* r e c. Sport. Soccer ' s
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were squandered by both sides. The away fixture was of vital importance to Ireland. Both Spain and Denmark had dropped a point here so it was important that Ireland should take advantage. As it happened Ireland won 1-0. Mission Accomplished. N. Ireland: Within the first third of the home match Ireland were 3-0 up, totally outplaying their Northern counterparts in all areas and so great things were expected for the second half. Yet characteristically, the Irish flopped under great expectations and the score finished 3-0. The away fixture was the most tense experience any Irish player, supporter, or official will experience for a long time. The Irish were verbally abused, spat on and jeered for the duration of the evening. The Northern Ireland manager, Billy Bingham, was seen to be inciting the crowd. This was a match that Ireland could not lose and so the nation's hearts sank when Jimmy Quinn volleyed a fantastic goal past Bonner. As always though, Ireland picked themselves up to equalise. The equaliser was scored by Alan McLoughlin, the substitute, who has now become a national hero. Final score: 1-1.
but on the other a huge disappointment. Although the Irish got a point from the 0-0 draw, they missed one great chance and had a perfectly legal goal disallowed for offside. When Spain came to Lansdowne Road, a draw was the least expected of the Irish, but Spain went 3-0 up after half an hour and Ireland could only pull one goal back from a performance riddled with incompetence and errors. 3-1 the final score.
with Italy, Mexico and Norway. In the two major tournaments Ireland have played in to date they have delivered the goods and so a lot is expected of them now. They will do very well to emulate the success they had in Italia '90 when they reached the quarter finals, I doubt whether they'll have the luck to get beyond that. Prediction: 7th to 10th place. Key players could include: ROY KEANE (Midfield, Manchester Utd): Although his recent move to Manchester United for 3.7 million pounds provoked shouts of rip-off etc. he is now looking more and more like a World Class player. His resilience and amazing stamina make sure he keeps going for the entire length of the match. He is young and holds the important role of centre- midfield alongside captain Andy Townsend, and is one of a handful of players that can win a match single-handedly.
Ireland's captain holds a great deal of influence over his team. Like Keane, he is a battling attacking midfielder who loves to venture into the box. His surging runs frequently set up the Irish attack and in what looks to be his second and last World Cup he won't want to go out unnoticed. This influential kingpin has what it takes to bring out the best in players. STEVE STAUNTON (Midfield, Aston Villa): Recently voted Irish Player of the Year this man filled in the gap left on the left side of midfield after Kevin Sheedy fell out of favour. Originally a full back, he has adapted to his role superbly well and has created an amazing understanding with left back Terry Phelan. He can also score from dead ball situations. PAUL McGRATH (Central Defence, Aston Villa): The 1992-1993 Player of the Year in the English Premier Division has not played as well this year as he has done in the past. Still, he rarely fails Ireland and if his knees survive the Summer he will no doubt turn out to be one of the most important squad members. He is one of the greatest centre-halves playing in the World today and will play a vital role for Ireland. The full backs Irwin and Phelan always play an important role and are a great strength in the team. The World will know if the Irish really are lucky if Niall Quinn is fit in time. As it stands he won't be playing till the new season.
Preparation Dublin 23 Mar 94 Republic of Ireland 0-0 Russia Bonner (45' A.Kelly), G.Kelly, Carey, Babb, McGoldrick, McAteer, O'Brien, Whelan, McLoughlin, D Kelly (45' Coyne), Cascarino. Tilburg 20 Apr 94 Netherlands 0-1 Republic of Ireland 55' Coyne Bonner, G.Kelly, Moran, Babb, Phelan (84' McLoughlin), McGoldrick (71' McAteer), Sheridan, Whelan, Townsend, Staunton, Coyne (86' Coyle). Dublin 24 May 94 Republic of Ireland 1-0 Bolivia 85' Sheridan Hanover 29 May 94 Germany 0-2 Republic of Ireland 31' Cascarino, 68' G.Kelly.
