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 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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World Cup Wonderland : Italy, England

90: Italia – arias, stadia and Draconia

82: The most amusingly disorganised World Cup ever