigning champions were opening the championship, which was to be played in 14 cities. The second phase, after the preliminary groups was to be played in 4 cities, but mostly in Madrid and Barcelona, which was almost as going to Mecca or Jerusalem for the faithful.
Grinning Naranjito, the official emblem-mascot, promised friendly fun – perhaps even the feared British fans would take on the spirit and change their violent ways.
The fans, however eccentric, were expected to have great fun – and making noise was not seen as a problem.
There was much to dream about – for instance, to see your team winning the World Cup at freshly modernized Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Of course, the first thing to do was tacky: teams recorded songs and as much as it was ridiculous to expect Kevin Keegan and company to hit notes, fans sheepishly bought the half-baked ‘anthems’. So far , all festive, like in heaven. Let’s go to business.