I definitely was not born when Marco Tardelli found the bottom corner of Toni Schumacher’s goal in July 1982, but I certainly do comprehend how important it was to the generation of calcio fans that followed. I was just a young boy when my father bought me a copy of The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Soccer where I read all about the difficulties Commissario tecnico Enzo Bearzot and his players faced prior to the start of the tournament.
The Azzurri entered the tournament under a dark cloud of a betting scandal that implicated Perugia (who were deducted 5 points in 1980-81 Serie A season), Milan and Lazio (they were relegated to Serie B to start the 1980-81 season). Many important players were implicated as well, such as Enrico Albertosi (banned for 4 years), Bruno Giordano (banned for 3 years and 6 months) and Paolo Rossi (banned for 2 years). Rossi’s suspension was significant at the time because he finished the previous season in 3rd place in the Capocannoniere race with 13 goals. His suspension was originally 3 years but it was reduced on appeal to 2 years which allowed him to Italy’s squad for the World Cup in Spain.
Italy’s tournament started off quite slowly with a 0-0 draw against Poland, a 1-1 draw against Peru and another 1-1 draw against Cameroon. Even after drawing all 3 games, they managed to qualify for the next round in a group with Argentina and Brazil. This Italy squad may be the only team in World Cup history to draw all three games and still qualify for the next round. This is one of the reasons why FIFA changed the value of a win from 2 to 3 points in 1994.
Even though they did not win in the first round, this version of the Azzurri proved their worth by beating Diego Maradona’s Argentina in a 2-1 win. The man of the match was Claudio Gentile who man-marked Diego Maradona off the pitch. That picture of Maradona standing beside Gentile represents the creation of the legend of the tough tackling Italian style defending. Gentile played the same way against Zico’s Brazil, but it was Paolo Rossi who stole the show with a hattrick to lead his team to a 3-2 victory. It was not before Dino Zoff’s miraculous save to preserve the lead, the win, and qualification for the semi-finals.
Italy faced Poland in the semi-finals and it was Paolo Rossi who scored another 2 goals to single-handily win the game for the Azzurri to set up a final versus a West Germany side that violently punished Platini’s France when West German goalkeeper Toni Schumacher literally threw his hip into Patrick Battiston’s head.
In the final, Antonio Cabrini missed an early opportunity to give Italy the lead, but it would eventually come through the tournament’s Golden Boot winner Paolo Rossi with a close-range finish. Italy would double their lead after Marco Tardelli’s left footed shot found the back of the net after receiving a pass from legendary sweeper Gaetano Scirea. After his goal, he went on his famous celebration, yelling his way into the hearts and minds of the Italian people. After Italy added a third goal through Alessandro Altobelli, in my opinion, came the most defining moment of the last 35 years of Italian history: Italian President Sandro Pertini turning to King Juan Carlos I and the West German delegation to say “ormai non ci prendono più (they are not going to catch us now).” Pertini's unbridled joy has come to represent the moment when the nation began to unite and move past a decade filled with economic, political and social unrest.
My father told me stories of how the Italian community in Ottawa, Canada celebrated the victory. There is a picture of a jammed pack Preston Street in St. Anthony’s Soccer Club in Ottawa. As a young boy, I would wander the halls of that historical establishment, stare at that picture and wonder when would I get the chance to repeat Nando Martellini’s famous words: “Campioni del Mondo! Campioni del Mondo!”
