Category: 1990

African Cup of Nations. Algeria hosted the finals, so they and Cameroon as reigning African champion directly qualified. The other 6 teams were decided by the qualifications. As usual, there were countries which withdrew: Uganda, Gambia, Mauritania in the preliminary round, Togo, Sierra Leone, and Libya in the first round. Madagascar was disqualified by CAF for non-payment of membership fee. Libya distinguished itself by qualifying to the first round because Mauritania withdrew and then withdrew without facing Tunisia – that is, Libya went 2 rounds without playing a single match. All too familiar in Africa, but the finals put a new twist: Egypt qualified to them and then decided to withdrew to prepare its national team better for the World Cup. Host Algeria protested to FIFA and FIFA forced Egypt to participate in the African finals – if not, Egypt was to be expelled from FIFA and thus from playing at the World Cup. Egypt sent a B team to the African finals. Cameroon, also mostly concerned with World Cup preparations took the African finals mostly as training phase and did not play seriously. So… the finals:
Group A – played in Algiers.
1.ALGERIA 3 3 0 0 10- 1 6
2.NIGERIA 3 2 0 1 3- 5 4
3.Ivory Coast 3 1 0 2 3- 5 2
4.Egypt 3 0 0 3 1- 6 0
Note that in the first group match Algeria destroyed Nigeria 5-1.
Group B – played in Annaba.
1.ZAMBIA 3 2 1 0 2- 0 5
2.SENEGAL 3 1 2 0 2- 0 4
3.Cameroon 3 1 0 2 2- 3 2
4.Kenya 3 0 1 2 0- 3 1
Semifinals
(Annaba)
12- 3-90 Zambia 0-2 Nigeria
[Okechukwu 18, Yekini 77]
(Algiers)
12- 3-90 Algeria 2-1 Senegal
[Menad 4, Amani 62; (og) 20]

Third Place Match (Algiers)
15- 3-90 Zambia 1-0 Senegal
[Chikabala 73]

Final (Algiers)
16- 3-90 Algeria 1-0 Nigeria
[Oudjani 38]
The final repeated the opening match of the finals, but there was big difference – the first time Algeria won easily 5-1. At the final they won again, but with difficulties, a minimal 1-0. Still, they won again.
Nigeria got silver and to a point it was the beginning of the big ascent of this country in the football world: the team was coached by Clemens Westerhof, the Dutch coach which led Nigeria to international significance. Only two players of the squad were based in Europe (Friday Elaho – Brondby, Denmark, and Andrew Use – KSV Roesoder, Belgium), but a good number of soon to be famous players were already at hand – Ben Iroha, Uche Okechukwu, Emmanuel Okocha, Rashidi Yekini, Daniel Amokachi. They still played at home, but very soon will play for much bigger European clubs than Brondby. It was steady rise of Nigerian football,which was perhaps the most stable in the continent – 3rd in 1976, 3rd in 1978, African champions in 1980, 2nd in 1984, 2nd in 1988. The only reason Nigerian football remained obscure outside Africa was that the country did not reach World Cup finals yet – but that was to change soon and how!

Algeria triumphed and their victory was rather expected: Algerian football was among the best in Africa, hosts of finals usually benefited not just from massive fan support, Egypt and Cameroon did not take the finals seriously, having in mind the coming World Cup, Tunisia and Morocco did not reach the finals, and Nigeria was already beaten with big result in the group stage, so Algeria had psychological advantage at the final too. And the squad, led by already famous Madjer was more experienced and professional than the Nigerians, who had plenty of talent, but lacked professional experience. Finally, it was a revenge for 1980 final, when Nigeria won 3-0 and won the title. This time Algeria came on top and triumphed for the first time as African champion.

The aftermath. There was official praise of this and that, but negative views and concerns were much more after the 1990 – and rapid, vast and, as it turned out, endless changes were going to be implemented in order of saving football from dying. On the positive side was the simple fact of increased quality of most teams – apart from USA and the United Arab Emirates, there were no outsiders at the 1990 World Cup. Anonymous teams like Costa Rica and Egypt were pretty much equal to star-studded teams. No outsiders, but hardly pleasant surprises either – only Colombia and Costa Rica.
Costa Rica against Scotland. Well… the unknowns proved capable of playing the same tough football as the big guys. Competent pressure and crowding, what else.
If the ‘smaller’ continents and countries climbed up, there was nothing optimistic at the top – rather, the traditional powers went down to lower level. Everybody was quite the same, no outsiders, but no favourites either and maybe Germany was ‘rightful’ champion, but it could be almost any other team – the final revealed unplesant truth: the ‘well oiled’ Germans in full strength managed to beat shapeless, badly trained Argentina, which had 4 regulars missing (Olarticoechea, Batista, Giusti, and Caniggia – all of them suspended for collecting cards) and finishing the match with 9 men. It took disputable – at least disputable – penalty to score the winning goal and without it… Argentina could have prevailed, who knows. And it was not that Argentina played any football. No wonder that practically one match in the whole championship pleased observers – Germany vs Holland. Football was seriously sick, going to die.
Nothing new was shown on the tactical field – that is, everybody used similar and familiar tactics, aimed mostly to destroy the opposition. Defense was the central idea. The World champions used 5-3-2 formation and the losing finalist entirely defensive and destructive ‘concept’, hoping that Maradona will eventually pull a trick or hand and that will win the match. Short of that – the penalty shootout gambling (which essentially voids any blame from the loser – Vicini defended himself that Italy finished the tournament with 6 wins and 1 tie, unbeaten). The difference between old hated catenaccio and the 1990 defensive football was largely in that: it was not just defensive play, but active hunt of the key players of the opposition anywhere on the field and destroying them. Physically destroying them. Any dirty trick was used – and defended as rightful: either kill the opponent star in the name of victory, or simulate theatrically, so the referee will expel the opposing player. Perhaps the biggest example of the state of the game was the new discoveries – practically none.
Dancing Roger Milla was the discovery of 1990 World Cup – back in 1958, the discovery was 17-years old Pele. Now it was 38-years old and retired for 2 two years former professional player, who was not exactly a great star in his earlier years.
The top scorer of the 1990 World Cup, Toto Schillaci, was of the same suspect mold: not exactly young striker, who shined largely because the ‘stars’ (Vialli and Mancini) utterly disappointed. Schilacci had his 15 minutes of fame and that was that… he never became a true star. In the grand leveling such moments were possible – the development of football in the 1980s made that exactly possible: no real difference between a star and competent ordinary player. As long as anybody can run 90 minutes and is not killed by the opposition, one can do better than Maradona in a given match – even 38-years old retiree or chancy reserve. The problem, however, is that no teenage magician could emerge in such environment.
So let concentrate on the negative side, a whole list of problems. Ugly brutality on and off the field.
The English fans distinguished themselves once again, but their habits of invading a city and destroy anything on their way was rapidly spreading already around the globe. Old problem by now, by fans violence would stubbornly stay with game no matter what measures were, are, and will be taken.
No better on the pitch. 176 yellow and red cards were given in the 1990 finals.
Argentina ‘won’ the championship with 3 red and 21 yellow cards. It was a World Cup which started and finished with expelled players. For the first time there was red card shown at the final – and Argentina took a big leap ‘forward’ in that with 2 players sent off. Hard to beat such lead.
Cameroon was second ‘best’ with 2 red and 14 yellow cards. Yes, the outsiders vastly improved… back in time, the outsiders collected cards largely because of incompetence and frustration. Now it was just like the leading teams: cold-blooded fearless calculated professional brutality. Deliberate, tactical, and no big deal that ‘we’ will play with fewer man – the point was to scare and destroy the ‘others’. It worked – the more you kick and spit, the farther you go… Followed by ‘mellow’ Czechoslovakia – 1 red and 13 yellow cards. The new world champions were very good too: they came 4th in registered brutality with 1 red and 8 yellow cards. Brazil had the same strong record.

