They were all special in their own ways (Serginho and keeper Peres excepted.) I consider them more entertaining than the Brazilian 1970 and 1958 sides.
Yes, I think they played better than the 58, 62 or 70 teams that did win the World Cup. They were unfortunate to meet a team that knew how to exploit their weakness: the centerbacks and keeper. Even so, Brazil would still have won the match and that cup had Paolo Rossi not had the match of his life, which is also, in my opinion, the second greatest individual performance in a WC match (after Diego against England in 86). By the way, I feel that Argentina, at that point eliminated, showed Italy the way to send Brazil off through el Pelado's goal at the very end.
Maradona (to me) could have been the player of that Cup with more experience. He hit the post with free kicks against both Belgium and Italy (games Argentina lost by one goal) and was criminally treated by every opponent except Hungary. Rossi was spectacular against Brazil and had at least one legitimate penalty denied. Other than a very special game against Brazil, Italy´s flair in 1982 was somewhat exaggerated. Both their goals against Argentina, their second goal against Poland, and their last two against West Germany came off counters. It could be argued that they would have struggled against more defensively cohesive teams.
a forgotten master from the early 80's is Mario Sergio. check him vs HSV in the 1983 intercontinental cup [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl9xuvOJIpU"]Mario Sergio - Forgotten Footballers Part 2 (4Dfoot) - YouTube[/ame]