• The Magazine
  • Interviews
  • Current
  • Nostalgia
  • Legends
  • European
  • World
  • Log in
  • Subscribe
Friday, December 8, 2023
  • Login
  • The Magazine
  • Interviews
  • Current
  • Nostalgia
  • Legends
  • European
  • World
  • Log in
  • Subscribe
  • The Magazine
  • Interviews
  • Current
  • Nostalgia
  • Legends
  • European
  • World
  • Log in
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
THE SNEAKERS
Football Pink
  • The Magazine
  • Interviews
  • Current
  • Nostalgia
  • Legends
  • European
  • World
  • Log in
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Football Pink
No Result
View All Result

Italia ’90: Top 5 Iconic Moments

PinkbyPink
June 8, 2015
inLatest, Nostalgia

25 years on from possibly the greatest World Cup ever, here are five of my favourite moments of Italia ’90.

5. Roger Milla robs Rene Higuita then dances like your dad at a wedding

Roger Milla and Rene Higuita

What on earth is he doing? Now there’s a question that followed Rene Higuita around for most of his career. The Colombian goalkeeper, famous for the Scorpion Kick at Wembley some years later, always fancied himself as a player with the skills to rival his equally hirsute compatriot Carlos Valderrama. In fact he was blessed with just enough ability to be a decent 5-a-side player, but nowhere near enough to play out from the back like he was Franz Beckenbauer. So when he tried to dribble the ball into midfield in Colombia’s second round game against Cameroon something disastrous was always likely to happen. Step forward Roger Milla, the 38 year old forward who, with his two goals against Romania, had already announced himself as one of the heroes of the tournament. Milla robbed Higuita in mid dragback and calmly stroked the ball into an empty net. Cue the wild celebrations with Milla’s shimmy at the corner flag more reminiscent of Shakin’ Stevens doing the Lambada.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNI1ykzsJIc&w=420&h=315]

 4. If at first you don’t succeed….Cameroon eventually get their man

Claudio Caniggia and Benjamin Massing

In the opening game of the tournament at the San Siro, cup holders Argentina were expected to trounce no-hopers Cameroon. Unfortunately for Maradona and Co. no one seemed to have explained this to the Indomitable Lions. Having snatched an unlikely lead through Omam-Biyik’s towering far post header, it was then all hands to the pump to hold off the wounded Argentinian efforts to find an equaliser.  In the final minutes, the pacey Claudio Caniggia took off from the edge of his own box like a scalded cat. The first challenge met in the centre circle slowed him down, the second knocked him off balance but as he neared Cameroon’s penalty area step forward Benjamin Massing to slice Caniggia in two and send him spinning through the air like he had just been hit by a speeding car. Massing, having already been yellow carded for an earlier challenge on Diego Maradona, was rightly sent off for one of the most agricultural, yet highly amusing tackles in World Cup history.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeRlJJbtdHc&w=420&h=315]

3. Irony can be pretty ironic. Maradona on the receiving end

Maradona crying

Brilliant. Outstanding. Scintillating. Magic. The Greatest.  All of these could quite easily be used to describe Diego Armando Maradona. But ask any football fan, particularly those of English origin and the word ‘cheat’ would often raise its ugly head. The greatest example of this came in the contentious Quarter Final of Mexico ’86 against England. The infamous ‘Hand of God’ incident will remain a stain on Maradona’s name and one of the game’s greatest moments of injustice and will never be forgiven by fans of The Three Lions. Somehow, Argentina’s scrappy, niggly Class of 1990 made it to the final to play the tournament’s outstanding side, West Germany.  How ironic then that Maradona, desperate to retain the trophy in his adopted second home of Italy, was foiled by German cheating late in the game. The resultant penalty was dispatched by Andreas Brehme and the Cup was destined to be lifted by player of the tournament Lothar Matthaus. A heartbroken Maradona wept in front of the thousands in Rome’s Olympic Stadium, and millions on TV around the world as the presentation ceremony took place. What goes around comes around.

