World Cup Wonderland : Italy

94: Aggro, anger & antics in America

FourFourTwo Team — Fri, 28 May 2010 07:55:00 GMT

Maybe it was the heat. But 1994 was a year for rag-losing, nut-doing and violent meltdowns…

Maradona’s potty celebrations –  and doping shame
The Argentine demigod really was a very naughty boy throughout his playing days, but his nadir surely came at USA 94. It looked like he’d recaptured some old magic when he scored against Greece in the opening game, only for the world to collectively ponder “What’s he on?!” after witnessing his celebratory boggle-eyed yelling into the camera.

We soon found out: he was on five different sorts of the stimulant ephedrine. Maradona was disqualified, later arguing that his failed doping test was the result of his trainer giving him the wrong sort of energy drink. Cheat or not, it was a sad end to a truly great World Cup career.

Leonardo gives Ramos the elbow
Brazilian left-back Leonardo didn’t take kindly to fleet-footed American winger Tab Ramos attempting to bamboozle him with a back-heel: he twisted and delivered a vicious elbow into the side of Ramos’ face, fracturing his cheekbone.

As his victim flopped on the floor like a fish out of water, the ref steamed in with a red card and everyone else enjoyed a mini-festival of referee-surrounding and Latin gesturing. Ramos spent three months in hospital; Leonardo was banned for four World Cup games and later apologised to Ramos, claiming it had been “an accident”.

Tassotti elbows Luis Enrique
Another shocker: Spanish forward Enrique lost more than a pint of blood after getting on the wrong end of Italian defender Mauro Tassotti’s elbow. The foul went unpunished during the game despite Enrique’s wild protestations.

The Italian eventually received a retrospective eight-game ban, but the Spaniard held a grudge for much longer than that: in 2008 he called for his nation to ‘take revenge’ for him on Italy. “I would love it,” he said, “and Spain has the advantage this time, because Tassotti is not playing!” Indeed.

Etcheverry off in four minutes
What do you expect from a man nicknamed ‘El Diablo’? Sickeningly violent mayhem, that’s what, and Marco Etcheverry delivered just that in the opening game of USA 94 at Soldier Field. Returning from injury, the man regarded as Bolivia’s best-ever player came on with 11 minutes left on the clock and his side trailing 1-0.

Immediately enraged by a shove from Lothar Matthaus, he kicked out at the German and was dismissed. “I’m sorry for Bolivia,” he said afterwards. “If I did kick him, it’s part of the game.” The side finished bottom of their group, and Etcheverry later gained a reputation for aggro at DC United, as he hacked and butted his way through the MLS.

Whack! Lothar gets the devil from behind

Effenberg gives fans the finger
It’s not just Barry Ferguson who gets himself into trouble with childish hand gestures. Stefan Effenberg was caught out ‘flicking the bird’ to German fans after being subbed in their game against South Korea.

His side had let a three-goal lead slip to 3-2, and manager Bertie Vogts replaced Effenberg with Thomas Helmer. Barracked by some supporters as he trudged along the sidelines, Effenberg lost the plot and replied with a middle-fingered salute. His reward was a ticket home, and Vogts responded by saying: “for as long as I’m coaching the team, he will not play for Germany again.”

'Psycho' Zola gets short shrift
Gianfranco Zola only ever played one World Cup game in his career: the second round of USA 94 against Nigeria, in which he was sent off after just a few minutes for, well, nothing much at all – the official completely misjudged an ordinary tackle.

“My thoughts were all directed to the referee, and they weren’t very nice thoughts, actually,” the unlikely hatchet-man told FourFourTwo about his reaction. Zola was banned for the next two games, dropped for the final and retired from international football just before the 1998 tournament. A shame.

Divine miss, Ross
Oprah Winfrey was the compere and US President Bill Clinton was in attendance (vice-president Al Gore was at the closing ceremony), but the opening ceremony at Chicago’s Soldier Field will forever be remembered for one guest: Diana Ross, who missed an open goal from two yards out.