Austria played only 3 games, but managed 1 red and 7 yellow cards in them. If they played more… sky was the limit. Uruguay, well remembered as the brutes in the 1986 World Cup, could not even compete with current leaders – they got only 9 yellow cards. The British teams were the gentlemen of the tournament – collectively, they got 13 cards, all yellow (England – 6, Ireland – 4, Scotland – 3). Poor Belgium was last on this honorable table with 1 card (however, it was red – as if trying to catch up with the rest by one big effort). Only 4 games ended with no cards distributed – 3 in the first round (Costa Rica – Scotland, Belgium – Spain, England – Scotland) and the meaningless 3rd place match Italy – England.
This picture is not even full, for the concerns with brutality already forced FIFA to make special statements and instructions to the referees to punish the offenders. But such instructions were quietly and no so quietly reversed as the championship progressed and neared its end: now there were too many cards, it was not good for the commercial image of the World Cup and there were too many complains, for key players missed key games. Argentina had 4 regulars suspended for the final, but the Germans were in full force – is that just? From what point of view? Fans want the best. Television and sponsors want the best. What kind of a final is the one where some obscure reserves play? A dark cast spreads over the champions – if Argentina was not depleted by suspensions, was it possible for the Germans to win? They barely managed – and with referee’s help! – to prevail against severely handicapped squad and against only 9 men of them. On the other hand… Argentina deserved more than two to be red-carded at the final and Germans deserved to see a player or two sent off too.
Brutal football, no fun at all, based on plethora of dirty tricks on one hand, bad refereeing on the other hand. Referees were under criticism for a long time, but in 1990 they were found inadequate. Of course, the Mexican Codesal was in the center of controversy: in short, he did not see a genuine penalty in German favour and later awarded non-existant one, thanks to which the Germans won the title. That was the culmination of complains against the refereeing in 1990. Earlier in the tournament there was special moment, which probably never happened before – a bit of a scandal between a referee and one of the linesmen during the match. The linesman had to be warned sternly that he is not the one making the decision, but this linesman was a referee with much higher status and authority than the one conducting the game – looked like a case of ego clash, but… FIFA was mostly to blame – politics played a huge role in assignments, beginning with the long established practice of ‘fair’ continental inclusion, which in fact put referees with little experience, even knowledge of, contemporary game. They made big mistakes, increasing the tensions on the pitch. Backroom maneuvering brought Codesal to the final and his performance was terrible. There were much better referees than him, but politics prevailed. In the same time FIFA looked for two opposite things at the same time: to clean the ugly game, thus instructing referees to punish many offenses severely. But money were another key aim to FIFA and television and sponsors wanted the big names to be present – there was more than bit of truth in Maradona’s accusation that everybody was against Argentina, because FIFA and sponsors wanted profitable Italy-Germany final. The ‘bright’ image of football was big stars, the strongest teams possible, festive atmosphere – no yellow and red cards shown left and right and teams appearing with reserve players because the regulars were suspended. So, the earlier instructions changed as the championship progressed and the number of yellow and red cards became massive: now, suddenly, it was to be other way around – try not to show cards. No wonder the referees were confused and lost their way – they were criticized for showing cards and not showing cards in the same time and frustration only increased their mistakes.
The combination of problems had only one solution: changing of rules and a process started after the World Cup and continues to this very day and certainly in the future too. More or less, the only helpful and meaningful change was the ban on goal-keepers playing with hands when the ball came to them from a teammate. Time-wasting was killed at last – the end of endless passing between a defender and a goalkeeper. No other rule change really benefited the game – rather, artificially made it speedier and a bit more attractive, but not because it was played better. Anyhow, changes were still in the future in 1990 – presently, it was concluded that the game was practically dying and needed big and massive changes. And that was finally shown by the best eleven of the finals.
Of course, there were various ‘best eleven’, but El Grafico version represents the general tendency. Goycoechea (Argentina) became unlikely hero – thanks to heavy injury of Pumpido he appeared and since so many games ended with penalty shoot-out, he was lucky to save a few penalties and thus the propel Argentina to the final. He did not play badly during the games either, but it was the penalties he saved making him number one – for he was not extraordinary goalkeeper… and there were at least a few better than him at the World Cup, but they played fewer games for early eliminated teams. Bergomi and Baresi… well, Italy did not win the championship, did not even reach the final, so… big names, steady players, but not exactly shining this year. Yet, Augenthaler with them was disturbing – the fact that such a player could be a key figure mostly showed how impoverished on talent football became: a player like Schwarzenbeck, not like Beckenbauer was the best. Brehme deserved his place – at least because there was no other so dependable and versatile left fullback at the finals. Wright… the same as Augenthaler – one can be only sorry for the past when there were impressive players. Same with Matthaus and Gascoigne. To a point, same with Maradona – the only artist among the ‘best eleven’, but he was not particularly great at this championship. Klinsmann deserved his place. Schillaci – yes, a pleasant surprise and the goal-scorer of the championship, but… a great star he was not. For whatever reasons many real stars disappointed: Gullit, van Basten, Rijkard, Vialli, Butragueno, Francescoli, Burruchaga, etc. Only a tiny trickle of young talent and that mostly showing promise: Caniggia, Gascoigne, Baggio, Raducioiu, Popescu, Ingesson, Brolin, Reuter, Richard Witschge. Of them only Reuter made it to the final, yet, as a substitute – seemingly, the days of youngsters like Pele were gone forever…
A picture like this one symbolized best the 1990 state of the game: controversial artist, mixing cocaine with handballs, still ahead of gritty workaholic with limited skills and imagination, who may be behind in talent, but ahead on winning precisely because of his grit.

The final.

08.07.90 (20.00) Roma, Stadio Olimpico

GER – ARG 1:0 (0:0)

(~74000) Codesal MEX, Listkiewicz POL, Pérez COL

GER: Illgner – Augenthaler, Berthold (75 Reuter), Kohler, Buchwald –
Brehme, Hässler, Matthäus (c), Littbarski – Klinsmann, Völler
ARG: Goycoechea – Simon, Serrizuela, Ruggeri (46 Monzón), Troglio –
Sensini, Burruchaga (54 Calderón), Basualdo, Lorenzo – Dezotti, Maradona (c)

1:0 Brehme 85 p

booked: Völler / Troglio, Maradona
sent off: Monzón (65), Dezotti (87)