At 0:56

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbtcP31tGak&w=560&h=315]

2. Don’t mention the war. Rijkaard does his bit for Dutch-German relations.

Rijkaard and Voller

We may all be partners in the big friendly European Union but one thing is certain; the Dutch dislike the Germans. Some will flatly deny it, some will try to hide it but eventually admit it to you, while others will be quite overt about it. The reasons for the hatred are pretty obvious. History is history and sometimes time is not such great healer after all. Whether any of this had any bearing on the actions of Holland’s defensive rock and AC Milan superstar, Frank Rijkaard, in the Second Round clash of  the Titans in the San Siro is unknown. Having first scythed down German forward Rudi Voeller to earn himself a yellow card, he proceeded to launch a gobful of phlegm into the strikers hair. Quite rightly and indignantly Voeller protested to the referee about the disgusting attack. His reward? A yellow card. The following free kick was collected by Hans van Breukelen in the Dutch goal in the face of a half-hearted challenge from Voeller. Overreaction and confrontation ensued with Rijkaard central to the action again and once the dust had settled, Voeller was harshly given his marching orders. To add further insult to injury, Rijkaard, also dismissed for his part in the unsavoury events, rustled up another volley of verbal assault to add to his previous efforts hanging from the German’s hair. The motive? Perhaps the Dutchman was jealous of Voeller’s superior curly Mullet and ‘tache combo?

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfpaPIVO69Y&w=420&h=315]

1. Gazza and Gary. Awww.

Gazza crying with Lineker

The moment that changed a man’s career, indeed his life forever. I doubt Paul Gascoigne or anyone else for that matter could have foreseen the world’s reaction to the loveable Geordie as he propelled himself towards that reckless challenge with West Germany’s Thomas Berthold. Gascoigne was already carrying a yellow card against his name going into the Semi-Final in Turin, but having been the vital spark in the England midfield during the competition, there was no way manager Bobby Robson was going to leave the livewire from Gateshead out of the country’s biggest game in 24 years. So, having left Berthold writhing on the floor, Gazza pleaded with the referee for leniency which never came. Instead, the official produced a yellow card which the player himself knew would rule him out of the Final should England have made it past the Germans. Gascoigne, as we have come to realise in the years since, is an emotional soul always living precariously on the edge of joy and sadness and the realisation of what had just happened proved too much for the rising star to cope with. First came the protruding bottom lip, then the tears, which by the end of the night became the image that defined him. Realising that Gazza was on the verge of breaking down like a child and that his team would still need his energy and brilliance to see them through to the Final, England’s talisman and all round good egg, Gary Lineker, stepped in like a concerned mother and gestured to Robson to ‘have a word’ with his distraught teammate.

At 4:33

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swa0VHtWe8s&w=560&h=315]

MARK GODFREY

Related Posts

Latest

WWE Royal Rumble Betting Odds, Highlights, and Latest Updates

The WWE Royal Rumble (2023) aired live from inside the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, and it did not...

by Jamie Ingram
August 29, 2023
0
RBC Heritage Odds
Latest

RBC Heritage Odds, Picks, Predictions, and Best Bets: Where to Bet on the PGA Tour Event

The Grand Slam events might get all the attention on the PGA Tour, but that doesn’t necessarily make them...

by Jamie Ingram
April 13, 2023
0
Latest

Mexican Open Tennis Betting Odds: Where to Bet on the 2023 ATP Acapulco Tennis Tournament

Tennis fans are in for a treat with the upcoming 2023 Mexican Open (ATP Acapulco) lineup. We’ve got a...

by Jamie Ingram
February 17, 2023
0
Latest

Dubai Tennis Championships Betting Odds – How to Bet on the 2023 ATP Dubai Championships

The Dubai Open is the first ATP tour 500 event of the tennis year - and we’ve got the...

by Jamie Ingram
February 14, 2023
0
Load More
Next Post
Kendall Saved By Heath

Kendall Saved By Heath

Please login to join discussion
nfl week 11 picks ats
Current

NFL Picks Against the Spread for Week 11: Odds, Predictions & Analysis

by Jamie Ingram
November 15, 2023
0
0

The NFL season has now gone over 10 weeks but there is still plenty of football left to be played....

Read more
College football week 11

College Football Betting Odds Week 11: Expert Picks & Analysis

November 15, 2023
0
college football week 12 predictions

College Football Week 12 Predictions: Expert Analysis of Odds & Games

November 15, 2023
0
horse racing not on gamstop

Horse Racing Not on Gamstop: Best UK Non-Gamstop Horse Racing Betting Sites

November 14, 2023
0
NFL-week-10-picks-ats

NFL Week 10 Picks ATS: Free Picks, Odds, Predictions & Analysis

November 3, 2023
0
No Result
View All Result
  • The Magazine
  • Interviews
  • Current
  • Nostalgia
  • Legends
  • European
  • World
  • Log in
  • Subscribe

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Profile

© Copyright 2022 - Ronnie Dog Media All Rights Reserved. Live Score