At the end of her performance, the Motown legend, resplendent in what appeared to be a bright red shell suit, was supposed to slam home a penalty but hooked her shot wide. The goal was supposed to split in half as ball went in, and did so anyway, despite the spooned sitter. While an audience of billions laughed, an embarrassed Ross turned the colour of her scarlet two-piece.

Prepare to Di...

Coke scandal hits World Cup, offends millions
McDonald’s and Coca-Cola had a cunning plan: to print the flags of all the participating nations on their products. But it backfired when Saudi Arabia complained that printing their flag – which features the Islamic declaration of faith – on disposable bags and drinks cans was an insult to all Muslims. The offending products were quickly and quietly discontinued.

No pay, no play
Cameroon’s bid for World Cup glory was thrown into disarray when, two days before their group match against Brazil, the Indomitable Lions players refused to continue in the tournament unless they were paid what was promised by the Cameroonian FA. Despite receiving their match fees in a suitcase packed with $450,000, the players hardly appeared inspired – they went on to lose 3-0 to Brazil and 6-1 to Russia.

Much Aldo about one-nothing
With the Republic of Ireland a goal down to Mexico in their crucial group match, manager Jack Charlton was keen to introduce mustachioed frontman John Aldridge into the fray. He was foiled, however, by over-officious FIFA goon Mustafa Fahmy, who refused to allow the striker on leading to a red-faced shouty exchange with Charlton and Aldridge.

After a six-minute wrangle, Aldo finally trotted onto the pitch, barely breaking stride to flick a few victory signs in Fahmy’s direction, before scoring the goal that secured the Republic’s place in the second round.

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94: The biggest shock & best game

Nick Moore — Thu, 27 May 2010 10:00:00 GMT

Biggest Shock: Italy 0 Republic of Ireland 1, Group E

Neither the Irish nor the Italian camps were particularly harmonious going into their first World Cup fixture, in New York.

Arrigo Sacchi might have conquered all before him at Milan but he had rubbed the national team up the wrong way with his constant tinkering: he’d used 53 players in 77 games as coach and had annoyed many of his key men – including Roberto Baggio – by fielding them out of position and rigorously imposing his tactical systems.

The Irish party, meanwhile, were at loggerheads. There were headlines about a training camp bust-up, forcing the key protagonists, Roy Keane and coach Maurice Setters, to call a press conference and insist that everything was just dandy, honest.

Behind the scenes, though, it was tense. Keane revealed in his autobiography that the players constantly despaired about the FAI’s disorganisation, the quality of flights, hotel rooms, and preparation. “Training was crap,” he recalls. “They ran the b*ll*cks off us. The theory was we’d get used to being knackered. The climate didn’t favour kick and run. But we had a large supply of water, so ‘drink and run’ was our game plan.”

Despite these gripes, the underdogs did enjoy one advantage as they stepped into the Giants Stadium’s cauldron of heat: the crowd. With New York’s Italian community outnumbering its Irish one, a 50-50 fan split was expected. On the day, however, it was estimated that two-thirds of the 75,000 crowd wore green: wall-to-wall tricolors made it virtually a home game for Ireland.

Ireland fans enjoyed themselves - even if Roy Keane didn't...

The match started cautiously. Italy boasted Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini at the back, Dino Baggio and Roberto Donadoni in midfield and Roberto Baggio up front, but seemed sluggish.

Then suddenly the Irish produced a goal from nowhere. A long punt into the penalty area was headed weakly by Baresi. It dropped to Ray Houghton on the edge of the area, who controlled neatly on his chest, strode forward and swung a foot. Italian keeper Pagliuca was caught off his line: the slightly miscued shot arced over his head into net. Houghton celebrated with a barmy somersault as the Celt-packed terraces went ballistic.

Q&A: Ray Houghton – "Suits? Ireland didn't have suits!"

Shell-shocked Italy played poorly for the rest of the half, but finally took control of proceedings after the break. The Irish resisted the pressure well, however: Packie Bonner pulled off a couple of crucial saves, Paul McGrath was a defensive colossus and the Irish out-battled their opponents across the pitch.

