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By Ben Sutherland

This is me - as a 14-year-old - with the League Cup and two former Aston Villa and Republic of Ireland players, Steve Staunton and Ray Houghton.

Both were stars for Aston Villa in the mid-90s, and this was a fantastic moment for me - and presumably also the child who is also in the photo, who is nothing to do with me and, to be honest, I'm not really sure what he'd doing there.

All of the countries of the UK contrived to fail dismally in their attempts to qualify for USA '94.

England capitulated to the Netherlands in the match that spawned manager Graham Taylor's famous 'Do I Not Like That' line - although it was really defeat to Norway that did the damage.

As a result, faced with no team to back in the world's greatest football tournament, many fans in Britain switched their support to the country across the Irish sea.

This was not only due to the geographical proximity, but also because the team was packed with Premiership-based players, many of whom had recently "discovered" an Irish grandmother - which allowed them to play international football. Further, the Republic were also managed by Jack Charlton, who had played for England in the 1966 World Cup winning team.

However, few people gave them a chance in the first match, against Italy - whose team included not only included the unflappable Paolo Maldini and the unshiftable Franco Baresi, but also the iconic figure of Roberto Baggio.

Baggio was then in his prime, and predicted to be on the verge of making his name as one of the world's best - potentially not just of the moment, but of all time. Indeed, the team was packed with star names from Milan, Inter and Juventus, at a time when Serie A was undoubtedly the world's greatest football league.

And yet, at the Giants Stadium in New York, the moment of genius came not from the feted Baggio but from Houghton - and it was enough to turn it all on its head. Eleven minutes in, a long ball was tossed hopefully into the Italian penalty area.

Unusually, Baresi's header was not enough to properly clear it, and Houghton gathered the clearance around 20 yards out. Under pressure from Dino Baggio, Houghton found the composure to move the ball towards the edge of the D - where he placed a beautiful chip over goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca.

It was a piece of footballing brilliance - one that would be shown time and time again on television, enough to become one of the defining images of the tournament.

Houghton did a forward roll in celebration, into the arms of his Villa team-mate Staunton and Terry Phelan. And it was enough to win the match.