Italy national football team

World Cup winners for the third time (1978–1982)

The 1978 FIFA World Cup, held in Argentina, saw a new generation of Italian players, the most famous being Paolo Rossi, coming to the international stage. Italy played very well in the first round, being the only team in the tournament to beat the eventual champions and host team Argentina. Second round games against West Germany, Austria and Netherlands led Italy to the third place final, where it was defeated by Brazil 2-1. As in the match against the Netherlands, Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff was beaten by a long-distance shot and thus blamed as the main culprit for the defeat. Italy then hosted the 1980 UEFA European Football Championship, the first edition to be held between eight teams instead of four, and with the host team automatically qualified for the finals. Italy was beaten by Czechoslovakia in the third place match on penalties.

After a scandal in Serie A where some National Team players such as Paolo Rossi were prosecuted and suspended for match fixing and illegal betting, the Azzurri arrived at the 1982 FIFA World Cup amidst general scepticism and discomfort. Italy qualified for the second round after three uninspiring draws against Poland, Peru and Cameroon. Having been loudly criticized, the Italian team decided on a press black-out from then on, with only coach Enzo Bearzot and captain Dino Zoff appointed to speak to the press.

Italy's strength finally showed in the second round group, a true Group of Death with ArgentinaBrazil - the defending champions and the team favoured to dethrone them. In the opener, Italy prevailed 2-1 over Diego Maradona's side after an ill-tempered battle in which Italy's defenders and midfielders proved their mastery in the rougher side of the game. Italy's goals, both excellent left-footed strikes, were scored by Marco Tardelli and Antonio Cabrini. After Brazil defeated Argentina 3-1, Italy needed to win in order to advance to the semifinals. Twice Italy went in the lead with Paolo Rossi goals, and twice Brazil came back. When Paulo Roberto Falcão scored to make it 2-2 Brazil would have been through on goal difference; but in the 74th minute Rossi poked home the winning goal in a crowded penalty area to send Italy to the semifinals after one of the all-time greatest games in World Cup history[7]. In the wake of its brilliant second round performance, Italy easily dispatched Poland in the first semi-final with another two goals from Rossi. and

In the final match, Italy met their traditional opponent West Germany, who had advanced thanks to a penalty shootout victory against France. The first half ended scoreless, after CabriniHans-Peter Briegel foul on Bruno Conti. In the second half Paolo Rossi again scored the first goal, and while the Germans were pushing forward in search of an equaliser, Tardelli and substitute Alessandro Altobelli finalised two perfect counterattacks to make it 3-0. Paul Breitner smashed home West Germany's consolation goal seven minutes from the end, making him the second man after Pelé to score in two different World Cup finals. missed a penalty awarded for a

Tardelli's scream after his goal in the final is still remembered as the symbol of Italy's 1982 World Cup triumph. Paolo Rossi won the Golden Boot with six goals, and 40-year-old captain-goalkeeper Dino Zoff became the oldest-ever player to win the World Cup.

World Cup and European Championship runners-up (1984–2004)

For twenty-four years following the 1982 triumph, the Azzurri figured prominently on the world stage but did not win another tournament. Italy failed to qualify for the 1984 European Championship and were knocked out in the Round of 16 of the 1986 World Cup by France. 1988 saw them reach the semifinals of the European Championship, where they were defeated 2-0 by the USSR.

Italy hosted the World Cup for the second time in 1990. The Italian attack featured talented forwards Salvatore Schillaci and a young Roberto Baggio. Despite being favourites[8] to win and not conceding a goal in their first five matches, Italy lost in the semifinal to defending champion Argentina, losing 4-3 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw after extra time. Schillaci's first half opener having been equalised in the second half by Claudio Caniggia's header for Argentina. Aldo Serena missed the final penalty kick (with Roberto Donadoni also having his penalty saved by goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea). Italy went on to defeat England 2-1 in the third place match, with Schillaci scoring the winning goal on a penalty to become the tournament's top scorer with 6 goals. Italy then failed to qualify for the 1992 European Championship.

