With opera music and a brilliant organization in elegant stadiums, Italy hosted the 1990 World Cup, but it witnessed unprecedented artistic boredom, so West Germany won its third world title and took revenge on Argentina Maradona, following losing two finals in a row.
On the eve of choosing the host country, the Soviet Union announced a boycott of the 84 Los Angeles Olympics for political motives, losing the vote 5-11 to Italy, to have the honor of hosting a second time following 1934.
Its stadiums were the pinnacle of splendor and modernity. Ten were renovated, most notably the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the host of the final, and the San Siro in Milan, where the opening match took place.
Italy at that time had the most powerful league in the world, enjoyed a distinguished infrastructure and was broadcast in high definition for the first time, while “Nessun Dorma” by tenor Luciano Pavarotti became the soundtrack for the tournament.
However, the scoring rate was weak and amounted to 2.21 per match. In the kingdom of defensive play, 16 players were sent off and penalties decided four matches, including the two semi-finals.
Boredom led to the International Federation later preventing the goalkeepers from catching a returned ball from the defense and awarding the winning team three points instead of two. In the Egypt-Ireland match, Egypt’s goalkeeper Ahmed Schubert scored a high percentage of possession, and Ireland coach Jack Charlton said, “They did not come to play a match.”
The final between West Germany and Argentina (1-0), the first in which neither team failed to score, was decided by a late penalty kick and two players sent off for the losing team.
Italy sought to bring the rich north closer to the poor south. Ironically, in the semi-finals, she faced Argentina and its star Diego Maradona in the southern city of Naples, which put the golden boy on the world map.
Maradona called on the people of Naples to stand with him once morest Italy, “for 364 days they treat you like dirt, then they ask you to encourage them.” Despite his rule over the city, the masses stood with their people.
After breaking a record by keeping a clean sheet of 517 minutes, Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga made a mistake that allowed Claudio Caniggia to make it 1-1 before going through in a penalty shootout.
But Caniggia, the owner of long blond hair and the champion of eliminating Brazil (1-0) in the second round, missed the final due to suspension with three of his colleagues.
Italy presented the tournament’s top scorer, Salvatore Schillaci (6), despite playing only one international match before the World Cup.
“Toto” entered from the bench and gradually imposed himself, before losing his position following the World Cup: Just calling me up was great. I would have been satisfied if I sat all the time on the bench. But following the elimination with Argentina on penalties, he talked regarding his feelings: I stayed for more than two hours in the dressing rooms, smoking and crying.
In the Rome final, the only one so far between the same teams in two consecutive editions, Maradona failed to repeat the epics of 86, under the intense control of Guido Buchwald.
“I promised my daughter, Dalma, that I would bring the cup with me,” said the player, who sat crying in the center circle. As for Buchwald, he said: Minute following minute, I felt that he was resigned, as if he was saying what? You once more?
Argentines Pedro Monson and Gustavo Desutti were sent off and West Germany was the better side.
“What did he score? He awarded a penalty kick! He, awarded a penalty kick!” Words of astonishment by German commentator Gerd Rubenbauer, following Mexican referee Edgardo Codesal Mendes awarded a controversial penalty kick in favor of Rudi Fuller in the 85th minute, despite the Argentines’ objections.
Kick scorer Andreas Brehme says: Before each match, three takers were selected. Rudi Völler had a mistake, there was Lothar Matthaus, but he wasn’t feeling well. Fuller came to me and said if I score we will be world champions. Thank you very much, I replied. I will remember this.
Brehme stood up to goalkeeper Sergio Goicoechea, the winner of the round of 16 once morest Brazil and penalty shootouts in the quarter-finals and semi-finals once morest Yugoslavia and Italy, respectively.
Although he was thrown into his right corner, the ball of the left-handed player, with his right foot, hit the net.
After losing the finals 82 and 86, West Germany won a third title following 54 and 74, equaling the number of Brazil, led by Franz Beckenbauer, who became the first captain and coach to win the title. The German commentator Rubenbauer concluded, “The Kaiser has got the crown.”
It was an important moment months before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Argentina were the victims of a major upset in the opening, falling to Cameroon 0-1.
The adventure of the “Untamed Lions” did not end at this point, as they were the first African team to reach the quarter-finals, where they narrowly lost to England 2-3 following extension when they were the best party.
At the age of 38, Roger Milla scored 4 goals for her. Against Colombia in the second round (2-1), he snatched the ball from between the feet of goalkeeper Rene Iguita, who scored in the empty goal, celebrating a famous dance.
His team-mate at French Montpellier, the Colombian playmaker Carlos Valderrama, had shown him Iguita’s hoaxes with the ball: I knew that if I was fast enough I would take advantage of his mistake. And that’s what happened.
Milla was playing as an amateur on the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean: six months before the World Cup, I visited Cameroon and the president insisted that I return to the national team.
The government pressured Russian coach Valery Nepomnyacchi to call him up. He didn’t feel very fit at first: but football is not a physical game. I was always an intelligent player, so I knew that if I was ready, I would get the chance.
In the England match, Cameroon took a 2-1 lead and continued the show without stopping, but the 86’s top scorer Gary Lineker scored twice from the penalty spot: on the eve of the match, the media attended our training heavily. I deliberately took a kick that I wouldn’t take in the match if I had the chance. Indeed, the Cameroonian goalkeeper threw himself into that corner.
After overcoming Cameroon’s blocks, England fell on penalties to Germany, along with its star Paul Gascoigne, who collapsed in tears following receiving a warning that would have excluded him from the final had the “Three Lions” qualified.
The Netherlands were European champions in 1988, featuring Milan’s striking trio of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard. However, internal disputes, due to the union’s failure to bow to the players’ desire to appoint Johan Cruyff as coach, led to bad results with coach Leo Beenhacker.
The Orange lost to Germany 1-2 in the second round in Milan, and Rijkaard’s spit on German Fuller was the most prominent of the Netherlands’ exploits in this World Cup.