Well, everything eventually comes to its end… and thus end was a culmination of sorts: culmination of everything wrong with football in the 1980s. Yes, for the first time same finalists opposed each other in the two World Cups in a row. Yes, the stakes were high – both opponents have been World champions twice and had a chance to equal Brazil with 3 titles. Yes, it was impossible to say that other teams would have been better or at least more interesting and deserving finalists. Yes, big stars opposed each other, starting with Maradona. But it was little football played at the final – it was a battle, a war. It was triumph of ugly football as well – if the opening match of the World Cup set the poisonous tone of the whole tournament, the final did not veer away: the championship started with 2 players expelled and ended 2 players expelled. The pictures provided tell the story well enough. If West Germany – or Germany – seemed slightly better on the field, it was only because Argentina played defensively and visible dominance did not translate into real outplaying and scoring opportunities. Not only that, but the mighty Germans had 2 men advantage for considerable time of the game and their best played against impoverished side. True, the Argentines had only themselves to blame for collecting too many cards having banned players, but even so the Germans had to play dirty tricks in order to achieve their aim: the referee would be blamed at end for not seen the theatrics of Klinsmann first, which lead to the expulsion of Monzon, and later giving a very suspect penalty in favour of the Germans, but the Argentines were no angels and already built a nasty reputation, which the Germans explored. Brehme scored the penalty and very well he did, for after suffering 90 minutes it was more than difficult to suffer another 30 minutes of pushing, kicking, tackling, simulating, or time wasting. Football is about scoring goals, but this World Cup simply reached the peak of the 1980s tendencies: there were no goals. A penalty was becoming the only chance of seen the ball in the net and resolve a game – either penalty extracted by hook or crook during the actual game, or penalty shootout after 120 minutes extremely boring and ugly clash. The only heroic thing about a victory was that it saved the fans of suffering at last.
Losing finalists standing from left: Nestor Lorenzo, Jose Serrizuela, Sergio Goycochea, Oscar Ruggeri, Juan Simon, Diego Maradona.
Front row: Jorge Burruchaga, Gustavo Dezotti, Nestor Roberto Sensini, Jose Basualdo, Pedro Troglio.
Given their terrible start, the fact that Argentina was generally not in shape, and their defensive approach, it was a miracle they reached the final. Argentina excelled in only one thing: collecting yellow and red cards. Brutal and gritty, they managed to go all the way and even to get some sympathy at the end, for not the German machine, but rather the referee stopped them from collecting third World title. Not that Argentina deserved it, but holding their ground with 9 men against the German monsters sparked some sympathy. Losing the final in such way also built safety barriers against criticism for Billardo, Maradona and the rest: what can you do? The referee blundered terribly, if not not deliberately. Conspiracy against us, as Maradona was quick to put it – can’t blame victims.

Third time World champions, a great achievement for coach and team. The machine won again and for many, this time the Germans deserved it. In terms of effort and determination… yes, they deserved it. Beckenbauer certainly deserved to win. As for playing football worth the title… the best to say is that among the equally ugly teams the most consistent prevailed: unlike previous World Cups, there were no dazzling teams which would have been better champions. The triumph of gritty, physical football was really Germany and if that was football, they were the true leaders and champions of it: winners of a war, no matter how. Spectacular diving was introduced by them in 1974 and brought results. There was almost no creativity, but one can always look for some invented penalty. Germany was no fun, but heroes had to be made and proclaimed, so… here they were and forget that Matthaus had no imagination and finesse even remotely similar to Beckenbauer, Netzer, Overat, Breitner, Schuster. Forget that there were no goal-scorers like Gerd Muller – ‘we can get a penalty somehow and Brehme would not miss’. And so it was. Perhaps the real symbol of the whole 1990 World Cup was Franz Beckenbauer alone in the center of the field when the ‘festivities’ carried everybody else away along with the spotlights – instantly forgotten hero, not fitting the official festive scenario, perhaps thinking ‘what the hell happened to the beautiful game’. At least his solitary and somewhat sad figure suggested that. To a point, it would have been better if Argentina won.

But a World Cup has to have a winner and the Germans won. Champions are heroes and so there are the heroes. Heroes are praised, so the Germans were praised – collectively and individually. After all, they went all the way. They scored at the final and Argentina did not. Nothing can be said against the facts.

Third place match.

07.06.90 (20.00) Bari, Stadio San Nicola

ITA – ENG 2:1 (0:0)

(+51000) Quiniou FRA, Hansal ARG, Röthlisberger SUI

ITA: Zenga – F.Baresi, Bergomi (c), de Agostini (68 Berti), Ferrara – Maldini,
Vierchowod, Giannini (90 Ferri), Ancelotti – R.Baggio, Schillaci
ENG: Shilton (c) – G.M.Stevens, Walker, Steven, Parker – Wright (73 Waddle),
McMahon (73 Webb), Platt, Dorigo – Lineker, Beardsley

1:0 R.Baggio 70, 1:1 Platt 80, 2:1 Schillaci 85 p

What is there to say… The match for 3rd place already had no meaning for teams and fans. Reserves got chance to play precisely because of that. Lose or win, no big deal. No wonder actual photos of teams are hardly available. Robson pretty much said in advance the match was not important, so why photograph… England lost, so what. Problems were presented in full during the important games, but even that was hardly something to worry Robson – he was leaving the national team anyway. Shilton made a record in both age and number of appearances for the national squad, simultaneously pointing at heavy problem: England already had no world-class goalkeeper behind Shilton. The following decade will make this problem particularly bad. There were other shaky elements in the team and no solution, but England made its best finish since 1970 and although bitter, the mood was – or at least presented as – upbeat and optimistic. Reality replaced by illusions and the English were not alone in that.

Bronze medals spelled out grand failure for Italy. They did not deserve better – from what was displayed on the field – but… since they were hardly worse than the rest, why not winning? Just and unjust criticism piled up – and Vicini was justly criticized for some obvious mistakes he made, but still he had a big standpoint for defense: Italy was unbeaten. Six wins and one tie – elimination came from penalty shootout. Right, wrong, whatever… Italy finished with bronze and nobody was happy of that.

½ finals.

03.07.90 (20.00) Napoli, Stadio San Paolo

ARG – ITA 1:1 (0:1, 1:1, 1:1) p. 4-3

(-60000) Vautrot FRA, Listkiewicz POL, Mikkelsen DAN

ARG: Goycoechea – Ruggeri, Simon, Olarticoechea, Serrizuela – Giusti,
Burruchaga, Basualdo (99 Batista), Calderón (46 Troglio) – Caniggia,
Maradona (c)
ITA: Zenga – F.Baresi, Bergomi (c), de Agostini, Ferri – Maldini, Donadoni,
De Napoli, Giannini (75 R.Baggio) – Vialli (71 Serena), Schillaci

0:1 Schillaci 17, 1:1 Caniggia 67 h

Penalties: 0:1 F.Baresi, 1:1 Serrizuela, 1:2 R.Baggio, 2:2 Burruchaga, 2:3 de
Agostini, 3:3 Olarticoechea, (3:3) Donadoni (save Goycoechea), 4:3 Maradona,
(4:3) Serena (save Goycoechea)

booked: Giannini / Batista, Olarticoechea, Caniggia, Ruggeri
sent off: Giusti (103)
Standing from left: Walter Zenga, Paolo Maldini, Fernando de Napoli, Riccardo Ferri, Beppe Bergomi; Crouching: Franco Baresi, Giuseppe Giannini, Roberto Donadoni, Toto Schillaci, Gianluca Vialli, Luigi de Agostini
Mega-disappointment – Italy was expected to win the world title at home. Blame was distributed in every direction – first, the venue. Naples was blamed by the Italian players and huge number of Italians, mostly from the North. Naples as a whole was blamed for not only unpatriotic, but outright hostile to its own national team. Locals were not exactly helpful, having to chose between their own god, Maradona, and the national team of Italy, which had 3 players of Napoli, but only De Napoli played against Argentina. The rest of team was made of… well, of regular enemies, normally trying to beat their own team and kick and push Maradona around. Those others preferred to play in Rome, not in Naples, expressed by somewhat mysteriously – in Naples, the Italians felt as if playing with chains, but in Rome they always felt free to fly. Vicini made mistakes, hard to miss: he started with Vialli, who disappointed so far and in this match again, so had to be replaced eventually, but Baggio was left out and used as a substitute, but Vicini fielded him too late. As a whole, Italy was not convincing so far and unlike 1982, sluggish and difficult start was not followed by gradual improvement and building of strength. The usual hopes that in the upcoming match Italy was finally going to unfold so far hidden qualities never materialized and even if the team was practically unbeaten, it did not look as winning team either. Playing for bronze medals was not at all what the whole country wanted from the team – hosting the World Cup automatically demanded victory and no excuses.