With 15 minutes to go, Italy had run out of ideas and energy. John Sheridan almost added a second, hitting the bar.

The crowd celebrated as if they’d won the World Cup itself. Big Jack – who’d got them to the quarters in Italy four years earlier – had worked a miracle again.

“For a country the size of Ireland to beat Italy, well it doesn’t happen very often, does it?” he said afterwards, comparing the moment with winning the trophy in 1966. “It was very special and probably surpasses all my playing achievements in terms of emotion.”

Houghton and Terry Phelan enjoyed themselves - even if Roy Keane didn't...

But while Italy were bound for the final, it was as good as it would get for the Irish. The in-camp bickering – and Charlton’s arguments with the Irish press – continued unabated. The ‘drink and run’ tactics wilted against Mexico in 110-degree heat (they lost 2-1) and the game against Norway was a 0-0 shocker. Ireland qualified on goal difference, but were dismantled by a classy Holland side in the second round.

“We were outplayed and outpassed,” grumbled Roy Keane. “Charlton’s plans were exposed. The tournament I’d dreamed of since I was a kid was a bloody nightmare.” But while moody Keano may not have enjoyed himself, at least Ireland’s fans made the most of their day out in the Big Apple.

Best Game: Romania 3 Argentina 2, second round

The build-up to the game centred around one man: Diego Maradona.

Shorn of their totemic leader following his positive drug test for ephedrine, Argentina were being questioned – specifically their ability to mount a meaningful challenge.

Romania, conversely, were building momentum after topping a group that included the heavily-fancied Colombians and the hosts, USA. One team looking back regretfully, the other optimistic: the recipe, it would turn out, for a thrilling exhibition of free-flowing attacking football. All this while Maradona watched on from the stands, his role in the drama reduced from star turn to jittery extra.

And it only took 11 minutes for Argentinian nerves to be set jangling as Romanian striker Ilie Dumitrescu swung in a free-kick from the far side which sailed over the hapless Albicelestes keeper Luis Islas and straight into the net.

Romania enjoyed themselves - even if Roy Keane didn't...

Argentina were going to need some luck if they were to get back into the match without their talisman.

Luck was exactly what they got five minutes later when they were awarded a dubious penalty after Gabriel Batistuta ran into Daniel Prodan in the box. Batigol placed the ball on the spot and smashed it low and hard to bring the score level.

Argentine celebrations and Romanian indignation didn’t last long, though. Two minutes later, some neat interplay at the back released Gheorghe Hagi down the left and he exchanged passes with Dumitrescu, before the soon-to-be-Tottenham player slid in a delicate shot inside Islas’ near post.

The goal epitomised the team: a combination of pace and grace, orchestrated by Hagi’s magical left foot.

Argentina were clinging on. A series of fine saves from Islas kept it at 2-1 until the 58th minute, when Basualdo lost the ball to Dumitrescu, who ran the length of the pitch before playing in Hagi to make it 3-1.

While a late Abel Balbo strike gave the South Americans hope, it wasn’t enough. Argentina were out, and their disgraced star had been upstaged by his Eastern European understudy Gheorghe Hagi – ‘The Maradona of the Carpathians’.

Best Game words by Hitesh Ratna

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90: Italia – arias, stadia and Draconia

FourFourTwo Team — Sat, 22 May 2010 09:00:00 GMT

Italia 90 was hardly a festival of flowing football – but, writes Chris Hunt, it changed the way we watch the game

In many ways the 1990 World Cup failed to live up to the hype. The football was often dour and negative, while the final itself was an unattractive display of foul play that was overshadowed by two red cards and settled by the most dubious of penalties.

But while not a tournament for the purists, somehow Italia 90 contained enough moments of high drama to capture the imagination, enshrining operatic aria Nessun Dorma in the football psyche. Legends were created out of players such as Totò Schillaci, Paul Gascoigne and Roger Milla, while the 52 matches reached a combined TV audience of 26 billion – twice the viewing figures achieved by Mexico 86.

