Football 81

ITALIA 90

Gazza’s tears, Pavarotti singing ‘Nessun Dorma’, the Republic of Ireland’s army of fans, New Order’s ‘World in Motion’… they contributed to the magic of Italia 90 – alongside the ever-reliable Panini World Cup sticker album.

The UK release of Italia 90 once more replicated the standard ‘International’ version, unlike in several other nations such as Sweden, Mexico and Brazil who all opted for their own cover design.

Italia 90’s front cover dotted the flags of the 24 qualifiers around a drawing of two players battling for a stray ball, one in a generic red kit and the other immediately redolent of the Sweden strip.

Tournament branding, stadiums and picturesque images of the host cities filled the opening five pages, along with nine extra images of mascot Ciao showing off his ball skills.

Hosts Italy took what now appeared to be their usual place as the first nation in the team pages. In a design change, the player section was kicked off by two goalkeepers near the top of the first of the double-page spreads, just below the foil badge.

Each team had 17 players (one more than in Espana 82 and Mexico 86), as well as the team group and badge. Five nations were restricted to a single page, which only had room for 16 players (two to a sticker), to go with the team shot and badge. Out of those five, Cameroon and Costa Rica won four of their six combined group matches while UAE, South Korea and Egypt didn’t win a match between them.

Costa Rica were undone in round two by a hat-trick from the spectacularly mulleted Tomáš Skuhravý from Czechoslovakia – whose Italia 90 sticker didn’t do his hair justice. Cameroon made it past the Round of 16 thanks to two goals from 38-year-old Roger Milla. The striker didn’t

Costa Rica were undone in round two by a hat-trick from the spectacularly mulleted Tomáš Skuhravý whose Italia 90 sticker didn’t do his hair justice.

ITALIA 90 ALBUM FACTS

PAGES: 50 ALBUM PRICE: 40P NUMBER OF STICKERS: 448 PACKET COST: 15P FOR SIX STICKERS

appear in the Italia 90 album as he had retired from international football in 1988, only for the President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, to persuade him to make a comeback ahead of the 1990 World Cup. That second round victory came at the expense of Colombia’s Carlos Alberto Valderrama, whose blonde afro stood out in Italia 90 as much as his mastery of a football.

England put an end to Cameroon’s dream run, which had begun with victory over holders Argentina in the opening game, during a dramatic 3–2 win in Naples. David Platt put England in front, but Emmanuel Kundé and Eugène Ekéké then scored twice in four minutes for the Indomitable Lions. Gary Lineker – opting for a buttonedup collar shunned by most of his team-mates in Italia 90 – then scored twice from the penalty spot, the second in extra time, to send England through to the semi-finals.

Scotland recovered from a shock defeat in their opening match against Costa Rica to come within nine minutes of reaching the knockout phase, only for Müller to come off the bench and score for alreadyqualified Brazil.

After sneaking through as one of the best third-placed teams in the group phase, Argentina soaked up Brazilian pressure in their second-round meeting before the lustrously coiffured Claudio Caniggia scored the winner in a breakaway.

With Diego Maradona’s goal threat now on the wane – he only found the net in a penalty shoot-out during Italia 90 – the Argentinians were largely reliant on their rearguard to see them past the quarter-final and semifinal stages against Yugoslavia and Italy respectively.

Italy had previously been in imposing form, coasting through the group phase with Roberto Baggio’s goal against Czechoslovakia as the standout moment. Salvatore ‘Totò’ Schillaci scored the winner in the opening match against Austria after coming on as a substitute – the first of the six goals that earned him the Golden Boot. Having only made his full international debut at the end of March 1990, Panini were caught unaware of the Juventus striker’s impact in what turned out to be his only major tournament appearance.

One of Schillaci’s crucial goals came in the 1–0 quarter-final victory over the Republic of Ireland, still managed by England 1966 World Cup-winner Jack Charlton. After three draws in the group stage – including against England and Netherlands – the Irish pulled off a shock victory over Romania on penalties in round two. Goalkeeper Pat Bonner – seen in a yellow jersey in Italia 90 similar in colour to that of his round two opponents – saved Daniel Timofte’s kick before veteran Arsenal defender David O’Leary slotted home the winning penalty.

