The 1990 World Cup in Italy was one of the least beautiful in history. In fact, there are those who consider it the worst of all.
However, it is remembered for the presence of every country to ever win the World Cup until then, and because many of its games were defined by the excitement of shooting from the penalty spot.
Another curious fact from the tournament is that it is the only time both finalists were also finalists at the previous World Cup. Germany faced Argentina in 1986, when the “Gauchos” won the trophy courtesy of an unforgettable performance by Diego Armando Maradona throughout tournament.
These two countries met each other in back-to-back World Cup finals. Photo: @james_a_santoso | Twitter
Despite the presence Maradona, who had shined for Barcelona and Napoli, the South American squad’s most talked about player was goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea. Goycochea went from being an unknown to star to stopping important penalties as Argentina eliminated Yugoslavia and host nation Italy in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.
Goycochea, born in Zarate, Argentina, came into Italy 90 as a backup of Nery Pumpido, who was injured in a first round game against the formerly called Soviet Union.
Today, Goycochea performs as radio and TV host.
Goycochea used to work as a model, too. Photo: @ASChile | Twitter
Germany also had a difficult path to the final at the Olympic Stadium in Rome. A final that took place 25 years ago, on July 8th, 1990. The team, led by Franz "The Kaiser" Beckenbauer, who remains an influential figure in both German and international football, overcame tough opponents like the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia and England to reach the final game.
Beckenbauer and Pele: two of the greatest footballers in history. Photo: @OSEGFaran | Twitter
It is well known that the Final between the Germans and the Argentines ended 1-0 in favor of the Europeans. Andreas Brehme scoring a penalty in the 84th minute, a penalty that Goycochea came close to blocking.
The penalty was initiated when Roberto Sensini challenged striker Rudi Voller in the penalty area. It was a close call, and Argentina was especially angry with it because minutes before they could have been awarded a penalty when Gabriel Calderon was hit in the penalty area by Germany captain Lothar Matthäus. The referee was the dual Uruguayan-Mexican citizen, Edgardo Codesal.
In an interview some years later, Brehme said that the challenge that led to his game winning penalty wasn’t a foul, and acknowledged that Sensini had "a correct entry" on Voeller.
In a twist of fate, late last year Brehme was declared bankrupt, and the only job he had was cleaning toilets.
Last month, when Diego Armando Maradona announced his desire to be president of FIFA, he confessed that before the final match, Julio Grondona, the late former president of the Argentine Football Association and senior vice-president FIFA said: "This is it", implying that Argentina would lose the final because of match fixing.
"For a long time some FIFA games have been arranged and participated in so that when Grondona did nothing, Codesal was not the arbiter of that final. [Grondona] betrayed us”, said Maradona just over three weeks ago about that Sunday night in Italy.
Currently, Codesal argues that it was a penalty, but does not respond if today it would be called as such. Nowadays he is a gynecologist.
In 2015, Roberto Sensini has been named Newell’s Old Boys general manager. Rudi Voller has been Bayern Leverkusen’s Sporting Director since 2005 and Gabriel Calderon is Al-Wasi Head Coach: a team based in Dubai.
The talk about that game still goes on. It seems to be that those 90 minutes played in Rome 25 years ago have not came to an end.
Of course, in Germany, the Football Federation will celebrate this day with special posts in its site http://www.dfb.de/, promoted via Facebook and twitter @DFB_Team_EN.
Germany still enjoys memories from its third World Cup title. For example, the right foot Brehme placing the ball in the left corner of the Argentina goal. Guido Buchwald, then an all-around defensive player and now Stuggart Kickers’ Sporting Director, defending an injured Diego Maradona. And of course the unforgettable happiness of coach Franz Beckenbauer as he avenged the defeat in 1986.