Italy had been awarded the right to host the World Cup while still champions in May 1984, beating off the challenge of the Soviet Union, and on the eve of the tournament the Azzurri were favourites to lift the cup. Able to boast the most competitive league on the planet, Italian club sides had managed a complete sweep of European trophies a month earlier, and nothing less than victory was expected of the hosts.

The thrilling Dutch side of Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten arrived in Italy as European champions, but unsettled by internal strife they would prove the biggest disappointments. While the pragmatic Brazilians of 1990 were hardly the beautiful team of years gone by, the West Germans managed to conform to their own stereotype of quiet efficiency and seemed a good bet.

England, meanwhile, had qualified without conceding a single goal, but still managed to finish second in their group, having to qualify as one of the best runners-up. France weren't so lucky: semi-finalists in 1982 and 1986, they missed out completely under young coach Michel Platini.

No expense was spared in the build up, as the Italians embarked on a major overhaul of their football infrastructure, but the planning for Italia 90 was dogged by corruption and controversy. Ten existing stadia were completely renovated, while two more were constructed from scratch in Bari and Turin, both of which were far too big for the clubs that would occupy them after the competition.

The opening game, in a refurbished San Siro

In Rome a new metro line was built just for the World Cup, connecting the city centre to the Olympic Stadium, but the line closed after the tournament and has never re-opened. The Italian state spent public money freely on their program of regeneration, but the scale of the corruption would later be exposed in one of the largest judicial investigations in Italian history.

The format of the competition remained the same, with 24 teams competing in six groups of four, the top two teams and the four best third-placed sides progressing to a knockout second round. In an attempt to improve the quality of the football, FIFA tinkered with the laws of the game and, with very little planning, outlawed the ‘Professional Foul’.

Strict instructions were given to referees to issue draconian sanctions for foul play, and the tournament’s opening game – a shock defeat of world champions Argentina by outsiders Cameroon – saw the first two of a stream of red cards. It set the tone for Italia 90. By the end of the tournament, 16 players had been sent-off – double the highest number previously seen in a World Cup.

Chris Hunt is the author of 'World Cup Stories: The History Of The FIFA World Cup' (Interact Publishing).

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82: The original and harshest Group Of Death

Paul Simpson — Thu, 13 May 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The holders, the triple champions and the eventual winners: now that, says FFT.com's Professor Champions League, is a proper Group of Death...

“It smells of sh*t in here,” said some of the Italian players as they opened a window in their dressing room after defeating Brazil 3-2 in one of the greatest World Cup games ever. It was an unusual way to celebrate but then, for the Azurri, it had been an unusual World Cup.

The media coverage had been so unremittingly awful – one Italian paper even accused Paolo Rossi and Antonio Cabrini of “living like man and wife” – they banned the press. After they had drawn their second game with Peru 1-1, Antonio Matarrese, president of the Italian league, had declared: “This team is a disgrace. I wanted to go down to the dressing room and kick them in the backside.”

Seventeen days later, after Italy had stunned the tournament's glory-boys, Matarrese did go down to the dressing room – not to kick backsides, but in search of a photo opportunities. Midfielder Marco Tardelli recalled: “Several of the less urbane members of the squad opened a window, shouting ‘It really smells of sh*t in here’.”

Matarrese was lucky. As Bearzot told FFT: “One journalist came down to congratulate us and some of the players actually went for him, they were so furious.”

Group C in the second round of the 1982 World Cup was the definitive Group of Death. It contained just three teams: Argentina, the reigning world champions; Brazil, the country that had won the World Cup most often; and Italy, who would win their third World Cup that summer.

Unlike modern first-round groups, only one team would go through, and there were no easy opponents. At all. Compared to this fatal combination of teams, every other so-called Group of Death looks, at worst, like a Group of Mild Discomfort.

THE FLAIRY GODFATHERS

With Italy stumbling into Group C on goal difference after three draws, the two in-form teams from South America were expected to fight for the place in the semi-finals. Brazil were almost ludicrously gifted, especially in midfield where Cerezo, Elder, Falcao, Socrates and Zico were sublime.

