I think I read once that the Grande Torino team had like 9 national team players. I don't have any evidence of it but I;m sure that plane crash had an effect on the national team as they had not won anything until the 1968 Euro tournament played in the home country or rather, 20 years after the Superga crash.
just checked...it was 10 players from il Grande Torino who also played for Italia that died. you don't need any evidence as the fact that half the national squad was wiped out in one fell swoop is all the evidence needed. imagine if half the Brazilian squad dies ( including Pele ) in a disaster before the 1958 world cup....they never win in 58 and 62....and maybe lucky to win in 1970 Sandro Mazzola's father Valentino died in that disaster. He was Torino's, as well as Italy's main attacking midfielder and while playing for Torino he scored 116 goals in 204 games. There has never been another national team to have half it's squad wiped out in a disaster....it seems the Italian National Team ,even with it's many successes, has been prone to more misfortunes ( both on the field and off ) than other top national teams
The talent of the 2002 team was remarkable, like a golden generation for Italy. But they were second to Mexico in the group. Not to mention that had we scored against South Korea as we should have, even with a corrupt referee, we should have beaten South Korea regardless. My "best team" will always be 1982. Defensively we were excellent with a great sweeper, fantastic wing backs one of whom stopped every star he marked. The defense was so good that an 18 year old defensive star in Bergomi had an excellent tournament but entered as a substitute. Our goalkeeper was a legend. Add to this that Rossi was in fantastic form one we began to gel. And as already mentioned, the quality of opponents we faced on the way to the title was perhaps the most difficult in World Cup history. Finally, they played as a team. There was no selfishness and players were always looking for Rossi, especially Bruno Conti, who in my opinion is underrated and was the best player in the entire tournament. Finally, they won the World Cup. And the final result is the most important thing to me.
Refereee Moreno screwed up everything in 02 and Vieri missed a sitter in front of the goal which hurt Italy. Perugia's Ahn out jumping Maldini for a killer header was backbreaking. I was living in Italy at the time and seeing and hearing Perugia owner Lucinao Gaucci's reaction when Ahn scored was very entertaining. He said he would not continue to employ a player, paying him 500,000 Euro to make him a better player that eliminated Italy so he kicked him off the team and sold him. He later said it was because Ahn spoke badly about Italian soccer in general . As for 82, if it weren't for Conti's goal on a free kick (I believe it was) against Peru, Italy will have been eliminated in the first round. Then the team got better with Cabrini , Tardelli and of course the great 40 year old GK in Dino Zoff , the awesome defense of libero Gaetano Scirea, stopper Fulvio Collovati, an 18 year old Beppe Bergomi , the great defender, Gentile, and the unforgettable goals from Paolo Rossi. Seeing Rossi's hat trick against Brazil was a real thriller.
But Gabriele, as you said Conti made the goal. Maldini was outjumped. In the moments when it counts the most, players succeed or fail. Conti's was a touch of class in which he allows the ball to slide through his legs leaving the defender and striking a fantastic shot. One thing that people may not know is that Rossi played well from the beginning of the tournament in other ways, though he was not scoring yet. His interplay with midfielders was excellent. My point is that with all of that talent in 2002, Italy should have done better, and left less to the idiocy or corruption of Moreno.
Conti's free kick I believe in 82 was a beauty. Rossi did well in the other games and Berzot stayed with him even though he hadn't scored in the first 4 games. Oh no doubt as there was a lot of talent in 2002. Maldini sadly ended his national team career with that one play and its a shame that he got beat on that header. Its no wonder Moreno was arrested in NYC I believe for smuggling drugs.
how do some of you leave that 2006 side out of your top 5?? no goals allowed from open play all tournament For me the 1970 team is tops, such a shame Brazil beat our best team... but a little payback in 82 when we beat their best team
The 1986 side was considered pretty bad back in the day but at least they tied eventual champions Argentina with Salvatore Bagni marking his mate Maradona and a new gem in Fernando DeNapoli of Avellino was found. They also made the second round which in comparison to 2010 & 2014, was pretty good in retrospect.
As I said that team could have and perhaps should have won the tournament. It still disturbs me to watch that.
Yes. West Germany peaked very early in that tournament and were unconvincing in a lacklustre performance against Argentina and scraped past England in the semis. Italy convincingly beat England in the playoff in what was the match of the tournament. I remember as a boy back then I was too ashamed to leave the house for a couple of days because we lost the World Cup at home. If only I could experience the shame of finishing 3rd in a World Cup now.
haha how the standards have fallen my friend. now not crashing in the group stage is cause for celebration.
I still wonder which idiot decided to play that game in Naples. If the venue was picked before hand I would have made excuses to have it changed.
I was pre arranged that the semifinal game was to have been played there. The planning was bad in that if they projected to win every game and/or advance first out of their group, they could and should have had an easier path and play all their games in Rome but I guess Naples wanted a semifinal so they got it regardless. The crows wasn't really for Argentina and Maradona as much as they were for italy but they certainly didn't jeer him.
wow you have the 1990 team as one of the worst? I would put them in the best category, that team was playing great and were favored to win the WC that year until they lost on PKs in the semis, in a game they really dominated Argentina. Also, why not the 2006 team in the best category? That 2006 wc winning team's core was basically the 2002 team that failed in Korea. Here are my top 5 in no particular order 1990, 1982 2006 1970 2002 and my top 3 worst 1986, 2010, 2014,
I have no doubt in my mind they would have beaten Germany in Rome to win the WC in 1990. The Argentina loss was horrible, they had dominated that game and lost on PKS.