AS a kid, I absolutely adored Emilio Butragueno. Everything about the Real Madrid and Spanish international striker I loved: his poaching instincts, his one-touch play, his craftiness in the penalty box, everything he did on the pitch had artistic merit.

My first memory of him was during the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico.

Denmark had taken the early rounds of the tournament by storm, which included a 6-1 hammering of South American tough nuts Uruguay.

Michael Laudrup, Preben Elkjaer, Jesper Olsen and Morten Olsen were exceptional – until they ran into Spain in the knock-out stages.

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With Danish dynamite in their boots, they were expected to put the Spanish to the sword and go deeper into the tournament.

Butragueno - affectionately known as ‘The Vulture’ - ruined all that by scoring four goals in a 5-1 thrashing of the Danes.

From that day on, everyone knew Butragueno.

This was a time before satellite dishes were drilled to the sides of our houses and when we didn’t see these football superstars from one World Cup to the next.

And sometimes we never saw them again. The romantic pull of a World Cup in those days was special.

At the ‘86 World Cup finals, there were plenty of crude tackles but football was in the kind of head space where it was still tactically loose enough for individuals to flourish.

Butragueno, Diego Maradona, Jorge Burruchaga, Elkjaer, Laudrup, Michel Platini, Careca, Josimar, Enzo Francescoli, Rudi Voller, Jean Tigana, Manuel........

© The Irish News