For his final Observer report, our stalwart writer offers his reflections on decades covering a sport rich in drama and spectacle but that now stands at a crossroadsThe car was a cross between a Lada and a Trabant, a cut-and-shut probably. It was parked in a taxi rank outside the one hotel in Bucharest that had any swank or alcohol. It was 1994 and the following day Wales were playing Romania as punishment for making an early exit from the World Cup three years before.