04.07.90 (20.00) Turin, Stadio Delle Alpi

GER – ENG 1:1 (0:0, 1:1, 1:1) p. 4-3

(-63000) Wright BRA, Pérez COL, Quiniou FRA

GER: Illgner – Brehme, Kohler, Augenthaler, Buchwald – Berthold, Hässler
(68 Reuter), Thon, Matthäus (c) – Klinsmann, Völler (33 Riedle)
ENG: Shilton (c) – Pearce, Walker, Butcher (72 Steven), Parker – Wright,
Waddle, Platt, Gascoigne – Lineker, Beardsley

1:0 Brehme 59, 1:1 Lineker 80

Penalties: 0:1 Lineker, 1:1 Brehme, 1:2 Beardsley, 2:2 Matthäus, 2:3 Platt, 3:3
Riedle, (3:3) Pearce (save Illgner), 4:3 Thon, (4:3) Waddle (missed)

booked: Brehme / Parker, Gascoigne
If Italy was only blamed to mythical extend, England went in the opposite direction – the tears of Gazza were hailed and made an emblem of this team. Yes, this was biggest English success since Mexico 1970. The boys were heroes, only a bit unlucky. Could have been world champions, if only Waddle did not miss the net… but that happens and look at Gazza’s face! England was hardly great so far and struggled a lot, even was lucky to go beyond the first round – and that was the objective view, omitting the tears of a player, who should have scored goals instead of crying.

¼ finals.

30.06.90 (17.00) Florence, Stadio Communale

ARG – JUG 0:0 (0:0, 0:0, 0:0) p 3-2

(-39000) Röthlisberger SUI, Hansal ALG, Jonini TUN

ARG: Goycoechea – Ruggeri, Simon, Olarticoechea (51 Troglio),
Serrizuela – Giusti, Burruchaga, Basualdo, Calderón (89 Dezotti) –
Caniggia, Maradona (c)
JUG: Ivković – Spasić, Hadžibegić, Jozić, Vulić – Šabanadžović,
D.Brnović, Sušić (60 Savićević), Stojković – Prosinečki, Vujović (c)

Penalties: 1:0 Serrizuela, (1:0) Stojković, 2:0 Burruchaga, 2:1 Prosinečki,
(2:1) Maradona (save Ivković), 2:2 Savicević, (2:2) Troglio (out), (2:2)
D.Brnović (save Goychoecea), 3:2 Desotti, (3:2) Hadžibegić (save Goychoecea)

booked: Serrizuela, Olartichoecea, Simon / Šabadžanović
sent off: Šabadzanović (31)

Bitter sweet case, Yugoslavia. Elimination by penalty shootout is something to lament, but not not really to feel disappointment. Speculative mythology builds on such moments: ‘if we had won, sky was the limit’. Perhaps. ‘If we had won, Yugoslavia would be here now – football would have saved it from disintegration and civil wars’. Highly unlikely. Reality: Yugoslavia did well and with bit of luck may have had do better. But the team was not exceptional – it was at par with the rest, no more. At least, nothing to be ashamed of.

30.06.90 (21.00) Roma, Stadio Olimpico

ITA – IRL 1:0 (1:0)

(+73000) Valente POR, Ulloa COS, Pérez COL

ITA: Zenga – F.Baresi, Bergomi (c), de Agostini, Ferri – Maldini, Donadoni,
de Napoli, Giannini (64 Ancelotti) – R.Baggio (72 Serena), Schillaci
IRL: Bonner – Morris, Staunton, McCarthy, Moran – McGrath, Houghton,
Townsend, Aldridge (78 Sheridan) – Sheedy, Quinn (54 Cascarino)

1:0 Schillaci 38

booked: de Agostini / Moran

The Irish did much better than anybody expected. Predictable performance – big hearts, excellent fighters, well motivated – which paid off to the delight of every Irish in the world and those cherishing underdogs, instant heroes, especially considering their limited skills and resources. Jack Charlton summed it all: ‘now I can sit and enjoy a beer with the boys’. Well deserved beer for all.

01.07.90 (17.00) Milano, Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro)

GER – CZE 1:0 (1:0)

(+73000) Kohl AUT, Listkiewicz POL, Mikkelsen DAN

GER: Illgner – Brehme, Kohler, Augenthaler, Buchwald – Berthold, Littbarski,
Bein (84 Möller), Matthäus (c) – Klinsmann, Riedle
CZE: Stejskal – Kadlec, Kocian, Chovanec, Hašek (c) – Bilek (70 Nemeček),
Kubik (81 Griga), Moravčik, Straka – Skuhravý, Knofliček

1:0 Matthäus 24 p

booked: Klinsmann / Bilek, Straka, Knofliček
sent off: Moravčik (70)

Czechoslovakia fought well, holding its ground to the end. Nothing to be ashamed of, nothing excellent either. The players knew very well that good World Cup was going to give them good contracts with western professional clubs and did not miss the opportunity.

01.07.90 (21.00) Napoli, Stadio San Paolo

ENG – CAM 3:2 (1:0, 2:2, 3:2)

(+55000) Codesal MEX, Mandi BHR, Mauro USA

ENG: Shilton (c) – Pearce, Walker, Butcher (74 Steven), Parker – Wright, Waddle,
Platt, Gascoigne – Lineker, Barnes (46 Beardsley)
CAM: N’Kono – Ebwelle, Massing, Kunde, Tataw (c) – Pagal, Libiih, M’Fede
(63 Ekéké), Maboang (46 Milla) – Makanaky, Omam-Biyik

1:0 Platt 25 h, 1:1 Kunde 63 p, 1:2 Ekéké 65, 2:2 Lineker 83 p, 3:2 Lineker
105 p

booked: Pearce / Massing, Milla, N’Kono
Cameroon excelled and perhaps with just a bit of luck would have reached semi-finals. They were equal to the leading teams of the world – African football was no longer a joke, nor even ‘developing’: it was equal. With a little twist… a rather as comment on the state of game in 1990: a retired 38 years old player came to the World Cup and was one of the best on the field. Not even Maradona shined in 1990 as Milla shined. Wonderful in itself. Cameroon also played very well as a team and achieving equality with the leading countries, Camerron achieved it in full: they were the second most brutal team in the finals. Equality also meant ugliness, that was the sad reality.

1/8 finals.

23.06.90 (17.00) Napoli, Stadio San Paolo

CAM – COL 2:1 (0:0, 0:0, 0:0)

(+50000) Lanese ITA, Al-Sharif SYR, Ulloa COS

CAM: N’Kono – Ebwelle, Onana, N’Dip, Tataw (c) – Kana-Biyik, M’Bouh, M’Fede
(58 Milla), Maboang – Makanaky (71 Djonkep), Omam-Biyik
COL: Higuita – A.Herrera, Perea, Escobar, Gómez Monsalve – Gómez Jaramillo
(79 Redin), Alvarez, Valderrama (c) – Rincón, Fajardo (63 Iguaran), Estrada

1:0 Milla 106, 2:0 Milla 109, 2:1 Redin 116

booked: Kana Byik, N’Dip, M’Bouh, Onana / Perea, Gómez Monsalve

Colombia left good impression, but what a stupid way to get itself eliminated – the memorable idiocy of Rene Higuita going ahead and trying to trick Milla instead of passing the ball safely to one of his teammates. Yet, it was good going so far and at home satisfaction prevailed. Internationally, the world discovered that there is more talent in Colombia than Valderrama.

