Italy hosted the 1990 World Cup as an undisputed football superpower. It was the first European country to host a World Cup for the second time. To clarify what kind of domination Serie A had established we can look at the European Cups of the season that had just ended: Milan won their second European Cup in a row, Juventus won the UEFA Cup beating Fiorentina in the final while Sampdoria raised the Cup Winners' Cup. We aren't talking about anomolous wins: in the following decade many other European trophies were conquered by Italian teams. The Nazionale were supposed to continue that winning spree and they had the players to do so. Many of today's Serie A stadia are the result of pre-Italy '90 organisational efforts. The San Siro in Milan and the Olimpico in Rome were covered and modernised as were the stadiums in Bologna, Naples, Cagliari, Palermo, Florence, Udine, Verona and Genoa. Bari's stadium San Nicola was brand new, and another stadium built for the World Cup was the Delle Alpi in Turin, which was recently demolished to make room to the new Juventus Stadium.

Italy '90 was the most defensive and the lowest scoring World Cup in history. An unfortunate record was set: a goal-average of 2,21, the lowest ever. The boredom of that edition rang alarm bells: two years later FIFA introduced the backpass rule to the goalkeeper; it was a recurring tactic to slow down and delay the game. The most pleasant surprise of the tournament was Cameroon, who reached the quarter finals: the first time for an African team. Milla, N'Kono, Omam Biyik et al beat the defending champions, Argentina, in the tournament opener; they also beat Romania and Colombia. Compared with Mexico '86 the Italian side had experienced an extreme renovation. The former coach of the Under 21 team Azeglio Vicini promoted rising stars like Roberto Baggio, Paolo Maldini, Ciro Ferrara and Nicola Berti, who flanked well-known talents like Gianluca Vialli, Walter Zenga and Giuseppe Giannini. Italy had another ace in the hole: Totò Schillaci, a mostly unknown player, even in Italy, who in the end was the topscorer of the World Cup!

Italy's dream was interrupted by Argentina in an emotional semifinal. Italy lost after an apparently unstoppable ride: three wins out of three in the Group stage, 2-0 at Uruguay in the Round of 16 and 1-0 at Ireland in the quarter finals. No defeats, zero goals conceded. With 518 minutes without conceding a goal Walter Zenga established the record in a single edition. But he made a mistake: a misjudged sortie allowed Caniggia to equalise. The game ended on penalty kicks, when Maradona and his team-mates won. The location added even more spice to a very important match for Italy. The semifinal was played in Naples, where Maradona was adored. The Argentinian number 10 knew it perfectly and on the eve of the match he psyched up his “people” with statements such as: “Italy always ignores you, and now they demand your support for the National team”. In fact, a portion of the stadium supported Argentina. Something that triggered harsh debates in the following weeks and months. The other seminal also was decided on penalty kicks: West Germany defeated one of the strongest England ever with aces like Gary Lineker, Paul Gascoigne and David Platt. That game gave Lineker the prompt for one of his most famous statements: “Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win”. Argentina was about to test such a truth.

 

West Germany-Argentina was the same final as Mexico '86: the first “double” ever. But the 1990 chapter was immeasurably less entertaining with the Albiceleste losing 1-0. The winner was scored by Andreas Brehme with a perfectly taken penalty, that the Mexican referee Codesal helpfully whistled. After the Berlin wall fell, Germany was de facto unified, but still not officially. Italia '90 was the last World Cup with a West German side. That win was a good auspice for a nation that was definitively leaving behind a gloomy past.

Salvatore “Totò” Schillaci, 1964, 16 caps and 7 goals for Italy. Totò Schillaci, wide-eyed, running like a man possessed after a goal at Italy '90. For many Italians, this is still the iconic moment of that World Cup. The top goalscorer of the Italian edition was a short Sicilian forward, agile and opportunistic, with one Serie A season under his belt: 15 goals in 30 appereances with Juventus. That was his best result in a single season. Schillaci reached Serie A at his 25, he cut his teeth at the Sicilian side Messina. His best season with the red-and-yellow club was his last one, when he scored 23 goals 35 games in Serie B. His coach was Zdenek Zeman. Schillaci's daydream started in the first game against Austria; he entered from the bench taking Carnevale's place and, four minutes later, he scored the winner with a rare header. Apart from the game with the USA (decided by Giannini), Totò found the net in every match of Italy '90. Many Italians knew Schillaci for the first time during the “Notti Magiche” (magic nights) of the World Cup. Unfortunately his trajectory declined with the same speed it reared up. After a good debut season, Schillaci only scored 11 goals in the following two campaigns at Juventus. In 1992 he tried to restart at Inter but many small injuries – and a lack of continuity – brought more failure: once again, 11 goals in two seasons. Schillaci passed the last years of his career in Japan, at Jubilo Iwata. No easy retirement for Schillaci, he knuckled down for six years scoring 56 goals in 78 appearances. Those unbelievable weeks in 1990 can be summarised with Schillaci's words: "In a footballer's life there are periods when everything he does is a success. If you breath, you score. For me such a state of grace coincided with a World Cup. Someone in heaven, decided that Totò Schillaci had to become Italy' 90's hero. It's a pity that, whoever he was, he was distracted in the semifinal we played against Argentina".

