This article first appeared in The Libero newsletter
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| There are no words |
To many living in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the tournament evokes memories of Gazza, audacious lobs, Baddiel and Skinner, Stuart Pearce exorcising his Italia ’90 demons, some truly beautiful kits (notwithstanding David Seaman’s hideous number) and seeing the golden goal rule in action.
If you are Italian or a follower of the Azzurri, the
competition will most likely conjure memories that are not so pleasant. Italy
were expected by most to forge a run deep into the competition, yet spearheaded
by a manager who was so erratic in his team selection and so stubbornly devoted
to a single tactic, the disaster it morphed into sits alongside the World Cups’
of 2010 and ’14 as one of the worst Italian showings of modern times.
Following the conclusion of USA ’94 and their World Cup
final defeat, Italy were in qualifying Group 4 for Euro ‘96 and were surrounded
by teams that had all once been satellites of the now dissolved Soviet Union. Ukraine,
Croatia, Lithuania, Estonia and Slovenia were all now playing as independent
countries for the first time.
Italy got off to their traditional slow start to qualifying, drawing 1-1 away to Slovenia in September 1994. They followed this up with a 2-0 away victory against Estonia.
Then came the first of what many expected to be two crunch ties with Croatia in November. Played in Palermo, Italy were once again sluggish as a fine Croatian side tore through their defence at will. Davor Šuker scored twice to give Croatia their first big victory as an independent country, winning 2-1; it could just as easily have been four or five.
Sacchi recalled Roberto Baggio for the Croatian game despite the tension between the pair dating back to the World Cup. However even the presence of Italy’s star player couldn’t stop the class of Šuker, Robert Prosinečki and Zvonimir Boban as they were simply too much for the Italians.
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| Baggio and Sacchi in happier times |
The real drama occurred after the match as a player mutiny,
led by Baggio, demanded Sacchi to hand in his notice. The ceaseless tinkering and style of
play had worn thin with the players. Sacchi however had the support of Antonio
Matarrese, the President of the Italian Football Federation. Matarrese had
anointed Sacchi as manager in late 1991 and knowing full well
that his fate as president was linked to Sacchi's, he rejected any notion of his resignation.
When the beleaguered Sacchi got the assurance he needed from
Mataresse, and with the already-strained relationship with Baggio all but
shattered, he dropped him from further selection. Sacchi only calling upon him
once more during the qualification phase, in the 1 – 0 win against Slovenia.
In the wake of the defeat to Croatia, Italy would go on to
win six of their seven games in 1995 to secure qualification for the tournament
as the best runners-up with Croatia topping the group. Sacchi’s team did
showcase some strands of exciting football on occasion, namely in the 3-1
victory against Ukraine and the comprehensive 4 - 0 win over Lithuania.
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| Gianfranco Zola played a pivotal role in helping Italy qualify for England |
Sacchi used thirty-seven different players in the ten
qualifying games (excluding players who were called up but didn’t get to play). It was an outrageous number by anyone’s standards.
In December 1995 the draw for Euro ’96 was made in Birmingham.
Italy were drawn in Group C alongside Germany, Russia and the Czech Republic in
what was perceived to be the toughest group, labeled with the now regular
‘Group of Death’ tag.
Italy played several friendlies in the run up to the
championships, beating Wales 3 – 0, followed by a 2-2 draw with Belgium and a 2
– 0 win against Hungary. Sacchi named his squad for the tournament one day
after the conclusion of the 1995-96 Serie A season. He remained loyal to the
players who had secured qualification; nonetheless there were a couple of
surprises.
During his tenure as Azzurri coach Sacchi had leaned heavily
on his old Milan faction, however his decision to bring back Roberto Donadoni,
the thirty-two year old had only featured three times since the World Cup final
and who was about to stroll into semi-retirement in the newly formed MLS,
raised eyebrows. Diego Fuser, whilst a solid hard-working winger, was hardly
going to set pulses racing.
The biggest surprise, while also not a surprise, was the omission of Roberto Baggio. Despite
their relationship being at an all time low and Baggio not having a stellar
season at Milan, many still expected the Divine Ponytail to be on the plane
heading for England. Sacchi couldn’t really leave out Baggio, could he? He was
still Roberto Baggio, Italy’s best forward by quite some margin. Yet
out he was, and he would never play in a European Championship.
'’Baggio
has struggled with Milan and I'm obliged to take players who are on form and
who can integrate perfectly with the kind of game I've chosen,’’ Sacchi
said to justify his decision. To anyone reading between the lines, Sacchi’s
message was clear; there would be no individuals or freethinkers in his squad.