Keane, Townsend, Sheridan (45' Whelan), Staunton, Cascarino (69' Coyne). Dublin 5 Jun 94 Republic of Ireland 1-3 Rep of Czechs & Slovaks 43' Townsend 25' Kuka (pen) 52' Kuka 83' Suchoparek Bonner, G.Kelly, McGrath (78' Babb), Kernaghan, Phelan, McGoldrick (53' McAteer), Townsend, Sheridan, Staunton, Aldridge (53' Keane), Cascarino (60' Coyne) ===============================================================================
Loris Magnani =============================================================================== COACH: Arrigo Sacchi (former coach of AC Milan) GOALKEEPERS: Age Caps Goals 1. Gianluca Pagliuca Sampdoria 27 17 0 12. Luca Marchegiani Lazio 28 5 0 22. Luca Bucci Parma 25 0 0 DEFENDERS: 2. Luigi Apolloni Parma 27 13 0 3. Antonio Benarrivo Parma 25 7 0 4. Alessandro Costacurta AC Milan 28 19 1 5. Paolo Maldini AC Milan 26 51 2 6. Franco Baresi [C] AC Milan 34 76 1 7. Lorenzo Minotti Parma 27 2 0 8. Roberto Mussi Torino 30 1 0 9. Mauro Tassotti AC Milan 34 4 0
11. Demetrio Albertini AC Milan 22 14 0 13. Dino Baggio Juventus 23 12 4 14. Nicola Berti Inter Milan 27 25 3 15. Antonio Conte Juventus 24 1 0 16. Roberto Donadoni AC Milan 30 50 5 17. Alberigo Evani Sampdoria 30 9 0
10. Roberto Baggio Juventus 27 35 19 18. Pier Luigi Casiraghi Lazio 25 16 4 19. Daniele Massaro AC Milan 23 7 0 20. Giuseppe Signori Lazio 26 15 6 21. Gianfranco Zola Parma 27 6 0 Italy did not attend the 1930 World Cup along with several other European powers. However, on Oct. 8, 1932 the Italian delegation convinced FIFA to assign the 1934 World Cup to Italy. Italy had just recently won the first edition of the International Cup (a round-robin tournament between Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Italy, and Switzerland) and in 1929 the Italian First Division (Serie A) had begun play in the home-away format (girone unico) which is still in use throughout most of Europe. Italy continued the tradition established by Uruguay by winning the World Cup as hosts. They easily trounced the U.S. 7-1 with a hat-trick by Schiavio and then proceeded to eliminate Spain in 2 epic contests. The first game stood at 1-1 after regulation and the overtime periods did not change the score so that a replay the next day was necessary (no PKs here!). Italy won the replay 1-0 thanks to a goal by the legendary Giuseppe Meazza (the San Siro stadium in Milan was renamed in his honor years ago). In the semis, Italy met its bete noire, Austria, a team that had consistently had the better of the Italians both in Austria and in Italy. Austria had beaten a tough Hungarian team 2-1 to advance to the semis. A controversial goal by Guaita (one of Italy's oriundi - foreign born players who were considered Italians because one of their parents was Italian) gave Italy a narrow 1-0 victory and access to the finals. There they would meet Czechoslovakia who had eliminated Germany 3-1. The final was played in front of Benito Mussolini and a packed house in Rome. Things looked grim for Italy at the 70' when a goal by Puc put Czechoslovakia ahead, but Orsi (another Argentinian of Italian descent) tied the game 10 minutes later. In extra-time, Schiavio gave Italy the victory and the World Cup, 2-1. The 1938 World Cup held in France saw Italy qualifying as defending champions. A grim atmosphere hung over Europe foreshadowing the war which was to come. Italy's first game featured the amateurs from Norway who were lightly regarded by both the italian players and the press. Italy scored in the second minute and a rout seemed to be at hand. However, Norway tied the game in the 83rd and actually scored a goal two minutes later which was called back because of offside! The game went to overtime where Piola gave Italy a very laboured 2-1 victory. The defence of the trophy won in 1934 was off to a very bad start. Things did not look better in the next game with the home side, France. Again, Italy took a quick lead but France equalized a minute later. With the score 1-1 at halftime and Italy playing lacklustre football there was the hint of elimination in the air. However, Italy came out strongly in the second half and two goals by Piola at the 52' and 72' rounded out a deserved 3-1 victory over the hosts. Italy moved