In the 1994 World Cup, Italy started very slowly but reached the final. They lost the opening match against Ireland 0-1, this being the only match Italy would lose (not counting games lost after shootout) over the span of three World Cup finals from 1990 to 1998 and one only of two games they have lost in regualar time since 1988 in either a Euro or World Cup (losing 2-1 to Czech Republic in the first round of Euro 1996 is the second one). After a gritty 1-0 win against Norway and a 1-1 draw with Mexico, Italy advanced from Group E based on goals scored among the four teams tied on points. In the Round of 16, Italy was down 0-1 late against Nigeria, but Roberto Baggio came to the rescue with a splended equaliser in the 88th minute and a penalty in extra time to snatch the win.^[3] Baggio scored another late goal against Spain in the quarter-final to seal a 2-1 win and two beautifully taken goals against Bulgaria in the semi-final for another 2-1 win.^[4][5] In the final, Italy and Brazil played 120 minutes of scoreless football, taking the match to penalty shootout. Italy lost the subsequent shootout 3-2 after Baggio missed the final penalty kick of the match, shooting over the crossbar.^[6]

Italy did not progress beyond the group stage at the finals of Euro 96. Gianfranco Zola failed to convert a decisive penalty against Germany, who eventually won the tournament. Then, during the qualifying campaign for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the Azzurri beat England at Wembley for the second time with Zola scoring the only goal. In the final tournament, Italy found themselves in another critical shootout for the third World Cup in a row. The Italian side, where Del Pierostaffetta (relay) between Mazzola and Rivera from 1970, held the eventual World Champions and host team France to a 0-0 draw after extra time in the quarterfinals, but lost 4-3 in the shootout. With two goals scored in this tournament, Roberto Baggio is still the only Italian player to have scored in three different FIFA World Cup editions. and Baggio renewed the controversial

In the Euro 2000, another shootout was this time to favour Italy, in the semifinal against the co-hosts the Netherlands. Italian goalkeeper Francesco Toldo saved one penalty during the match and two in the shootout, while the Dutch players missed one other penalty during the match and one during the shootout with a rate of one penalty scored out of six attempts. Emerging star Francesco Totti scored his penalty with a very brave cucchiaio (spoon) chip. Italy finished the tournament as runners-up, unluckily losing the final 2–1 against France (to a golden goal in extra time) after conceding les Bleus' equalizing goal just 30 seconds before the expected end of injury time (94'). After the defeat, coach Dino Zoff resigned in protest after being unfairly criticized by A.C. Milan president and politician Silvio Berlusconi.

In the 2002 World Cup, Italy again had a difficult time. A comfortable 2-0 victory against Ecuador with two Christian Vieri goals was followed by a 2-1 defeat to Croatia, a match in which Italy had two goals bizarrely disallowed. A 1-1 draw with Mexico thanks to a goal from Alessandro Del Piero proved enough to advance to the knockout stages. However, co-host country South Korea knocked out Italy in the Round of 16, reviving the 1966 nightmare. The match was marked by controversy, as Ecuadorean referee Byron Moreno gave Francesco TottiDamiano Tommasi. Replays seemed to indicate both that the card was unfounded and the goal was good, but the decisions stood and South Korea won 2-1, again with a golden goal in extra time.^[7]. a second yellow card in extra time for an alleged dive, and disallowed a goal in extra time by

A three-way tie in the group stage of the 2004 European Championship left Italy as the "odd man out", and they failed to qualify for the quarterfinals after finishing behind Denmark and Sweden on the basis of number of goals scored in matches among the tied teams.^[8] The winning goal scored during stoppage time against Bulgaria by Antonio Cassano resulted useless, leaving the Italian striker in tears at the end of the game.

2006 World Cup: Champions for the fourth time

Italy's campaign in the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany was accompanied by open pessimism[9] due to the controversy caused by the 2006 Serie A scandal. These negative predictions were then refuted, as Azzurri eventually won their fourth World Cup.

