10: Bebeto, PG Tips International Soccer Stars Picture Card Album

In the pre-Corona years Twitter was a very different place. Rather than attacking politicians for their inability to deal with pandemics, criminal underfunding of the NHS or their competence as leader of the opposition less than a fortnight into the job, the good people of Britain focused on the real issues. When Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, posted a fairly mundane snap of him “making tea” for other Cabinet members he appeared to endorse Yorkshire Tea as the teabag of choice for this Conservative government. Forget Kim Kardashian defying gravity with a champagne glass – the internet truly exploded.

In the ensuing social medial storm fierce debate raged over the credibility of the photo, the political allegiance of a tea company and whether this was all an elaborate stunt to boost the government’s often ignored promise of creating a Northern Powerhouse. At the same time, small pockets of the population broke off into a separate, and far more vicious, debate over which teabag deserved to be held up as the nation’s favourite. All the big names were weighed in the balance: Tetley, Typhoo, Twinings – it’s amazing to think that the same people now concerned over how to fill these lockdown fuelled days were once threatening extreme acts of violence against the small band of supporters rallying behind PG Tips. Maybe therein lies the answer.

Back in the 1990s PG Tips may not have been the nation’s first choice of teabag but it’s fair to say that they led the way in random giveaways. There were fridge magnets and toy cars and, ahead of the 1998 World Cup in France, football cards. PG had clearly not secured licenses from all teams or even the tournament so this proved to be a fairly random collection of players but, thanks to my Gran’s religious tea drinking and willingness to foster an obsession, I completed the set. So alongside the likes of Colin Hendry, Teddy Sheringham and a really old photo of Brian Laudrup we find Brazil’s Bebeto.

Even if you know very little about football you know something about Bebeto. You might not know he’s Brazil’s sixth highest goal scorer of all time. You might not know he played in three consecutive World Cups during the 1990s. I didn’t even know that he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Rio De Janeiro in 2010 as a member of the Democratic Labour Party. God bless Wikipedia. You will, however, know Jose Roberto Gama de Oliveira, to give him his full name, for his reaction to his goal against the Netherlands in a thrilling 3-2 quarter-final at the 1994 World Cup in the USA.

If the current mood in the Hawks household is anything to go by it’s really exciting having a baby. Three days before Brazil’s clash with the Netherlands, Bebeto’s wife gave birth to the couple’s third child and, after he had put his country 2-0 up, Bebeto could hardly hide his joy with the new addition to his family. He sprinted to the touchline and mimicked rocking a baby and was quickly joined by strike partner Romario and lesser-known midfielder Mazinho in the tribute to the goal scorer’s son. Several players, and countless mimics in school playgrounds, have recreated the iconic celebration in the years since.

Brazil went on to win the World Cup in 1994 and, four years later, found themselves in the final against host nation France. In a game that was overshadowed by the illness and underperformance of the usually phenomenal Ronaldo, Brazil went down 3-0. Bebeto contributed three goals during Brazil’s run to the final, repeating his efforts in the US, but the final proved to be his last game for his country.

His six goals in World Cup tournaments was no mean feat but it is for his celebration of one particular goal that Bebeto will always hold a place in football folklore. And if you weren’t feeling old enough after all that Mattheus, the baby that was being celebrated back in 1994, is now 25 years old and following in his father’s footsteps as a professional footballer. Maybe time for a soothing cup of tea.