on to the semifinals against mighty Brasil who had eliminated Czechoslovakia by the score of 2-1 in a replay game after the first game had ended 1-1. After a scoreless first half, goals by Colaussi (55') and Meazza (60') gave Italy a 2-0 lead which held until a penalty kick by Romeu at the 87' closed out the score at 2-1. Italy would face Hungary in the final, since the latter had easily disposed of Sweden by a 5-1 score. The game began with a bang as Colaussi scored for Italy on the 5' mark only to see Titkos equalize two minutes later. A goal by Piola on the 16' mark put Italy ahead by 2-1 and the Italians kept pressing and scored a third goal in the 35th minute again by Colaussi. Midway through the second half the Hungarians were brought back into the game by Sarosi only to have Piola close out the scoring in the 82' with his second goal of the final and 5th overall. Despite the impressive total, Piola would finish second to the great Brasilian Leonidas who finished with 8. The 4-2 victory over Hungary gave Italy its second title. The war would prevent all of the Italian players from the 1938 squad from defending the title and a brand new Italian team would go to Brasil in 1950 for the 4th World Cup.
much sealed the fate of the 1950 Italian expedition and overshadowed any social and economic difficulties as far as the Azzurri were concerned. The entire Torino team, which had won 5 scudetti in a row and who formed the backbone of the Italian National Team was wiped out in a horrible plane crash in the spring of 1949. The great Torino team from that period (il Grande Torino) often formed 9/11 of the Azzurri and included the legendary Valentino Mazzola (his son, Sandro Mazzola, was also one of the greats of Italian soccer, though probably not at the level of Valentino). The repercussions of that crash lasted many years. One of the immediate consequences was that the team travelled to Brasil by ship in 1950 rather than by plane; the two weeks at sea did nothing to help the physical condition of the Azzurri. The format of the Cup had been changed from head-to-head elimination to a first round involving a group of teams which would play a round-robin with the group leader advancing. Italy's group consisted of Sweden and Paraguay and Italy seemed the clear favorite. However, an initial loss to Sweden by 3-2 made a 2-0 victory over Paraguay meaningless. Sweden advanced to the next round and Italy's participation in the World Cup was over almost before it began. The dark days for the Azzurri had begun and would last two decades as far as the World Cup was concerned.
team in Italy's group was Egypt who were eliminated easily by scores of 1-2 in Cairo and 5-1 in Milan. The final round was in neighboring Switzerland and Italy's group consisted of England, Switzerland, and Belgium. However the formula for advancement to the second round did not provide (strangely) for a game with each opponent, but rather, with a game against only two opponents. Italy's opponents would be Switzerland and Belgium, and a straightforward qualification to the second round was expected. It was not to be. Switzerland actually beat Italy in the first game by a 2-1 score and lost to England by 2-0. By beating Belgium 4-1, Italy would meet Switzerland in a playoff to see who would join England in the second round. The Italians must have been fairly confident of getting through so the Swiss victory by a heavy 4-1 margin was surely a shock. The 1950s were proving to be the Azzurri's lost decade as the 1958 World Cup would dramatically indicate. In fact, Italy did not even qualify for the 1958 final round in Sweden. In a relatively "easy" group with Northern Ireland and Portugal, Italy managed to lose heavily to Portugal in Lisbon by 3-0 and to Northern Ireland in Belfast by 2-1. The victories in Rome and Milan against these two opponents were to no avail as Northern Ireland's 1-1 tie in the first game of the group with Portugal in Lisbon was the difference. The only comfort for Italy was that the Swedish team which finished second fielded several players who would play in the Serie A, and even the victors, Brasil, played with Dino Sani and Jose Altafini who would spend many seasons in Serie A.
