Gary Lineker was back in familiar territory on Saturday night as he returned to free-to-air TV and even kicked off his ITV appearance with a brief cameo as a presenter.
Lineker, who presented BBC’s Match of the Day for 26 years until he departed the corporation last May, was revealed on Friday as a pundit for ITV’s World Cup coverage of Germany against Côte d’Ivoire in Group E.
However, Lineker started his appearance on ITV with a typically light-hearted moment after he started to present the show before Laura Woods interjected in comical fashion. “Thank you very much for joining us on ITV for this one. Another day, another game, another channel,” he started before being cut off by Woods, who added: “Gary, that’s my job!” Lineker replied: “Sorry, sorry. Old habits!”
ITV took a look back on Lineker’s own World Cup history before coverage turned to Germany’s match with Côte d’Ivoire and the former England forward reflected on winning the Golden Boot in 1986 and being involved in the Hand of God game against Argentina.
The former BBC host was also asked about Harry Kane drawing level with his record World Cup tally of 10 goals for England after the captain scored a double against Croatia on Wednesday. “I am not a violent man, but I did kick the door down! No, I was genuinely pleased for Harry. Obviously it’s taken him an extra World Cup to do it and there is quite a lot of penalties in there, but we’ll give him that,” Lineker said with a smirk.
“In all seriousness, Harry is a way better all-round No 9 than I was. I was very much a penalty box player and Harry does it all, doesn’t he? He drops back, his passing range is fabulous and I think he is our best ever No 9.”
Lineker could not resist a slight dig at his old employer after the BBC was questioned over being based in Salford for the World Cup, especially given ITV’s eye-catching studio backdrop in New York, across Brooklyn Bridge and the East River to Manhattan. “I have been doing a show daily for Netflix, we’re in Times Square, but I did desperately want to come and see your set,” Lineker said. “I think it’s absolutely amazing and I can confirm that it is real. What a backdrop.”
The light-hearted nature of Lineker’s appearance continued when Woods allowed the 65-year-old to take the show into the break, but the veteran anchor did praise the “fabulous job” of the presenter before focus turned to the World Cup action.