Under coach Tele Santana, they had abandoned Claudio Coutinho’s disastrous attempt to combine Brazilian flair and European defensive rigour and reverted to jogo bonito (Portuguese for 'beautiful play'), scoring 10 goals in their opening group games.

Zico (No.10) bags the first of four against New Zealand

As for Argentina, they had won the tournament in 1978 and added the world’s best player, Diego Maradona, to their squad – so how could they fail? Yet Cesar Luis Menotti’s men had lost their opening match to Belgium.

The day after that 1-0 defeat, the Falklands War ended and Ossie Ardiles, whose cousin was killed during the conflict, believes the shock of realising the junta’s talk of glorious victory was all lies demoralised the squad. Jorge Valdano, one of the younger players, called the Falklands effect “b*ll*cks”. The real problem, he said, was that the squad never gelled, fracturing into two camps: the veterans of 1978 and the youngsters.

Worse still, neither Menotti or his players had any conception of how much ruthless effort opponents would dedicate to neutralising Maradona – or the vaguest idea about how to overcome this. When Argentina and Italy kicked off Group C on June 29 in the compact Siarra stadium in Barcelona, Claudio Gentile’s suffocation of Maradona probably decided the match.

GRINDING TO VICTORY

Bearzot’s Italy are often dismissed as a team that ground their way to victory in 1982. Sergio di Cesare, the head of the Italian FA’s international relations and a former Gazzetta Dello Sport chief, begs to differ. “Bearzot was impressed by the way Bobby Moore and Franz Beckenbauer interpreted the role of libero, quickly becoming midfielders when their teams had the ball. And he made Gaetano Scirea Italy’s Beckenbauer.”

In Bearzot’s 3-5-2, it was much easier for Scirea and left-back Antonio Cabrini to attack. The key, Di Cesare says, was “the energy Italy saved by making the ball do the running, moving it accurately and vertically.”

Solid in defence, especially with Dino Zoff in goal, Italy looked for creativity to the underrated trequartista Giancarlo Antognoni. “At the start of the 1981/82 season, he’d been in a coma for two days after a clash with a goalkeeper,” says Di Cesare, “and he didn’t train very well. But he was a pillar of the team, with his intelligence, long vertical passes and understanding of football geometry.”

Unfancied but determined: Italy's 1982 side

Upfront, Bearzot could only rely on Rossi, the Juventus striker rusty after a ban for involvement in a betting scandal. The coach picked Rossi with mixed feelings: “He had been very good alongside Roberto Bettega in 1978, but Bettega wasn’t there anymore. Rossi was the only one left.

"I can honestly say that if I’d had another alternative I wouldn’t have called him up. It was a huge risk gambling on him being able to get into the rhythm of such a demanding tournament and on his desire to make up for past mistakes. But I needed a goalscorer, someone to poach goals in the box in a way that suited the style of play I wanted. If I didn’t take him, I wouldn’t have anyone capable of causing trouble in the area.”

ARGENTINE SURRENDER

In the second of Italy's three first-round group games, a 1-1 draw against Peru, Rossi had been too sick to carry on: “In my legs, my eyes, there was no rhythm,” he admitted. Still smarting from Bearzot’s punishing pre-tournament training, he also looked sluggish against Argentina.

He should have scored Italy’s second. Clean through, he shot straight at keeper Ubaldo Fillol and was lucky that, after some ineffective defending, the rebound eventually became a chance for Cabrini, whose shot found the far corner.

Italy’s fluent first goal had shown how they made the ball do the running. Cabrini cleared to Rossi, just inside the Italian half near the centre-circle. He passed it quickly to Bruno Conti who hit a long diagonal pass which Tardelli left for Antognoni just in front of the penalty area. Looking casual but thinking quickly, Antognoni stroked the ball to his left for Tardelli to score.