Other exclusions
were that seasons’ Capocannoniere Beppe Signori, who had incurred the wrath of
Sacchi by refusing to play on the left wing any further during qualifying and
(logically it must be said) told him he wanted to play in his preferred
position as a striker.
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| Who needs the league's top scorer and a genius anyway? |
Gianluca
Vialli, fresh from winning the Champions League as Juventus captain, was
another glaring exclusion. Vialli and Sacchi had a spat running back to 1992,
supposedly over a prank Vialli pulled on Sacchi concerning Parmesan cheese.
Sacchi, an individual mostly devoid of humour, didn’t appreciate the joke
and never selected Vialli again.
Of the
forwards Sacchi did select, only Gianfranco Zola had any tournament experience,
and even that was very brief, famously getting sent off against Nigeria at USA
’94 after being on the pitch for a mere twelve minutes. It would be tournament
debuts for Alessandro Del Piero, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Enrico Chiesa and
Pierluigi Casiraghi.
Sacchi’s
men kicked off their tournament at Anfield against the talented Russians,
several of whom played in Serie A. Italy got off to a great start when Casiraghi,
who was just coming off the most prolific season of his career with Lazio, scored
after only four minutes made possible by a mistake by the Russian goalkeeper
Stanislav Cherchesov.
Russia returned
with force after a quarter of an hour when Valery Karpin’s shot, blocked by
Luigi Apolloni on the edge of the area, fell into the path of Ilya Tsymbalar. The
midfielder breezed past Alessandro Costacurta and slammed the ball past Angelo
Peruzzi at his near post.
At half
time Sacchi substituted the ineffectual Del Piero, who like Signori before him,
was forced out to the left hand side of midfield to shunt up and down. He was
replaced by Roberto Donadoni and wouldn’t play a further minute in the
tournament. Seven minutes into the second half Casiraghi restored the Italians
lead, lashing a slick pass from Zola into the bottom left hand corner of
Cherchesov’s goal.
Fabrizio
Ravanelli replaced Casiraghi in the 80th minute and could have added
to Italy’s tally, but somehow managed to miss two glaring chances. Italy would
see the game out, however, those misses by the Juve striker would have
repercussions. Germany saw off the Czech Republic with a 2 – 0 win.
Often in
a tournament when a big team exits prematurely, you can pinpoint exactly when
things started rolling downhill. For Sacchi and Euro ’96, it was the game
against the Czech Republic that signaled the beginning of the end.
If there
was one attribute of Arrigo Sacchi’s character that he didn’t lack, it was the
occasional ballsy move. Infamously substituting Baggio after twenty
minutes against Norway at USA ’94 when Gianluca Pagliuca got sent off was one
of the biggest gambles in World Cup history. Luckily for Sacchi it paid off.
For the game against the Czechs he would take a risk once more.
He made
five changes to the side that beat Russia three days prior. Out went Angelo Di
Livio, Roberto Di Matteo, Del Piero, Zola and Casiraghi to be replaced with
Fuser, Dino Baggio, Ravanelli, Donadoni and Chiesa. In Sacchi’s eyes, the
system was the star; the players were merely pieces on a chessboard that could
be shuffled and interchangeable at will.
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| "45 minutes Alex, that's all you're getting in this tournament son" |
“You
can’t play in the European Championships with only 11,12 or 13 players”, Sacchi
said during the tournament. “I have faith in all of my 22”. Changing five
players before the second match was arrogance bordering on sheer lunacy, as he
would find to his cost.
The
game, once again at Anfield, produced the first real shock of the tournament.
Sacchi’s high defensive line was caught out after only four minutes, when Karel
Poborsky, facing towards his own goal, swiveled and swung in a cross from the
right hand channel. Future Serie A legend Pavel Nedved darted in behind Mussi
and nabbed the ball home past Peruzzi.
Italy
equalised through Chiesa, who dispatched a Fuser pass following a rapid counter
attack. To most it seemed like the Italians would push on, however the deck of
cards started to crumble when Apolloni got sent off after receiving two yellow
cards in the space of half an hour in the first half. Six minutes later the
Czechs regained the lead, when Radek Bejbl met Pavel Kuka’s cross inside the
Italian box and connected with a sweetly struck volley that gave Peruzzi no
chance.
In the
second half Sacchi replaced Ravanelli with Casiraghi and later introduced Zola
with twelve minutes left in a final throw of the dice. The two nearly combined
to save Sacchi’s blushes at the death but Casiraghi lifted Zola’s chipped pass
over the crossbar with the goal gaping.
