That was the only ambition he failed to achieve, though only by the length of his hand.His winning margin over a Canadian, Bruce Robertson, in the 100m butterfly final was 1.3sec (or about a body length). There had been much interest in seeing the great East German backstroke champion, Roland Matthes, experiment with a different stroke, but he slipped on his blocks, lost almost a metre and never got near Spitz who a mere 40 minutes later assisted the Americans to win the 4 x 200m freestyle relay.By then he was at the centre of controversy, having waved a pair of brand- named trainers over his head as he collected one of his medals. He had set world records in the heats and finals of the American trials, so when he made that astonishing opening to the first day of swimming in Munich he was intent not only on winning but taking the world record to below two minutes. But in the late summer of 1972, and with something of a strange irony, Spitz overcame any such feelings of personal pressure, even though the Games were disfigured by the killing by Arab terrorists of 11 members of the Israeli team.Twenty-two years old at the time, dark-haired and with a black moustache, this dental student was the glamour boy of the Olympic pool. His seven golds came in only eight days and consisted of four individual and three relays Every event was won in a world record time.

Only his team-mate Jerry Heidenreich got anywhere near him, losing by four tenths of a second in the 100m free-style. Even so, the distance separating them was over an arm’s length.His first gold came in the 200m butterfly and sent a message that he was in the form of his life. He beat his fellow American Gary Hall following an incredible start, which I described at the time as being an “interception of the starter’s thoughts”.The butterfly was his speciality. They have also drawn with the subsequent World Cup winners, France.England were to find to their cost the strength of their conviction that they could reach the finals in Holland and Belgium this time.

For half an hour, the Swedes had enjoyed considerable possession, but appeared to lack the imagination to fashion chances for Larsson and Pettersson, but in the 30th minute they were at last given the chance to get in a blow at David Seaman. Gareth Southgate brought Pettersson to ground in a position similar to where Shearer had scored from and although the former Arsenal midfielder Schwarz’s fearsome effort was parried by his former Highbury team-mate Seaman, Andersson forced the ball home.For the first time, the 3,500 England fans were silenced and before they had time to begin vocal encouragement anew their favourites were struck another blow when Larsson performed well to hold the ball up near the goal line and lay it back for Pontus Kaamark to cross. Johan Mjallby ponunced on Scholes’ clumsy interception to head past Seaman. The England defence might have been further embarrassed as Sweden began the second half with a passion which reflected that of their supporters, who are hungry for success.The home faithful had come for a vision of England’s future, Michael Owen. On a night of frustration, he was given little opportunity to exhibit those prodigious skills. Instead they went home, reflecting on the renaissance of a forgotten team who have learnt their lessons well from their new coach.Andrew Longmore, page 3.

WHEN Mark Spitz won two Olympic swimming gold medals and a bronze at the 1968 Games in Mexico City he considered himself a failure. Never one to underestimate his own ability, the man from Modesto, California, had predicted that he would win six golds. Undeterred, four years later he went to Munich insisting that he would win seven Sure enough, on 4 September 1972, he collected his seventh. Spitz immediately went into Olympic history among the greatest sportsmen of all time No one had ever won as many events in one Games.

Only one previous Olympic competitor, a turn of the century athlete called Ray Ewry, had bettered his full total of nine golds, and no one in the history of standardised swimming pools achieved as many world records – 26. The previous highest total of Olympic swimming golds was the four achieved by another American, Don Schollander, in Tokyo in 1964.
Schollander and Spitz were intense rivals. Up until Munich Schollander, who was four years older, was able to keep the challenge of the unpredictable and temperamental Spitz at bay. With the resulting free-kick Shearer swept the ball majestically round the wall and into the net via Coventry goalkeeper Magnus Hedman’s far post.As though in response to those sceptics who had begun to wonder if the Shearer touch had diminished through injury, he brandished two arms in elation at the England supporters congregated high above the goal into which he had scored.Sweden, third in the 1994 World Cup, have never qualified for the finals of the European Championship. But in seven games under Tommy Soderberg, a former teacher appointed as coach 11 months ago in succession to Tommy Svensson, they have appeared to be in the ascendancy, losing only two of seven friendly games and beating Italy, Russia and Denmark.