23.06.90 (21.00) Bari, Stadio San Nicola

CZE – COS 4:1 (1:0)

(-48000) Kirschen DDR, Pérez COL, d’Elia ITA

CZE: Stejskal – Kadlec, Kocian, Chovanec, Hašek (c) – Bilek, Kubik, Moravčik,
Straka – Skuhravý, Knofliček
COS: Barrantes – Flores (c), Montero, J.Obando (46 Medford), Chavez – González,
Chavarria (66 Guimaráes), Marchena, Cayasso – Ramirez, C.Jara

1:0 Skuhravý 11 h, 1:1 González 55 h, 2:1 Skuhravý 62 h, 3:1 Kubik 78 f,
4:1 Skuhravý 82 h

booked: Kocian, Straka, Hašek / González, Marchena

Costa Rica outdid itself. They lost badly at the 1/8 finals, but still it was proud exit. If anything, the Costaricans proved that anonymous team needs only to learn the rules of modern collective and pressing football to be equal to the big boys. Bora Milutinovic did good job and perhaps in Italy he got real international recognition. At home, the boys were instant heroes.

24.06.90 (17.00) Turin, Stadio Delle Alpi

ARG – BRA 1:0 (0:0)

(+61000) Quiniou FRA, Pairetto ITA, Junini TUN

ARG: Goycoechea – Simon, Ruggeri, Monzón, Olarticoechea – Giusti, Troglio
(63 Calderón), Caniggia – Basualdo, Burruchaga, Maradona (c)
BRA: Taffarel – Mauro Galvão (85 Renato), Ricardo Gomes (c), Ricardo
Rocha, Jorginho – Valdo, Dunga, Alemão (85 Silas), Branco – Careca, Müller

1:0 Caniggia 81

booked: Monzón, Giusti, Goycoechea / Ricardo Rocha, Mauro Galvão
sent off: Ricardo Rocha (85)

Against Argentina, standing from left: Taffarel, Rocha, Galvao, Ricardo, Jorginho, Branco.
Crouching: Muller, Alemao, Careca, Dunga, Valdo.
Brazil came to win the title, but had to go home early instead. Many things to blame for the failure, but at the end the most convenient excuse was the ‘poisoned water’ offered to Branco by the Argentines. Hardly the reason for missed scoring opportunities, though.
24.06.90 (21.00) Milano, Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro)

GER – HOL 2:1 (0:0)

(-75000) Laustau ARG, Jacome ECU, Mauro USA

GER: Illgner – Reuter, Brehme, Kohler, Augenthaler – Buchwald,
Berthold, Matthäus (c), Littbarski – Völler, Klinsmann (78 Riedle)
HOL: Van Breukelen – Van Aerle (67 Kieft), Rijkaard, R.Koeman, van
Tiggelen – Wouters, Ri.Witschge (79 Gillhaus), Winter, van’t Schip – Van
Basten, Gullit (c)

1:0 Klinsmann 51, 2:0 Brehme 82, 2:1 R.Koeman 89 p

booked: Völler, Matthäus / Wouters, Van Basten, Rijkaard
sent off: Völler (22), Rijkaard (22)
For many, Holland vs Germany was the best match in the finals. Others remembered the spitting ‘incident’, leading to the expulsion of Rijkard and Voeller. If the Irish tale of agreement on the pitch between the teams to end in a tie is true, then there was just punishment for the crime of fixing a match – Holland had to face one of the strongest teams and on top of it, an archenemy. More ‘pedestrian’ reasons like bad form, tiredness, and internal frictions are better explanations, but the fact remains: the Germans scored, the Dutch did not and got vacation.

25.06.90 (17.00) Genoa, Stadio Luigi Ferraris

(-32000) Wright BRA, Maciel PAR, Mandi SRI

IRL – ROM 0:0 (0:0, 0:0, 0:0) p 5-4

IRL: Bonner – Morris, Staunton (95 O’Leary), McCarthy (c), Moran –
McGrath, Houghton, Townsend, Aldridge (19 Cascarino) – Sheedy, Quinn
ROM: Lung (c) – Rednic, Klein, Andone, Gh.Popescu – Rotariu, Sabău (96
D.Timofte), Hagi, Lupescu – Răducioiu (76 Lupu), Balint

Penalties: 0:1 Hagi, 1:1 Sheedy, 1:2 Lupu, 2:2 Houghton, 2:3 Rotariu, 3:3
Townsend, 3:4 Lupescu, 4:4 Cascarino, (4:4) D.Timofte (save Bonner), 4:5
O’Leary

booked: Aldridge, McGrath / Hagi, Lupu

Hard to blame Romania for anything – they were eliminated only in the penalty shootout and even that was a matter of one penalty saved by Bonner. No disappointment at the end. As for home reactions, it is hard to tell how much football was really on the minds of the Romanians in the middle of political turmoil, made present at the World Cup by country’s flags with a hole in the middle where the Communist emblem used to be. Most players were already noticed and after the World Cup quickly moved to play for foreign clubs.

25.06.90 (21.00) Roma, Stadio Olimpico

ITA – URU 2:0 (0:0)

(+73000) Courtney ENG, Petrović JUG, Röthlisberger SUI

ITA: Zenga – F.Baresi, Bergomi (c), De Agostini, Ferri – Maldini, Berti
(54 Serena), de Napoli, Giannini – R.Baggio (80 Vierchowod), Schillaci
URU: Alvez – Gutiérrez, de Leon, Dominguez, Pintos – Perdomo, Ostolaza
(80 Alzamendi), Francescoli (c) – Ruben Pereira, Aguilera (67 Sosa), Fonseca

1:0 Schillaci 65, 2:0 Serena 85 h

booked: Berti / Aguilera, Alvez, Perdomo, Gutiérrez

Italy was the favourite, so no much trouble over losing – Uruguay did well with its limited resources and Tabarez was judged favorably. The team lost some of their image of brutes, but hardly because of cleaning its play – it was just that most teams played brutal football and Uruguay blended in the environment.

26.06.90 (17.00) Verona, Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi

JUG – ESP 2:1 (0:0, 1:1, 2:1)

(+35000) Schmidhuber GER, Listkiewicz POL, Snoddy NIR

JUG: Ivković – Spasić, Hadžibegić, Jozić, D.Brnović – Sušić, Stojković,
Katanec (80 Vulić), Šabanadžović – Pančev (57 Savićević), Vujović (c)
ESP: Zubizarreta – Chendo, Villaroya, Gorriz, Andrinúa (49 Jimenez) –
Sanchis, Roberto, Vázquez, Butragueño (c – 80 Paz) – Michel, Salinas

1:0 Stojković 77, 1:1 Salinas 83, 2:1 Stojković 92 f

booked: Katanec, Vujović, Vulić / Roberto, Chendo
Spain performed more or less as expected – nothing especially bright and creative. Reaching the 1/8 finals was pretty much the limit. Once again the team disappointed the fans at home, but that was a tradition… and not taken as bad as in 1982.

26.06.90 (21.00) Bologna, Stadio Renato Dall’Ara

ENG – BEL 1:0 (0:0, 0:0, 0:0)

(+34000) Mikkelsen DAN, Kohl AUT, Takada JAP

ENG: Shilton (c) – Pearce, Walker, Butcher, Parker – Wright, Waddle, McMahon
(73 Platt), Gascoigne – Lineker, Barnes (76 Bull)
BEL: Preud’homme – Gerets, Clijsters, Demol, Grun – De Wolf, F.van der
Elst, Scifo, Versavel (118 Vervoort) – Degryse (66 Claesen), Ceulemans (c)

1:0 Platt 119

booked: Gascoigne
Belgium did not disappoint, did not excel. They delivered their usual sturdy and determined performance, but with little bright moments. To a point, it was too bad they were eliminated, for England struggled too and won the match only by a very late goal by substitute, but football counts goals, not wishes. One thing was sure – this was the twilight of some great heroes: Gerets, Ceulemans, very likely van der Elst and Preud’homme. And Guy Thys.

