John Giles is a staple of World Cup punditry in this country but he remembers his first campaign pretty clearly.
The Ireland legend joined us on the line tonight as always on a Thursday and recalled his punditry in debut during the 1986 tournament.
"Eamon [Dunphy] had been involved since '78 and I'd finished in management at that time. Eamon suggested to some of the RTE people that I could come onto the panel. But the reaction he got wasn't very favourable and he let me know that," said John, who believes that RTE hierarchy had been reluctant to bring him on board because of his guarded nature when dealing with the media as a manager. However he would finally get his chance to start what has become a long and iconic punditry career.
"So I came over with a casual attitude, that I would be doing it for a few weeks and that would be the end of it. It went OK in 1986 and then after that I started doing live matches. Then I took it a bit more seriously and prepared better for it."
He admitted that he "wasn't Ireland's most loved individual at that particular time". He also felt that he got a reputation for being cautious in the press.
Meanwhile, pictures of the pitch in Manaus where England play Italy make for grim viewing and John believes it will be a "disaster" for the World Cup if something similar occurs elsewhere.
However he still believes the World Cup is the best competition on the planet and John spoke about his early memories of the tournament, starting with 1954.
"We wouldn't have seen much and it certainly wasn't the carnival tournament then, as it is today," said John, who recalled how Ferenc Puskas and the Hungarian side caught the imagination.
He also reminisced about traveling to Mexico for the 1970 tournament with Billy Bremner after winning a competition and following the English team around.
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