On this day 25 (yes, twenty five) years ago today, Sunderland had two South American debutants in the line up as Peter Reid’s team took on West Ham United at the Stadium of Light.
Coming off the back of a 7th placed finish in our first season back in the Premier League, Sunderland had recruited well during the summer, adding some proven top flight experience in the shape of 29-year-old Everton captain Don Hutchison, as well as international pedigree in the form of Slovan Bratislava’s Stanislav Varga.
Austrian keeper Jurgen Macho had been unexpectedly thrown into the deep end, after replacing Thomas Sorensen during the season opener against Arsenal, while Varga’s injury in our second game against Manchester City – and ongoing concerns over the fitness of 37-year-old Steve Bould – had forced Reid to turn to the transfer market once more.
Brazilian central defender Emerson Thome – who was a familiar face to English football fans after a spell at Sheffield Wednesday – had been signed from Chelsea, and made his debut alongside as Harry Redknapp’s team arrived on Wearside.
But it was the prospect of seeing another South American – the Argentinian Julio Arca – that created the greatest sense of intrigue as kick off approached.
Arca had been signed in July, after Reid saw off competition from Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle for his signature from Maradona’s former club, Argentinos Juniors. The Argentina under-21 captain had impressed watching scouts in a game against England under 21s at Craven Cottage back in February – the watching Reid believing Arca was ‘head and shoulders above the rest – the best player on the park’ – and Sunderland pounced, for a fee of £3.5m, making Arca Sunderland’s second most expensive player ever, behind Stefan Schwarz.
The fact that Julio qualified for an Italian passport through his grandparents circumvented the need to apply for a work permit, although the wait for all of the passport paper work to be rubber stamped meant it wasn’t until the end of August that he arrived at the club, making his first appearance in red and white in a friendly at Chester Le Street, to mark the opening of the club’s new changing rooms.
Arca had impressed in a 6-0 win, playing the first half at left back and the second at left midfield – a hattrick from Danny Dichio, and a goal each from Milton Nunez, Carsten Fredgaard, and French trialist Nicholas Fabiano, who was on the books of PSG at the time, sealing a comfortable win.
Bigger tests lay ahead for Julio, however, and it was just a week later that Arca was thrust into first team action, making his debut against a West Ham team that featured Paolo Di Canio in their line up, as well as two exciting youngsters who everyone was aware of – Joe Cole and Michael Carrick.
Kevin Kilbane moved from the left wing to the right to accommodate Arca on the left of midfield, while Darren Holloway partnered Don Hutchison in the centre of midfield.
In defence, Thome and Craddock were flanked by Makin and Gray, while up top, Sunderland’s talismanic partnership of Quinn and Phillips looked to get the season kickstarted after collecting three points from three games.
In an entertaining, end-to-end game, it was Kevin Kilbane who first came close to scoring – with just 30 seconds on the clock, he drove infield from his new right wing position and hit a left foot shot that came back off the post, too quickly for the onrushing Kevin Phillips. Kilbane was causing all sorts of problems for the veteran full back Nigel Winterburn, and the ex-Arsenal man was cautioned for a high and late challenge on the Ireland winger.
It wasn’t one-way traffic though – Frank Lampard tested Macho with a shot from the edge of the box, and had another shot blocked, while a Kilbane free kick forced Shaka Hislop in the West Ham goal into a good save, and Macho saved well from Di Canio when the future Sunderland manager was put clean through.
The deadlock was broken on 25 minutes, and it came from another move instigated by Kilbane, who made a great run inside of Winterburn. Phillips picked the run out, and Kilbane crossed for debutant Arca to head home.
Trevor Sinclair, playing on the right side of defence, felt he’d been pushed by Arca, but referee Peter Jones was having none of it, and Sinclair earned a yellow card for his protestations.
Jurgen Macho had performed pretty well in the eventful opening stages, however he was found wanting jist after the half hour. A Di Canio corner tempted Macho out into a sea of bodies – with no real chance of claiming the ball, Macho flapped it down towards Davor Suker, who managed to bobble the ball over the line. It was a poor goal to concede.
Hutchison, who was coming more and more into the game on his home debut, was influencing things in the centre of the park, and his volley from just inside the box fizzed just over the bar on 35 minutes, while Lampard fired wide with just Macho to beat at the other end.
The second half was equally action packed – Kilbane shot wide, Quinn’s header was just about tipped over by Hislop, Hutchison’s shot was blocked and Phillips’ venomous effort was beat out by the West Ham keeper.
While Sunderland were on top, the crowd became frustrated that the team weren’t taking advantage, and chanted the name of the by-now ostracised winger Nicky Summerbee, who was watching on.
Chance creation wasn’t the issue, however, and Hutchison went close again with a looping header, and had a strong penalty appeal turned down, too.
It wasn’t just one way traffic though – Lampard had a deflected shot saved, and an errant Micky Gray backpass found Di Canio with just Macho to beat, but the controversial forward was held up by Craddock, who’d rushed back to rescue the situation.
In the closing stages, Arca – who’d impressed all night – set up Phillips, but a heacy first touch saw Hislop snatch the ball away.
All in all, a good performance, an entertaining game, a fair result – and our first glimpse of a little Argentinian who’d become a Sunderland cult hero!