Group F.
11.06.90 (21.00) Cagliari, Stadio Sant’ Elia

ENG – IRL 1:1 (1:0)

(+35000) Schmidhuber GER, Fredriksson SWE, Röthlisberger SUI

ENG: Shilton – G.M.Stevens, Pearce, Walker, Butcher – Robson (c), Waddle,
Gascoigne, Barnes – Lineker (84 Bull), Beardsley (70 McMahon)
IRL: Bonner – Morris, Staunton, McCarthy (c), Moran – McGrath, Houghton,
Townsend, Aldridge (65 McLoughlin) – Cascarino, Sheedy

1:0 Lineker 8, 1:1 Sheedy 72

booked: McMahon

12.06.90 (21.00) Palermo, Stadio Della Favorita

EGY – HOL 1:1 (0:0)

(-34000) Soriano ESP, Codesal MEX, Cardellino URU

EGY: Shobeir – I.Hassan, Yassein, H.Ramzy, A.Ramzy (71 Tolba) – Yakan,
Youssef, Abdelghani, H.Hassan – Abdelhamid (c – 71 Abdelrahman), El Kass
HOL: Van Breukelen – Van Aerle, Rijkaard, R.Koeman, Van Tiggelen – Rutjes,
Wouters, E.Koeman (71 Ri.Witschge), Vanenburg (46 Kieft) – Van Basten,
Gullit (c)

0:1 Kieft 58, 1:1 Abdelghani 83 p

booked: A.Ramzy / Kieft

16.06.90 (17..00) Cagliari, Stadio Sant’ Elia

ENG – HOL 0:0

(+35000) Petrović JUG, Hensal ARG, Codesal MEX

ENG: Shilton – Parker, Pearce, Walker, Butcher – Wright, Robson (c – 71 Platt),
Waddle (65 Bull), Gascoigne – Barnes, Lineker
HOL: Van Breukelen – Van Aerle, Rijkaard, R.Koeman, Van Tiggelen – Wouters,
Ri.Witschge, van’t Schip (81 Kieft), Gillhaus – Van Basten, Gullit (c)

17.06.90 Palermo, Stadio Della Favorita

EGY – IRL 0:0

(+33000) Van Langenhove BEL, Quiniou FRA, Lo Bello ITA

EGY: Shobeir – I.Hassan, Yassein, H.Ramzy, Tolba (61 Aboud Zeid) – Yakan,
Youssef, Abdelghani (c), H.Hassan – Oraby, El Kass (77 Abdelhamid)
IRL: Bonner – Morris, Staunton, McCarthy (c), Moran – McGrath, Houghton,
Townsend, Aldridge (65 McLoughlin) – Cascarino (85 Quinn), Sheedy

booked: Shobeir / Morris

21.06.90 (21.00) Cagliari, Stadio Sant’ Elia

ENG – EGY 1:0 (0:0)

(-35000) Röthlisberger SUI, Codesal MEX, Ulloa COS

ENG: Shilton (c) – Parker, Pearce, Walker, Wright – McMahon, Waddle,
Gascoigne, Barnes – Lineker, Bull (84 Beardsley)
EGY: Shobeir – I.Hassan, Yassein, H.Ramzy, A.Ramzy – Yakan, Youssef,
Abdelghani, H.Hassan – El Kass (78 Soliman), Abdelhamid (c – 78 Abdelrahman)

1:0 Wright 59 h

booked: Beardsley / Abdelghani, I.Hassan

21.06.90 (21.00) Palermo, Stadio Della Favorita

HOL – IRL 1:1 (1:0)

(+33000) Vautrot FRA, Hansal ALG, Lorenc AUS

HOL: Van Breukelen – Van Aerle, Rijkaard, R.Koeman, Van Tiggelen –
Wouters, Ri.Witschge (60 Fräser), Kieft (80 Van Loen) – Gillhaus, Van Basten,
Gullit (c)
IRL: Bonner – Morris, Staunton, McCarthy (c), Moran, McGrath – Houghton,
Townsend, Aldridge (63 Cascarino) – Quinn, Sheedy (63 Whelan)

1:0 Gullit 10, 1:1 Quinn 71

booked: Rijkaard

1. ENG^ 3 1 2 0 4 2-1
2. IRL^ 3 0 3 0 3 2-2
3. HOL^ 3 0 3 0 3 2-2
4. EGY 3 0 2 1 2 1-2

NOTE: IRL awarded second place by lot
What a drama this group was – not that much because some great football was played, but because it was fantastic battle between… equals, ending after all games finished and a lot had to be drawn. Before the last round all teams had equal points and same goal-difference: 2 points each and 1-1. So far every game ended in a tie. At last England managed to extract 1-0 victory against Egypt and was happy. The Irish and the Dutch took different approach… which became known years after the game: when Niall Quinn equalized in the 71st minute the Irish captain approached Ruud Gullit and suggested they just keep the result for the remaining minutes. What was there to risk for? Both teams qualified with 1-1. Gullit agreed and the game ended 1-1. Interesting revelation, if true… for there were about 20 minutes to play not only between Holland and Ireland, but between England and Egypt as well and it was not at all sure England would keep their fragile lead. Nobody was qualified yet, actually the chances were still all teams to finish with same points and goal-difference. A massive problem for FIFA was looming – 4 teams with 3 points and 2-2 goal-difference… what then? Luckily, England preserved its lead and diminished the problem somewhat – first and last places in the group were decided on the field. Second and third position not – and a lot was drawn, which Ireland won and was placed second. If really Gullit agreed on a tie, now it was the moment to bitterly regret the agreement – placed 3rd, Holland was going to play against Germany in the next round. Anyhow, Ireland put very brave performance in the group and although Charlton was mad at his players for the tie with Egypt, it was quite a predictable outcome: the Irish usually played their toughest best against strong teams and against outsiders… well, they had a scoring problem. Holland also disappointed a bit, particularly against Egypt, but still was expected to return to their best against Germany, which was motivational factor for the Dutch on the same level as England spurred to life the Irish. Egypt played very well under the circumstances – they were equal to all others and too bad they had to exit, but they were going home without shame.

Group F. England, Holland, Republic of Ireland, Egypt
England

Head coach: Bobby Robson
No.
Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Club
1
GK
Peter Shilton
18 September 1949 (aged 40)
118
Derby County
2
DF
Gary Stevens
27 March 1963 (aged 27)
39
Rangers
3
DF
Stuart Pearce
24 April 1962 (aged 28)
24
Nottingham Forest
4
MF
Neil Webb
30 July 1963 (aged 26)
19
Manchester United
5
DF
Des Walker
26 November 1965 (aged 24)
18
Nottingham Forest
6
DF
Terry Butcher
28 December 1958 (aged 31)
72
Rangers
7
MF
Bryan Robson (c)
11 January 1957 (aged 33)
85
Manchester United
8
MF
Chris Waddle
14 December 1960 (aged 29)
52
Marseille
9
FW
Peter Beardsley
18 January 1961 (aged 29)
40
Liverpool
10
FW
Gary Lineker
30 November 1960 (aged 29)
51
Tottenham Hotspur
11
MF
John Barnes
7 November 1963 (aged 26)
53
Liverpool
12
DF
Paul Parker
4 April 1964 (aged 26)
5
Queens Park Rangers
13
GK
Chris Woods
14 November 1959 (aged 30)
16
Rangers
14
DF
Mark Wright
1 August 1963 (aged 26)
24
Derby County
15
DF
Tony Dorigo
31 December 1965 (aged 24)
3
Chelsea
16
MF
Steve McMahon
20 August 1961 (aged 28)
12
Liverpool
17
MF
David Platt
10 June 1966 (aged 23)
5
Aston Villa
18
MF
Steve Hodge
25 October 1962 (aged 27)
22
Nottingham Forest
19
MF
Paul Gascoigne
27 May 1967 (aged 23)
11
Tottenham Hotspur
20
MF
Trevor Steven
21 September 1963 (aged 26)
26
Rangers
21
FW
Steve Bull
28 March 1965 (aged 25)
7
Wolverhampton Wanderers
22
GK
David Seaman*
19 September 1963 (aged 26)
3
Queens Park Rangers
No.
Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Club