in the group but withdrew, leaving Italy to easily eliminate Israel by 2-4 and 6-0 scores. The Italian team was, on paper, the strongest since the days of the Grande Torino team from more than a decade before. With players like Bulgarelli, Cesare Maldini (the father of Paolo Maldini), Rivera and the two oriundi, Jose Altafini (who was born in Brasil and actually played for the 1958 World Champions!), and Omar Sivori (who was born in Argentina and played many games for the albicelestes), Italy looked like one of the favorites. The team performed only on paper, however. A group composed of West Germany, Chile (the hosts), and Switzerland looked fairly difficult but not impossible. Impossible it was to be. A lacklustre 0-0 draw with the Germans led to the infamous Chile- Italy game. A hostile crowd and an incompetent refereeing job by the Englishman, Aston, led Italy to defeat. Italy finished with 9 men due to the gutlessness of Aston, who dared not send off the Chileans despite their endless provocations and intimidation. However, he did not hesitate to send off the Italian, Maschio, whose "foul" was that his nose connected with Leonel Sanchez' fist (Maschio's nose was broken by the blow but he could nurse his injury in the locker room thanks to the red card he received...). The subsequent 3-0 Italian victory over the Swiss was no consolation. Italy went home, feeling frustrated and cheated. But the most infamous Italian World Cup performance was to come... Italy's qualification for the 1966 World Cup was not as straightforward as usual. In a group with Scotland, Poland, and Finland, a loss to Scotland in Glasgow by 1-0 forced Italy to win or tie the last game against the Scots in Naples. They won handily in Naples by 3-0 and went into the finals in England with one of their most talented post-war teams. Their roster reads like a Who's Who of Italian soccer: Albertosi, Fachetti, Bulgarelli, Rivera, Mazzola, Lodetti, Burgnich. An All-Star team which would win the European Championship two years later in 1968. The group Italy was in seemed easy, consisting of the USSR, Chile, and the "weak-sister" North Korea. With two teams qualifying for the second round, the USSR and Italy appeared certain to advance. The first game against Chile was an easy 2-0 victory giving Italy some revenge for what transpired four years earlier. A difficult game against the Soviets in which Italy squandered many chances (or were stopped by the great Yashin) resulted in a 1-0 loss to a goal on the 58' mark by Cislenko. However, the qualification seemed to be at hand since Italy only required a draw with North Korea. What should have been an easy game started poorly as Bulgarelli had to leave almost immediately due to the aggravation of a previous injury. In those days there were no substitutions so Italy had to play the remainder of the game with 10 men. Italy dominated play throughout the game squandering a plethora of opportunities, but things took a distinct ominous turn when Pak Doo Ik scored a goal on a quick counterattack in the 41'. As Paul Gardner writes in his book, The Simplest Game, Italy had many chances to equalize in the second half, "...but were destined to miss them all"...And so the Darkest Day in Italian soccer ended with a 1-0 loss and elimination at the hands of North Korea. The return trip to Italy was quite interesting. The plane on which the Azzurri were returning home had to be diverted from Milan to Genova because an angry mob had gathered at the Milan airport. Enough fans found out about the change of itinerary to greet the Azzurri at Genova with a dense hail of rotten fruit and vegetables...In Italy, when you want to talk about a disastrous defeat, you do not invoke Waterloo, but rather, Korea. The 1970 World Cup in Mexico brought an even stronger Italian team which had qualified easily in a group with Wales and East Germany. The Italian hopes rested on their great defense, anchored by Alberosi, Fachetti and Burgnich, a "stafetta" between Mazzola and Rivera for the #10 shirt (i.e., one player would play each half and substitute the other), and the great Italian bomber, Gigi Riva (still the alltime leader in goals scored for the national team). Italy's group was a bit difficult with Sweden and Uruguay as the main adversaries and