With seven minutes left, Daniel Passarella beat Zoff from a free-kick while the Italians were still organising the wall, but it was too little, too late. The reigning world champions had to beat Brazil to survive.

A crude foul on Serginho gave Brazil the lead against Menotti’s team after 11 minutes when Eder smacked the ball against the bar from the free-kick and Zico thumped in the rebound. Gradually, the Brazilian midfield began to dominate and two superb Zico passes settled the match. On 66 minutes, he released Falcao on the right to cross for Serginho to head the second; nine minutes later, he looked as if he was about to be closed down by two Argentines but somehow threaded a precise, diagonal pass to Junior who made it 3-0.

"Oops, sorry old chap." "No, not at all."

Striker Ramon Diaz grabbed a late consolation but Argentina made their biggest impact with two nasty fouls: one by Passarella (which should have earned a red card) and one by Maradona (which did) on defender Batista. It is a mark of Argentina’s impotence that he later admitted he had kicked the wrong player.

THE 1970 REMATCH

With the holders out, the stage was set for a rematch of the 1970 final. The Brazilians were supremely confident, defender Oscar declaring: “We’ll win 1-0 and I’ll score.” But to win 1-0, Santana’s team would need to keep a clean sheet, something they had only managed against a New Zealand team more interested in swapping shirts than playing football.

Brazil didn’t need to win but didn’t have it in them to play for a draw. At times, they lined up as a 2-7-1. That mentality would help pave the way for a result that many Brazilians call the “disaster of Sarria” – and the rest of the world remembers as the greatest World Cup game ever.

The first hint that disaster and greatness might be on the cards came after five minutes. Conti was allowed to run 40 yards with the ball and release Cabrini who curled a reasonable cross into the area. Rossi didn’t have to do anything especially clever to lose his marker; he ran towards the ball and didn’t even have to jump to head his first goal of the finals.

The goal stung Zico and Socrates into life. A beautiful pass by Zico (marked, not all that effectively, by Gentile) took out three Italian defenders and Socrates finished superbly with a low shot from a tight angle. But just when Brazil seemed back in control, Cerezo knocked a square pass roughly in Junior’s direction. Rossi pounced and hit a screamer past keeper Valdir Peres. Junior looked across, noticed Cerezo was crying and told his bereft teammate: “If you don’t stop crying, I’m going to smack you in the face.”

Cerezo – along with, rumour has it, full-back Leandro – was distraught at half-time but he made up for his blunder in the 68th minute with a superb dummy run that created the space for Falcao to equalise with a shot that beat the superbly positioned Zoff through sheer power. Falcao celebrated like a man who thought he was already in the semi-final. But seven minutes later, a Tardelli shot from a corner found Rossi, unmarked again six yards from goal, and he completed his hat-trick. At that moment in Rio, a 20-year-old fan shot himself dead.

Boink: Rossi makes it 3-2

Rossi dominated the headlines – his comeback was so perfect, Hollywood couldn’t have scripted it better – but Antognoni rivalled Zico as the best player on the pitch, engineering many of Italy’s counterattacks, creating a chance for Cabrini to score and having a goal disallowed.

THE AFTERMATH

For Zico, defeat marked the beginning of an era of “playing for the win, whatever the cost”. Bearzot has a different take on this match: “The game with Argentina was tranquil. The one with Brazil was exalted. But even there was some mean-spirited talk. Our third goal was scored after a corner with all the Brazilians in the area. I repeat: all the Brazilians in the area. Yet we were still accused of playing counter-attacking football.”

In the Brazil dressing room, many were desolated, some players wept. Santana quietly told them: “We gave it our best shot.” Bearzot’s Azzurri went on to dispose of Poland and West Germany but, as he told FFT: “I already felt like we were champions of the world after the Brazil game.”

Q&A Socrates on '82: "In the World Cup, merit doesn't count"

Santana’s Brazil are routinely described as the greatest team never to win the World Cup. In truth, they were the greatest midfield never to win a World Cup. They had a butter-fingered keeper and a leaky defence that left Rossi free in space for two goals.

