1990 World Cup: Few Goals But Plenty Of Drama And Emotion

When the 1990 World Cup was again hosted in Italy, 56 years after the Azzurra’s first title, a lot had changed in the country and the world too.

If in 1934, winning the title under the watchful eyes of Dictator Benito Mussolini was practically a matter of life and death, the Italians were favorites in the 14th edition of the tournament.

Italy And 1990 World Cup

They staged the 1990 World Cup in 12 host cities, renovated ten stadiums, built two considerable arenas in Turin and Bari, and prepared to become the first country to win the tournament with the home fans behind them four times.

But the mission would prove rather complicated. All previous World Cup winners had qualified for the tournament: Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, West Germany, England, and Italy.

Uruguay was but a pale shade of the Olympic Celeste. Great doubts hovered over Brazil: how would Sebastião Lazaroni’s team fare in their first World Cup without the brilliant generation of Zico, Falcão, and Sócrates?

Argentina still had the brilliant Maradona. In addition to Gary Lineker, the top scorer in 1986, England also had Paul Gascoigne, who was on top form.

Germany boasted Franz Beckebauer as their manager and had Lothar Matthäys, Jürgen Klinsmann and Andreas Brehme amongst their ranks.

However, despite the great line-ups, the 1990 World Cup had the lowest goal average in history: only 2.21 per game.

Defensive Soccer

The tournament ended up validating a defensive style of playing, with a lot of marking and little boldness on behalf of the teams. However, the team that stood out the most in relation to this rule was Cameroon, the tournament’s surprise.

Led by the charismatic Roger Milla, the contagious Cameroonians started to make history with a 1-0 victory over Argentina in their first match.

Then, they beat Romania and qualified first in their group, beating Colombia in the round of 16. The first ever African team to reach the quarter-finals, Cameroon had to say farewell to the dream when England beat them in extra time.

1990 World Cup Tears

The English made it to the 1990 World Cup semi-final for the first time since 1966 and have never managed to get as far since. Indeed, in 1990 their chance of winning their second title was real.

The English team had outstanding players like Gary Lineker, David Platt, Ian Wright, and veteran goalkeeper Peter Shilton. In addition to Paul Gascoigne, of course.

The forward, a controversial and irascible figure, turned into an icon of the English disappointment. In the semi-final against Germany, Gascoigne picked up a yellow card, which suspended him for the 1986 World Cup final if England got through.

Aware of this, Gascoigne burst into tears on the pitch. One of the images that have stuck in people’s minds the most was when Lineker told the English bench that his teammate was obviously shaken. But, coincidence or not, England ended up eliminated on penalties.

The other 1990 World Cup semi-final was by no means dull. Hosts Italy would face Argentina in Naples, a city that idolized Diego Maradona.

Dieguito had taken Napoli to levels never dreamt before by their fanatic fans. Always a controversial figure, the Argentine number 10 called upon people from Naples to support Argentina, alleging that the North of Italy had historically disdained the South.

Maradona’s appeal did manage to divide the Italians, who saw Argentina win on penalties and get through to the final.

The final in Rome was a rematch of the previous four years earlier. The winner would match Brazil and Italy in the number of world titles.

1990 World Cup Final

Argentina had Maradona, who had practically won the World Cup in 1986 single-handedly. But Germany wanted revenge. And it came from Andreas Brehme’s feet.

From a penalty, he scored the only goal of the match. Captain Lothar Matthäus lifted the trophy and went into the history books as that team’s prominent leader and playmaker.

As a player and manager, Franz Beckenbauer equaled Mario Zagallo’s record as the only man to have won a World Cup.

The Dunga Era

Copa America winners in 1989, Brazil had good players in their squad – to mention a few: Romário, Bebeto, Careca, Renato Gaúcho, Mozer, Aldair, Ricardo Gomes, Mauro Galvão and Taffarel.

Even so, the team managed by Sebastião Lazaroni did not inspire much trust in fans. The coach opted for the 3-5-2 formation during the 1990 World Cup, and Brazil played defensively for the first time in history.

The result was a spiritless exhibition. Brazil had to work hard to get through the group stage. Despite winning the three matches, they were all close: 2-1 against Sweden, 1-0 against Costa Rica, and 1-0 against Scotland.

In the round of 16, they would face Argentina, which had embarrassed itself in the group stage by losing to Cameroon but had Maradona.

Diego The South American Champion

And indeed, the fatal blow came from Maradona’s feet. Brazil dominated the match and created a lot of opportunities. But 10 minutes from time, Maradona sprinted with the ball, went past Brazilian markers, and found Claudio Caniggia free on the left. With only the keeper to beat, the striker did not waste his chance.

Brazil tried to draw the match to no avail, and the early elimination meant the country’s worse performance in a World Cup since 1966, which would stain a whole generation.

Those days of spiritless football, focusing on defense, became known as the ‘Dunga Era,’ referring to the tough, disciplined holding midfielder who would yet redeem himself.

Regarding the quality of the games, the 1990 World Cup is considered one of the poorest. It did not help with 16 red cards, which was a record at this time.