With the
Germans brushing Russia aside with a 3 – 0 win, Italy now had to beat their old
rivals or at least better their result against the Czechs to qualify from the
group. “Sacchi, you asked for this”, screamed the Corriere dello Sport the next
day, as the already-fierce criticism for the former shoe salesman now escalated
to near national hysteria. Even Salvatore Riina, the Sicilian Mafia’s ‘boss of
bosses’ weighed in on Sacchi during a break at his trial in Florence. Riina
reportedly telling his lawyer “Sacchi uses suicide tactics and suicide
choices”.
In his
pre-match press conference, Sacchi told reporters that “We just can’t hope to
beat Germany; we must be convinced we can do it”.
Sensibly,
Sacchi restored Zola and Casiraghi to the starting lineup for the game against
the tournament favourites. Di Matteo was brought back into midfield; Costacurta
replaced the suspended Apolloni in defence. Paolo Maldini, who uncharacteristically was having a poor tournament, moved into the centre of defence
and Amedeo Carboni started at left back.
From the
opening minute the Azzurri pressed and hounded the Germans and the approach
paid off as they were awarded a penalty inside the opening ten minutes. Matthias
Sammer - impeccable throughout the tournament – was unusually dithering on the
ball in the German backline and with few options open for a pass, attempted to
get rid of it. Casiraghi intercepted the clearance and went racing through
one-on-one with Andreas Kopke. The goalkeeper tripped the striker with his left
leg and there was little doubt that it was a penalty.
Zola
placed the ball on the spot and took several stutter-steps before striking the
ball rather meekly with his right instep. The effort was poor in truth and one
in which Kopke saved with minimum effort. The magnitude of the occasion had clearly got
to the little Sardinian and he wilted following the miss. “This mistake cut his
legs”, said Sacchi after the match.
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| Zola's poor penalty |
Italy regained their composure and set out again to find the elusive goal, their opponents, having already qualified, were very conservative and offered little in the way of attacking play. Fuser had two efforts brilliantly saved from Kopke, Sacchi became desperate and threw on Chiesa with twenty minutes left however Italy didn’t look like scoring and their play faded as the minutes ticked away. It ended 0-0.
Italians
all around the ground were now anxiously waiting to hear the result from
Anfield in what turned out to be a humdinger of a game. The Czechs took a two-goal
lead before Russia clawed their way back and then took the lead with five
minutes remaining. As the news filtered through inside Old Trafford there was a
huge roar from the Italians, at this point Sacchi’s men were through to the
quarter finals. However in the 88th minute Vladimír Šmicer
struck from the edge of the box to equalise for the Czechs, 3-3. They were
going through, Italy was out. The silence was palpable inside the Theatre of
Dreams.
Sacchi - almost close to tears as he left the pitch
– was typically robust in his comments after the game, claiming that his side
‘did not deserve to go home’. Upon being asked if he had any intention of resigning,
he defiantly snapped back and said he had no intention of it.
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| The end is near |
Matarrese, Sacchi’s most ardent supporter, stood
firm behind the under-siege coach, stating “Of course we are disappointed to have been eliminated, but we
went out with dignity and standing on our feet”. He also made it clear that as
long as he was still president of the Italian football federation, Sacchi would
remain coach. He was ousted as president two months later.
Several
months later, Sacchi finally admitted to having made mistakes during the
tournament, citing “My biggest
mistake was not picking up on the drop in athletic tension in the squad after
the game against Russia”. Further adding that ‘Our
concentration wasn’t right’.
In a
tournament in which they only scored three goals and created precious little, leaving
a creative genius such as Baggio and goal-getters like Vialli and Signori sitting at home kicking their heels wasn’t the wisest of decisions. Sacchi’s obsession with the ‘system’ is what
ultimately failed him. Of the forwards he brought to England, only Del Piero would make a meaningful contribution for the Azzurri. Casiraghi, Ravanelli and Zola wouldn't even make the squad for France '98.
Even by
1996 he was a man out of time; tactics had evolved and trying to implement such
a pressing system that required daily dedication was never going to succeed in
the international arena. Germany won the tournament employing Sammer as a
libero – the role ironically Sacchi set out to destroy in his homeland in the
late ‘80s. He was a one trick pony, and now that pony was all worn out.
Sacchi
would finally leave in December, when Silvio Berlusconi came calling once more
to manage Milan. It benefitted both parties; Sacchi got back to club football
and the Italian football federation got rid of a hugely divisive coach on large
wages. His underwhelming and unpopular five-year reign was over.
His legacy
as leader of the national team amounts to having never used the same starting
lineup twice and even his best moment – reaching the 1994 World Cup final –
owes more to the brilliance of Baggio in spite of Sacchi. His reputation never
truly recovered from the Euro ’96 debacle. The second Milan run lasted six
months before being replaced by the returning Fabio Capello and he was never
considered for a job in the upper echelons of management again.
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