As World Cups go, it’s a tough act to follow…
Italia ’90? So what’s a beach doing here, I hear you ask. Would I rather be there than at Wembley on Sunday? Well, that’s another story. This is a snapshot from the stunning region of Calabria, but what’s also beautiful are the memories of another Italian gem, that iconic World Cup from 31 years ago.
Euro 2020 has been one to savour, but 1990 has gone down, for our money, as the best international tournament ever staged. It had everything: Roger Milla’s corner flag celebration aligned Cameroon’s status as the surprise package; Gazza’s tears captured the emotion of one of the best semi-finals you’re likely to see; Jack Charlton‘s Republic of Ireland did a nation proud and rubbed shoulders with Pope John Paul II en route to the quarters. Heck, even the exceedingly dull final was sweetened by Diego Maradona‘s tears in defeat.
And there were some pretty spectacular goals to boot. These Euros have been wonderful to watch, but it’s a case of “close but no cigar”, as they say. Now, some critics like to lament 1990 because the football played, technically speaking, wasn’t all that great. Good. Witness South Africa 2010, where Spain passed the opposition to death before landing the ultimate prize. Tiki-taka? Give me a fumbled backpass from Colombian keeper Rene Higuita, with all the ensuing chaos, any day of the week. Like the tournament itself, the football was soulless, almost lacking in human qualities. Robotic, you might say, and who wants to watch robots?
The thing is, the World Cup needs more than just the play. It needs a fairytale, a backstory, some kind of magicdust. It’s what draws in people who aren’t otherwise fans of the beautiful game, in much the same way that the Grand National lures those who know nothing about horseracing to have a flutter, year in year out. Italia ’90 had the X-factor in abundance, in much the same way the Euros have this year, providing a headline writer’s dream. Yes, the Christian Eriksen incident was unfortunate, but what a story that unfolded.
In a nutshell, newsworthy stuff without a ball having to be kicked. Maybe it’s no coincidence that in both years, the best third-placed teams qualified for the knockout phase, and Scotland took part (okay, maybe that last point’s stretching it a little). What probably puts 1990 in a class apart though, is the fact that it was the final curtain call for football before the game changed forever. Sky Sports, transfers in the multi-millions, and the Champions League were all waiting in the wings to end its age of innocence.
And although football could be coming home, Italia ’90 can lay claim to an awesome song of its own that was the theme to an awesome tournament – Nessun Dorma. This even topped New Order‘ s World in Motion. Seriously, beaches aside, does it get any better than that? Let us know.
The Early Whistle 
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