The former England midfielder produced a moment of brilliance during Danny Blanchflower’s testimonial.

It turns out former Newcastle United, Rangers and Middlesbrough midfielder Paul Gascoigne is responsible for scoring one of the first ‘rabona penalties’ in football history.

Back in 1990, ‘Gazza’ was playing for Spurs in Danny Blanchflower’s testimonial game against a Northern Ireland XI when the Lilywhites were awarded a penalty.

Gascoigne, who was only 23 at the time, grabbed the ball after Paul Allen was hacked down and proceeded to fool Ireland’s shot-stopper with an unstoppable rabona – a skill move that was almost unheard of back in the early 90’s.

As you can see in the footage below, those inside White Hart Lane voiced their appreciation in unison, with cheers of “OOOOH” ringing around the 36,000 capacity stadium.

It was a moment of genius that sums up the supremely talented Gascoigne, who will go down as one of the England greats.

Judging by the reaction from social media, a fair few people have only just discovered the clip.

Six years after that testimonial goal, Gascoigne would produce some sublime performances at Euro 96.

In fact, a compilation of his performances at the tournament have been doing the rounds of late as England feature at this summer’s European Championship in Germany.

The former Spurs midfielder scored that wondergoal against Scotland and then performed the now-iconic dentist’s chair celebration.

England made it all the way to the semi-finals that summer while ‘Gazza’ made everything look way too easy.

Image credit: Getty

Gascoigne was also a character off the pitch, and a story involving Diego Maradona sums him up to a tee.

He signed for Lazio in 1992 – a year after Maradona left Napoli – but much to the surprise of Gazza, the pair bumped into each other later on.

“At a charity game, I remember I wanted a lighter and I’d seen a little fella outside with a hat on and a big long cigar,” Gascoigne said on Good Morning Britain.

“I just went up from behind him and said: ‘Can I borrow your lighter please?’ And he turned round, it was Diego – so I started laughing. I shared a bit of cigar with him and we clicked then, you know?”

What’s your favourite Gascoigne moment? Let us know in the comments.