Italy won their opening game in style against a spirited Ghana side 2-0, with goals from the excellent Andrea Pirlo (40') and substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta (83'). The team performance was judged the best among the opening games by FIFA president Sepp Blatter[10].

The second match was a much less convincing 1-1 draw with USA, with Alberto Gilardino's diving header equalized by a Cristian Zaccardo own goal. After the equalizer, midfielder Daniele De Rossi and the USA's Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope were sent off, leaving only nineteen men on the field for nearly the entirety of the second half, but the score remained unchanged despite a controversial decision when Gennaro Gattuso's shot was deflected in but disallowed for a non-existent offside. De Rossi was suspended for four matches for elbowing American player Brian McBride and could only return for the final match.

Italy finished on top of Group E with a neat 2-0 win against the Czech Republic, with goals from defender Marco Materazzi (26') and striker Filippo Inzaghi (87'), advancing to the Round of 16knockout stages, where Australia was beaten 1-0. In this match, Materazzi was controversially sent off early in the second half (53') after a two footed tackle on Australian midfielder Mark Bresciano. In stoppage time a controversial penalty kick was awarded to Italy after a tackling from Australian defender Lucas Neill against Fabio Grosso. Francesco Totti converted it, thus winning the match for Italy. in the

In the quarterfinals Italy dispatched Ukraine 3-0. Gianluca Zambrotta opened the scoring early (6') with a left-footed blast from outside the area and Luca Toni added two more (59' and 69'). Manager Marcello Lippi dedicated the victory to former Italian international Gianluca Pessotto, who was in hospital recovering from an apparent suicide attempt.^[9]

In the semi-final, which would be remembered as the most memorable game of the event, Italy beat hosts Germany 2-0 with the two goals coming in the last two minutes of extra time. After an exciting half hour of extra time during which Gilardino and Zambrotta struck the post and the crossbar respectively, Grosso scored in the 119th minute after a disguised Pirlo pass found him open in the penalty area for a bending left-footed shot into the far corner past German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's despairing dive. Substitute striker Alessandro Del Piero then sealed the victory by scoring with the last kick of the game at the end of a swift counterattack.

The Azzurri won their fourth World Cup, defeating France in Berlin, on July 9, 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the end of extra time. French captain Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a chipped penalty kick, controversially awarded for a foul by Materazzi. Twelve minutes later, a powerful header by Materazzi from a perfectly placed corner by Pirlo brought Italy level. In the second half, a headed goal by Toni was disallowed for a very close offside which was nevertheless correct. At 110', Zidane was sent off after a head butt, allegedly provoked by an insult by Materazzi; the two players were eventually fined by FIFA for this incident. Italy then won the penalty shoot-out 5-3, the crucial penalty being David Trézéguet's attempt which hit the crossbar and stayed out unlike Zidane's during the match. Italy scored all five attempts in a shootout for the first time ever (Pirlo, Materazzi, De Rossi, Del Piero and Grosso). Grosso's conversion of the final penalty past French keeper Barthez crowned a superb tournament for him and the team.

Ten different players scored for Italy and five goals out of twelve were scored by substitutes, while four goals were scored by defenders. Seven players - Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, Totti and Toni - were named to the 23-man tournament All Star Team.^[10] Buffon also won the Lev Yashin Award, given to the best goalkeeper of the tournament; he conceded only two goals in the tournament, the first an own goal by Zaccardo and the second from Zidane's penalty, and remained unbeaten for 460 consecutive minutes.^[11]

After the World Cup

Days after the Italian triumph in the World Cup, Lippi announced his resignation.^[12]1994 World Cup star Roberto Donadoni was announced the new coach of the Azzurri on July 13. Italy played in the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying Group B, along with France. Italy won the group, with France being the runner-up.^[13] On February 14, 2007, FIFA ranked Italy 1st in the FIFA World Rankings, with a total of 1488 points, 37 points ahead of second ranked Argentina. This moved them up one from their previous rank, 2nd. The Azzurri had not received such an honour since 1993.^[14]