22
GK
Dave Beasant
20 March 1959 (aged 31)
2
Chelsea

* David Seaman was originally selected, but after the first game in Italy, he had to pull out of the squad due to a thumb injury and was replaced by Dave Beasant.
Group F deserved to be called ‘the group of death’ not only because this was not a group with one big favourite, but two, but largely because of the specifics of the participants. England could be seen as the best candidate for top place largely because of the internal frictions in the Dutch team. Bobby Robson was not only coach with massive reputation, but also considered the best man for the job in England and he had all best players at his disposal. The late injury of David Seaman was not a problem – not only because England used the new regulation of FIFA permitting to replace injured player after the team selections were officially submitted, but largely because Seaman was a mere third choice and Shilton, nearing his 41st birthday, was undisputed starter. High expectations in England, but outside it… the English national team lost edge long ago and was not seen as a prime candidate for the title. Opinions were cautious and skeptical and Robson somewhat concurred with his statement that there was never before so many equal teams at the finals and anybody could win, hard to predict.
Netherlands

Head coach: Leo Beenhakker
No.
Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Club
1
GK
Hans van Breukelen
4 October 1956 (aged 33)
52
PSV
2
DF
Berry van Aerle
8 December 1962 (aged 27)
22
PSV
3
MF
Frank Rijkaard
30 September 1962 (aged 27)
42
Milan
4
DF
Ronald Koeman
21 March 1963 (aged 27)
43
Barcelona
5
DF
Adri van Tiggelen
16 June 1957 (aged 32)
40
Anderlecht
6
MF
Jan Wouters
17 July 1960 (aged 29)
30
Ajax
7
MF
Erwin Koeman
20 September 1961 (aged 28)
23
Mechelen
8
MF
Gerald Vanenburg
5 March 1964 (aged 26)
36
PSV
9
FW
Marco van Basten
31 October 1964 (aged 25)
35
Milan
10
MF
Ruud Gullit (c)
1 September 1962 (aged 27)
44
Milan
11
MF
Richard Witschge
20 September 1969 (aged 20)
4
Ajax
12
FW
Wim Kieft
12 November 1962 (aged 27)
27
PSV
13
DF
Graeme Rutjes
26 March 1960 (aged 30)
7
Mechelen
14
FW
John van ‘t Schip
30 November 1963 (aged 26)
22
Ajax
15
FW
Bryan Roy
12 February 1970 (aged 20)
2
Ajax
16
GK
Joop Hiele
25 December 1958 (aged 31)
6
Feyenoord
17
FW
Hans Gillhaus
5 November 1963 (aged 26)
2
Aberdeen
18
DF
Henk Fraser
7 July 1966 (aged 23)
2
Roda JC
19
FW
John van Loen
4 February 1965 (aged 25)
6
Roda JC
20
MF
Aron Winter
1 March 1967 (aged 23)
11
Ajax
21
DF
Danny Blind
1 August 1961 (aged 28)
5
Ajax
22
GK
Stanley Menzo
15 October 1963 (aged 26)
1
Ajax
The reasons the reigning European champions were somewhat less likely to top the group were the following: yes, Holland had had the best core of mega-stars among all finalists (Gullit-vanBasten-Rijkard-Ronald Koeman), surrounded by fantasticly talented teammates, but… on one hand, the internal tremors and scandals. The coach was replaced in the last minute, but Beenhakker was not ready-made solution – Gullit had problem with him, which poisoned the atmosphere. Himself, Gullit was not at its best and the same could be said for the other mega-stars, coming tired from grueling Italian and Spanish championships and European tournaments. The opponents in the group were another challenge – the Dutch had traditional respect for British football, seeing themselves as inferior, which made playing against British team always problematic and this time they had not one, but two British opponents. Nobody seriously thought the Dutch could be knocked down in the first round of the finals, but most likely they would finish second and with lots of sweat. However, the ironic words of Cruijff eventually proved prophetic – he said something like ‘they wriggle sensing disastrous failure’, which at first looked like his usual jab at the Dutch Federation, but as the championship progressed…
Republic of Ireland

Head coach:  Jack Charlton
No.
Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Club
1
GK
Pat Bonner
24 May 1960 (aged 30)
38
Celtic
2
DF
Chris Morris
24 December 1963 (aged 26)
21
Celtic
3
DF
Steve Staunton
19 January 1969 (aged 21)
13
Liverpool
4
DF
Mick McCarthy (c)
7 February 1959 (aged 31)
42
Millwall
5
DF
Kevin Moran
29 April 1956 (aged 34)
55
Blackburn Rovers
6
MF
Ronnie Whelan
25 September 1961 (aged 28)
38
Liverpool
7
DF
Paul McGrath
4 December 1959 (aged 30)
36
Aston Villa
8
MF
Ray Houghton
9 January 1962 (aged 28)
29
Liverpool
9
FW
John Aldridge
18 September 1958 (aged 31)
30
Real Sociedad
10
FW
Tony Cascarino
1 September 1962 (aged 27)
21
Aston Villa
11
MF
Kevin Sheedy
21 October 1959 (aged 30)
28
Everton
12
DF
David O’Leary
2 May 1958 (aged 32)
51
Arsenal
13
MF
Andy Townsend
23 July 1963 (aged 26)
12
Norwich City
14
DF
Chris Hughton
11 December 1958 (aged 31)
50
Tottenham Hotspur
15
FW
Bernie Slaven
13 November 1960 (aged 29)
4
Middlesbrough
16
MF
John Sheridan
1 October 1964 (aged 25)
8
Sheffield Wednesday
17
FW
Niall Quinn*
6 October 1966 (aged 23)
15
Manchester City
18
FW
Frank Stapleton
10 July 1956 (aged 33)
71
Blackburn Rovers
19
FW
David Kelly
25 November 1965 (aged 24)
6
Leicester City
20
FW
John Byrne
1 February 1961 (aged 29)
19
Le Havre
21
MF
Alan McLoughlin
20 April 1967 (aged 23)
1
Swindon Town
22
GK
Gerry Peyton
20 May 1956 (aged 34)
28
Bournemouth
* Niall Quinn was registered as Ireland’s third goalkeeper
A team admired not for skills, but for spirit and after their brave performance at the 1988 European finals, the team was on a roll. It was expected not to disappoint, but to finish third anyway. Jack Charlton repeatedly said that motivation was not his concern – the Irish always gave their best and having England to play against was enough motivation. Skills were also not a concern – Charlton knew very well that he had a team with limited abilities and did not even thing of creating some fancy schemes. He only wanted the boys to do what they could and to press their opponents away from the Irish net. Simple concept, but realistic one. As a curious note, the Irish team was the only one at the finals with 2 goalkeepers – normally, every coach got the fear of some terrible injuries and took three keepers to the finals, but the new FIFA rule permitted late changes in the team lists, so why still keeping three keepers? Colombia listed just 2 keepers, but Charlton went outdid them by listing striker Niall Quinn as eventual third goalie. And why not? He had Irish at his hand – not particularly skillful players, but spirited enough to play at any position.
Egypt