West Germany had been in impressive form throughout the tournament, spearheaded by Lothar Matthäus and Jürgen Klinsmann – both of whom went for the fully zipped tracksuit look in Italia 90. Their semi-final meeting with England in Turin became legendary. England midfielder Paul Gascoigne had been one of the stand-out players of the tournament and he once more held his own against the might of the West Germans, despite his evening ultimately being ruined by a booking that would have seen him miss the final. His tears endeared him to an entire nation.

Andreas Brehme’s deflected free-kick put West Germany ahead before Lineker equalised with 10 minutes remaining. Extra time saw both sides come near to finding a winner but penalty kicks once again decided the outcome. Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle – the latter on top of his mullet game in Italia 90 – were both unsuccessful from the spot, while the opposition characteristically went ‘four from four’ to seal their place in the final in Rome.

Caniggia was among Argentina’s absentees in the final (due to suspension), which blunted their attacking threat. As a result, the showpiece was a turgid affair decided by an 85th minute penalty converted by Brehme.

Despite the damp squib of a final, West Germany had proved themselves to be the best team in the tournament, in the same way that Panini could claim to having produced the stand-out album to mark the occasion.

1990 WORLD CUP

Winners:

WEST GERMANY

Runners-up:

ARGENTINA

Third:

ITALY

Fourth:

ENGLAND

Golden Boot:

SALVATORE ‘TOTÒ’ SCHILLACI (6)

CHANGING HAIRSTYLES

From bubble perms to daring mullets, and from New Romantic crops to highlights and lowlights, Panini’s albums have always brilliantly captured football’s hairstyle fashions.

As footballers increasingly became seen as the new rock ‘n’ roll stars, music and fashion went hand in hand with footballers’ haircuts during Panini’s classic UK albums of the 1970s and ’80s.

It was probably no coincidence that the rock band Queen (featuring a heavily permed Brian May) and the similarly-coiffured Leo Sayer were both riding high in the Top 40 in the late 1970s. Although he was in West Germany at the time, Kevin Keegan was among the first adopters of the bubble perm and his footballing compatriots back home soon followed suit, many examples of which populated Football 79 and Football 80.

Liverpool duo Phil Neal and Phil Thompson were generally known for their conventional approach to hairstyles, but they both opted for curls in the late 70s and early 80s albums. Alan Brazil and Alan Sunderland were among the most expansive purveyors of the perm and they reached their peaks in Football 80 and Football 82 respectively.

New Romantics such as Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and the Human League dominated the pop charts in the first part of 1980s, and their look was

reflected by the likes of David Hodgson (Middlesbrough), Martyn Bennett (West Bromwich Albion) and Charlie Nicholas (Celtic and Arsenal). Pat Nevin, on the other hand, was more influenced by the indie scene and he wouldn’t have looked out of place as a member of one of the bands he admired, such as New Order or the Cocteau Twins.

Rod Stewart was an obvious influence on Alan Biley’s mullet in Football 82 (having earlier deployed a perm in Football 80 wearing Cambridge United colours). The striker was among the first to adopt the look and the mullet became a major player throughout the rest of the ’80s and into the ’90s – Chris Waddle and Barry Venison were among the poster boys for it.

World Cup albums have also thrown up many hairy moments: Mexico’s Leonardo Cuéllar ticked all three boxes of big hair, moustache and bushy beard in World Cup 78 while Italia 90 and USA 94 contained some of the all-time great mullets. Meanwhile, Colombia’s Carlos Valderrama could merit a spread all to himself.

In more recent times there has been a distinct lack of outlandish styles – many players standing out more for their tattoos than a particularly distinctive head of hair – but given how fashions come around surely it is only a matter of time before the bubble perm makes a welcome return.