Then there was third-choice striker Serginho who, though not the donkey some have claimed, could be so clumsy that even Santana said once, after substituting him in one game: “Now the ball is round again.” The idea that Brazil should have won the World Cup because they had the likes of Zico, Falcao, Socrates, Eder in their side smacks of the galacticism that led Real Madrid so spectacularly astray.

People still come up to Rossi in the street. “Often they want to talk about their experiences, where they watched the game,” he told FFT. “It’s nice to feel you’re a small part of people’s history, a little reference point.”

He certainly became a reference point in Brazil, Santana, pelted with rotting fruit at Rio airport, showed true grace under fire by praising the striker’s genius. Later that summer, when a flu epidemic swept through Brazil it was quickly dubbed “Rossi flu”.

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82: The most amusingly disorganised World Cup ever

FourFourTwo Team — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:57:00 GMT

The 12th edition of the global game's get-together had more than its share of oopsies…

THE DRAW SPECIALISTS
Somebody had clearly been at the Rioja in Madrid before the World Cup draw. In a farcical series of events, the balls representing Peru and Chile were left out the draw completely, Scotland were put into the pot meant for Argentina and the cage containing the balls jammed, with one even falling out and splitting in half. Chaos ensued. Four years later, three young Mexican boys did a far better job.

NEW BALLS PLEASE
Adidas introduced a new ball, the Tango Espana. Although undeniably a delight to look at, its reputed "technological advances" backfired somewhat. The new rubber inlaid seams tore easily, leading to what could only be described as exploding balls. Genuine leather orbs were never used in the World Cup again.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
The second round ‘Group of Death’ – involving Italy, Brazil and Argentina – was played out at Espanyol’s 43,000-capacity Estadio Sarria with fans clamouring desperately for tickets. Meanwhile, the lesser lights of Poland, Belgium and the Soviet Union rattled round in a half-filled Nou Camp – capacity 121,749. The Belgium–USSR game only drew a pitiful 45,000.

SILENCE PLEASE
The media fell foul of the Italy team after a series of unfounded rumours spread in the gutter press. One slur suggested that star striker Paolo Rossi and left-back Antonio Cabrini were having an affair, another claimed that the players have been seen "shooting up drugs". The squad decided on a media blackout – silenzio stampa – and the resulting siege mentality didn’t do their football much harm.

STROPS: PRODUCTIVE
Nobody emerged well from the Kuwait vs France game, but ref Myroslav Stupar had a particular shocker. After the Ukrainian awarded a controversial goal to the French, Kuwaiti FA president Sheikh Fahid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah stormed onto the pitch in protest. The pressure he exerted – along with the Kuwaiti team’s 15-minute refusal to continue playing – led to Stupar overruling the strike. He lost his international refereeing credentials as a result.

"Right, lads - one out, all out"

DID YOU KNOW?
* Scotland made their fifth World Cup appearance without advancing beyond the first round. It wouldn't be their last.

* Algeria became the first African side to defeat European opposition in World Cup history, after beating West Germany 2-1.

* This was the first (and only) World Cup where national anthems were played on record, rather than by a live band.

* A record 109 teams entered the initial qualifying phase of the tournament. This dropped to 105 after the withdrawal of Ghana, Iran, Libya and Uganda.

* Argentina and England entered the World Cup in a state of armed conflict over the Falkland Islands. The Argentine military junta was under immense pressure and had invaded the Malvinas in a bid to regain popularity. "Perhaps our trip to Spain should have been cancelled," pondered Mario Kempes after the tournament.

* Italian defender Claudio Gentile was nicknamed Gadaffi because he was born in Libya. "He was like a hunting dog," says Mario Kempes about the ferocious man-marker. "If you went to the toilet, he’d follow you there."

* Germany complained that their travel schedule gave them a disadvantage in the final. Hampered by an airport staff strike (imagine that) after their semi-final against France went to extra-time and penalties, they didn’t fly out of Seville until 4am. "We had one chance in the final after missing a night’s sleep," said Paul Breitner. "To score first and then defend."

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