Head coach: Mahmoud Al-Gohari
No.
Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Club
1
GK
Ahmed Shobair
28 September 1960 (aged 29)
52
Al Ahly
2
DF
Ibrahim Hassan
10 August 1966 (aged 23)
45
Al Ahly
3
DF
Rabie Yassin
7 September 1960 (aged 29)
81
Al Ahly
4
DF
Hany Ramzy
10 March 1969 (aged 21)
28
Al Ahly
5
DF
Hesham Yakan
10 August 1962 (aged 27)
35
Zamalek
6
DF
Ashraf Kasem
25 July 1966 (aged 23)
38
Zamalek
7
MF
Ismail Youssef
28 June 1964 (aged 25)
29
Zamalek
8
MF
Magdi Abdelghani
27 July 1959 (aged 30)
N/A
Beira-Mar
9
FW
Hossam Hassan
10 August 1966 (aged 23)
49
Al Ahly
10
MF
Gamal Abdel-Hamid (c)
24 November 1957 (aged 32)
76
Zamalek
11
MF
Tarek Soliman
24 January 1962 (aged 28)
N/A
Al-Masry
12
MF
Taher Abouzeid
10 April 1962 (aged 28)
57
Al Ahly
13
DF
Ahmed Ramzy
25 October 1965 (aged 24)
27
Zamalek
14
MF
Alaa Maihoub
19 January 1963 (aged 27)
N/A
Al Ahly
15
MF
Saber Eid
1 May 1959 (aged 31)
N/A
Ghazl El-Mehalla
16
MF
Magdy Tolba
24 February 1964 (aged 26)
N/A
PAOK
17
FW
Ayman Shawky
9 December 1962 (aged 27)
N/A
Al Ahly
18
MF
Osama Orabi
22 January 1962 (aged 28)
N/A
Al Ahly
19
FW
Adel Abdel Rahman
11 December 1967 (aged 22)
N/A
Al Ahly
20
FW
Ahmed El-Kass
8 July 1965 (aged 24)
42
El-Olympi Alexandria
21
GK
Ayman Taher
7 January 1966 (aged 24)
N/A
Zamalek
22
GK
Thabet El-Batal
16 September 1953 (aged 36)
87
Al Ahly
The outsiders took the World Cup so seriously, they almost missed it. Long training camps were nothing new when World Cup preparations went and national teams often took precedence over clubs and even domestic schedules, but Egypt outdid everything done to this time: in the interest of the national team the domestic championship was canceled and Egypt decided to withdraw from the African championship finals, taking place in the spring before the World Cup. Algeria, hosting the African finas, took issue with the Egyptian idea and complained to FIFA. FIFA ruled out that if Egypt did not appear at the African finals, they will be expelled from the World Cup finals. Egypt sent its second team to Algeria and continued to prepare its bests for the World Cup. From aside, Egypt was unknown team with unknown coach, but African football vastly developed during the 1980s, so they were not taken as hopeless punchbag for the others – it was considered that team Egypt will put some fight and go home after a brave, but losing first round.

Group E.
12.06.90 (17.00) Verona, Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi

BEL – KOR 2:0 (0:0)

(~33000) Mauro USA, Courtney ENG, Snoddy NIR

BEL: Preud’homme – Gerets (c), Clijsters, Demol, de Wolf – Versavel,
F.van der Elst, Scifo, Degryse – Emmers, Van der Linden (46 Ceulemans)
KOR: Choi In-young – Hong Myung-bo, Gu Sang-bum, Choi Kang-hee, Chung
Young-hwang (c) – Park Kyung-joon, Noh Soo-jin (64 Lee Tae-ho), Kim Joo-sung,
Lee Young-jin (46 Cho Min-kook) – Hwang Seon-hong, Choi Soon-ho

1:0 Degryse 53, 2:0 de Wolf 64

booked: Choi Soon-ho

13.06.90 (17.00) Udine, Stadio Friuli

ESP – URU 0:0

(-36000) Kohl AUT, Spirin ZSR, Kirschen DDR

ESP: Zubizarreta – Chendo, Andrinúa, Sanchis, Jimenez – Michel,
Roberto, Villaroya (79 Rafa Paz), Vazquez – Butragueño (c), Manolo (79
Gorriz)
URU: Alvez – J.O.Herrera, Gutiérrez, de Leon, Dominguez – Perdomo,
Paz, Francescoli (c), Ruben Pereira (68 Correa) – Alzamendi (65 Aguilera),
Sosa

(73 Sosa missed penalty)

booked: Jimenez, Villaroya / Perdomo, Francescoli

17.06.90 (21.00) Udine, Stadio Friuli

ESP – KOR 3:1 (1:1)

(-33000) Jacome ECU, Loustau ARG, Magni ITA

ESP: Zubizarreta – Chendo, Andrinúa, Sanchis, Roberto (81 Bakero) –
Villaroya, Vázquez, Gorris – Butragueño (c – 77 Gómez), Michel, Salinas
KOR: Choi In-young – Hong Myung-bo, Gu Sang-bum, Choi Kang-hee (70
Chung Soo-jin), Yoon Deuk-yeo, Park Kyung-joon, Chong Hae-won (53 Noh Soo-jin),
Kim Joo-sung, Hwang Bo-kwan – Byun Byung-joo, Choi Soon-ho

1:0 Michel 22, 1:1 Hwang Bo-kwan 42, 2:1 Michel 61 f, 3:1 Michel 81

booked: Chung Hae-won, Yoon Deuk-yeo, Hwang Bo-kwan

17.06.90 (21.00) Verona, Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi

BEL – URU 3:1 (2:0)

(-34000) Kirschen DDR, Mikkelsen DAN, Spirin ZSR

BEL: Preud’homme – Gerets, Grün, Clijsters (46 Emmers), Demol – de
Wolf, Versavel (68 Vervoort), F.van der Elst, Scifo – Degryse, Ceulemans (c)
URU: Alvez – J.O.Herrera, Gutiérrez, de Leon, Dominguez – Perdomo,
Francescoli (c), Paz, Ostolaza (56 Bengoechea) – Alzamendi (46 Aguilera),
Sosa

1:0 Clijsters 16 h, 2:0 Scifo 22, 3:0 Ceulemans 48, 3:1 Bengoechea 74

booked: Gerets / Sosa
sent off: Gerets (41)

21.06.90 (17.00) Verona, Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi

ESP – BEL 2:1 (2:1)

(-36000) Loustau ARG, Macial PAR, Mauro USA

ESP: Zubizarreta – Chendo, Andrinúa, Sanchis, Roberto – Villaroya,
Vázquez, Gorriz – Butragueño (c – 61 Alkorta), Michel, Salinas (89
Pardeza)
BEL: Preud’homme – Staelens (79 Van der Linden), Albert, Emmers
(32 Plovie), Demol – de Wolf, Vervoort, F.van der Elst, Scifo – Degryse,
Ceulemans (c)

1:0 Michel 20 p, 1:1 Vervoort 28 f, 2:1 Gorriz 37 h (59 Scifo missed
penalty)

21.06.90 (17.00) Udine, Stadio Friuli

URU – KOR 1:0 (0:0)

(+29000) Lanese ITA, Diramba GAB, Jonini TUN

URU: Alvez – J.O.Herrera, Gutiérrez, de Leon, Dominguez – Perdomo,
Francescoli (c), Paz, Ostolaza (46 Aguilera), Martinez, Sosa (64 Fonseca)
KOR: Choi In-young – Hong Myung-bo, Choi Kang-hee, Yoon Deuk-yeo, Park
Kyung-joon – Lee Heung-sil, Kim Joo-sung, Chung Jong-soo, Hwang Bo-kwan (83
Chung Hae-won) – Byun Byung-joo (43 Hwang Seon-hong), Choi Soon-ho

1:0 Fonseca 90 h

booked: Ostolaza, Herrera / Lee Heung-sil, Choi Kwang-heo
sent off: Yoon Deuk-yeo (70)

1. ESP^ 3 2 1 0 5 5-2
2. BEL^ 3 2 0 1 4 6-3
3. URU^ 3 1 1 1 3 2-3
4. KOR 3 0 0 3 0 1-6
Expectations fulfilled, including those of the top three teams – they qualified to the next stage. However, there was no team which excelled and looked like going all the way the final of the tournament.