lowly Israel bringing up the rear. This group produced some of the worst football seen at that glorious, offensive-minded World Cup. In 6 games there were only 6 goals scored...and Italy's brand of defensive "catenaccio" yielded a 1-0 win against Sweden and two 0-0 draws with Uruguay and Israel. Italy won it's group by scoring only one goal and went into the second round to meet the hosts, Mexico, at the Azteca Stadium in front of 100,000 plus Mexicans. Those who feared another Italian quick-exit from the WC could be forgiven, but this Azzurri team had a bit more mettle than their predecessors. With a fabulous performance by Riva and Rivera, Italy trounced Mexico 4-1 to arrive at the semi-finals against the fearsome Germans who had eliminated England after being down 2-0. What would follow would be one of the greatest games in World Cup history. The German team featured many players who would win the WC four years later, Maier, Vogts, Beckenbauer, Muller, Overath...Truly a magnificent squad. The Italian team took an early lead with a goal by Boninsegna in the seventh minute and grimly held on behind their catenaccio defense. The game seemed to be heading towards an ugly 1-0 Italian victory when in injury time, the great German fullback Karlheinz Schnellinger (who played for AC Milan) scored the equalizer in the 92nd minute. The game would go into extra time. The Germans wasted no time and Muller scored in the 94'. Burgnich and Riva scored two goals for Italy for a temporary 3-2 lead, but Muller once again equalized in the 109'. All seemed lost for Italy, when Rivera (who had been somewhat responsible for the Muller equalizer) scored the match-winner one minute later. Five goals had been scored in extra time and Italy would go through to the final game after a monumental 4-3 victory over the 1966 runners-up and the eventual 1974 winners. Italy's opponents in the Final, unfortunately for them, were the great Brasilian team of 1970 led by Pele, Tostao, Jairzinho, and too many others to mention. Certainly one of the greatest football teams of all time. There really wasn't much to the final. Brasil won, going away, by a 4-1 score after the match stood at 1-1 at halftime. The only recriminations the Italians had was that at the beginning of the second half (when the score was 1-1) Rivera was not brought on to substitute Mazzola. He was finally let onto the pitch with only six minutes to go and the score a disheartening 3-1. Could Rivera have prevented the Brasilian victory ? Probably not, but his "non-use" in the final caused fury among his supporters. Despite Italy's second place finish, the Italian fans were incensed with the Azzurri and only Rivera managed to "save" himself from the wrath of the fans and the press.
Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Turkey. Italy, along with Germany and Brasil were considered one of the favourites given their streak of 12 games without conceding a goal. Included in that streak were 2 victories over England, including one at Wembley, and 1 over Brasil. With stars such as Zoff, Facchetti, Benetti, Burgnich, Mazzola, Capello, Chinaglia, Rivera, and Riva, surely Italy would reach the final four. The dream ended immediately. First, Zoff's unbeaten streak was ended by Haiti, who took a 1-0 lead before losing 3-1. Then a rather fortunate tie with Argentina (1-1), led to the game with the surprising Polish team who had won their first two games. All that both teams needed to advance was a draw, but the Poles would have none of that and by halftime they were winning 2-0. A late goal by Capello made the score respectable, but after the success of 1970, Italy was once again faced with early elimination, and the by now traditional welcome home of rotten fruits and vegetables, and insults.
exception of the 1970 tournament), Italy faced a brutal qualification group with England as the rival to be beaten for the only spot in the final 16 of the 1978 Cup to be held in Argentina. The other members of the group were Luxembourg and Finland and it turned out to be the English and Italian performance against these "minnows" which decided who would advance since Italy and England had Yüklə 361,24 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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