The 1994 World Cup Final was played between perennial rivals Italy and Brazil before a crowd of more than 94 000 fans at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in the US. It was a game dominated by two huge personalities in the shape of feared Brazil striker Romario and the Azzurri’s Divine Ponytail, Roberto Baggio. Brazil overwhelmed Italy from the onset and went close a number of times during regular time, without being able to break the deadlock. With their trademark hard-as-nails defending, the Italians were able to hold on through extra time and the World Cup was destined to be settled via the drama of a penalty shootout. Franco Baresi and Marcio Santos both missed their spotkicks before Romario, Albertini, Branco and Evani restored sanity to proceedings. Massaro then wilted under the pressure and missed, allowing Dunga to give Brazil the advantage. Up stepped 1993 World Player of the Year Baggio… and promptly sent the ball whizzing high over the crossbar into Sunset Boulevard – a miss that millions of Italians still lose their pasta over. The Samba Kings dedicated their 3-2 win to the late F1 champion Ayrton Senna, who had died in an accident two months before.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 22:00:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015