According to Sir Alex Ferguson: "Denis Law epitomises what it is to be a Scot; he could a start a fight in an empty house, he had the courage of a lion - he probably had more fights with the biggest centre-halves in the world than any other player I can remember - and they all knew he could handle himself. He had style, he had skill, he had that something extra which meant that when Denis was on the pitch, you couldn't take your eyes off him. He was my idol..."
The Lawman may be a senior citizen of 68, but in the mind's eye he is out there yet on the lush Hampden pitch, accepting the acclaim of 135,000 subjects while celebrating his latest goal in the trademark manner, the raised clenched fist clutching the right cuff of his shirt sleeve. He scored a record 30 goals in 55 matches for Scotland (a mark he shares with Kenny Dalglish, who needed 47 more games to achieve the feat) but was so much more than a simple goal-scorer. The goals came in every shape and colour; searing long-range shots, simple tap-ins, dynamic headers, flukey ricochets, cheeky flicks after mazy solo runs, acrobatic scissor-kicks.
"No other player," noted Sir Matt Busby, "scores as many miracle goals as Denis. He's the quickest-thinking player I've ever seen, seconds quicker than anyone else. He has the most tremendous acceleration, can leap to enormous heights and is an impeccable passer of the ball." The current Scotland side host Norway on Saturday in Group 9 of European World Cup qualifying. Law especially enjoyed racking them up against the Norwegians; in 1963 he scored a hat-trick that could not prevent Scotland slumping to a 4-3 defeat in Bergen, then in Glasgow six months later crashed four past the Scandinavians in a 6-1 rout in Glasgow.
At Hampden on Saturday, all of Scotland will be looking to James McFadden to write another chapter in the nation's rich football history by adding to his impressive tally of 13 goals from 40 outings. "Yes, it might be James," agrees Law, "but it's the chance for each and every one of the lads to become a hero, isn't it?" Should Scotland qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals, that alone will be cause of jubilation across the land, whereas back in the 1960s, Law and his countrymen dared to dream of winning the trophy. "I'm convinced that had we qualified for the 1966 World Cup finals held in England, then we would have done very, very, very well. We had a terrific side - when they were all fit - and, of course, any game at Wembley was always a home game for us.
"But if anything, failing to qualify for the 1962 finals in Chile was an even bigger blow because - and it's only my opinion - that was the best Scotland team of all time. We lost half a team through injury leading up to the play-off against Czechoslovakia in Brussels." The Scots lost 4-2 in extra time after leading 2-1 with eight minutes remaining, while the Czechs went on to reach the World Cup final, losing 3-1 to Brazil.
Whenever Law pulled on the dark blue of Scotland he was a man possessed. As his Old Trafford team-mate, Sir Bobby Charlton, recalls of their first international confrontation in 1960: "First minute I knocked in a cross from the left touchline and I was knocked flat on my back. The ball was miles away. I thought 'you what?' and looked up to see Denis bending over me and growling, ''See you, Charlton, you blankety Sassenach. S'no Old Trafford now, izzit, eh?' About the only words I could really make out were 'Scotland' and 'England'."
Law offers no apologies for his nationalistic fervour; he may have scored 171 goals in 309 League appearances for Manchester United, 34 in 44 FA Cup ties, 28 in 33 European games, won an FA Cup winners' medal, two league titles, and been voted European Footballer of the Year in 1964, but, in his own words, "there can be no greater compliment than being asked to play for your country. I'm often asked to pick my favourite moment in football - and I was lucky because there were quite a few - but the most important would probably be my first cap as an 18-year-old when Matt Busby selected me to play against Wales in 1958."
Three years earlier, Law had looked anything but a future international in his thick National Health spectacles when Bill Shankly first laid eyes on his most recent signing for Huddersfield Town. "Ah think it's your big brother I wanted, son," he told the skinny runt of the seven-sibling Law family. Surgery improved his sight, though he always suffered from poor vision and Shankly had to coax him out of the habit of playing with one eye closed. "Denis looked like a skinned rabbit when he joined us as a 15-year-old," added Shanks, "but he was like a whippet, and like any pedigree whippet, when he got the hare he shook it to death. He had eyes in the back of his head like Tom Finney, he had guts, and ability, and determination. He possessed the lot."
Even so, few of Law's fellow Scots had heard of him when Sir Matt plucked him from the obscurity of the English second division to make a scoring debut against the Welsh. "Looking back, it's strange to think what an influential role the old man would have on my career," Law recalls. "He gave me my chance for Scotland and at some point in the game on Saturday one of the Scots' lads will be given his chance to make a name for himself. Let's pray he takes it when it comes along..."
rphilip@thenational.ae