 

Andreas Brehme, 1960, 86 caps and 8 goals for Germany. World Champion in 1990. The man of the match of the 1990 World Cup final was Inter's left-back. The German Andreas Brehme arrived in Milan for the season of “lo Scudetto dei Record” (no one scored 58 points in the two-points-per-win era) and his assists were crucial for that success. Along with Matthaus and Klinsmann, Brehme was the third representative of “l'Inter dei tedeschi” (the German Inter) that antagonised the “Dutch-Milan” of Van Basten, Rjikaard and Gullit. That team raised many trophies: the 1989 Italian title, the Italian Supercup and the 1990-91 UEFA Cup, beating Roma in the final. After three high quality seasons Brehme left Inter to join Real Zaragoza before closing his career at “his” Kaiserslautern. Brehme scored the decisive goal in the 1990 final against Argentina with a perfect penalty. He showed an uncommon cold-heartedness in that moment; he took his penalty after endless minutes of protests and debates by Argentinian players. He never lost his concentration, he stood on the penalty spot with his arms folded, waiting for the referee's whistle. Goal, match and cup.


Claudio Paul Caniggia, 1967, 50 caps and 16 goals for Argentina. Every player has his nickname. But few were as appropriate as “El Hijo del Viento” (the Son of the Wind) was for Claudio Paul Caniggia. Caniggia had blonde, smooth and long hair like a rock-star and he was really fast like the wind. In his younger years he was a runner. Caniggia combined speed with irresistible dribbling, the result being a brilliant winger. Caniggia was Italy's tormenter in the 1990 World Cup semifinal; his header equalised Schillaci's opener, dragging the game to the penalty shoot out that Argentina won. At Italy '90 el Hijo del Viento scored another crucial goal against Brazil in the Round of 16. At that time, he already was a Serie A player. He was playing for Atalanta, the Italian club he loved the most. He played four seasons in Bergamo (from 1989 to 1992 then in 1999-2000), scoring 27 goals. He also wore Verona's jersey in his first Italian campaign and he joined Roma in 1992. A 13 billion lire (around €7 million) revealed itself to be a bad investment as Caniggia was suspended for 13 months as he tested positive for cocaine in a dope test after a Roma-Napoli game. Caniggia only played one actual season on the pitch in Rome. He only left one unforgettable memory of his brief Roma experience; a wonderful goal he scored against Milan in the 1992-93 Coppa Italia. A 50-meter run, ended with a perfect lob. His career continued in Portugal, Argentina, Scotland and Qatar. El Hijo del Viento – who was a great friend of Maradona – played in another World Cup edition. He scored another two goals at USA '94, both against Nigeria. He was called for the 2002 WC in Japan and Korea, but aged 35, he never set foot on the pitch.

 

Careca, 1960, 60 caps and 29 goals for Brazil. His real name was Antonio de Oliveira Filho but his nickname – Careca – derived from a famous TV clown his parents were fond of. Along with Maradona (LINK) - a rival in international games - and Bruno Giordano, the Brazilian striker formed a stunning offensive trio, one of the best ever in Serie A. Careca was one of the most prolific Brazilian forwards ever. Technically skilled, he was a very practical player and he was able to score from every position. In particular, the diagonal shot while sprinting (an immensely difficult technique) was his speciality. He became a genuine legend in Naples. He played for six seasons in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius and he found the net 95 times between Serie A, domestic and European cups; he won the title in 1990, the Italian Supercup and the 1988-89 UEFA Cup. Careca gave it all for his national team also, although he never won anything with the golden-green jersey. He was vice topscorer with five goals at Mexico '86 behind Gary Lineker; at Italy '90 he scored another two goals, both to Sweden in the first game of the group stage.

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