The year was 2002 and Italy, as is always their habit, would be playing in the world cup which on that particular year would be played in Japan and South Korea. Italy had been dominant in recent years despite not winning any titles. It being in the last world cup that Italy lost to France in the quarterfinals in a match which required penalties before the French team was able to advance to the semifinals. Italy would go on to give the eventual champion, France their most difficult match. As only the Italian team was able to take the French in to penalties.
Italy would go on two years later to lose to France in the final of the European cup by 2-1 yet not without France needing a last minute goal in regulation time; before winning it in overtime. Italy had come so close that I could almost taste being European Champions yet it was not to be. Italy, however, despite losing had a strong team and would be a contender once again for the title like they had on so many occasions in the past. Italy's team being comprised off such notable players such as Vieri, Totti, Inzaghi, Buffon, Cannavaro, Maldini and Nesta yet above all they were solid as a team as well.
Italy had drawn a relatively difficult group, yet I was confident that they could go through to the next round even if gone were the days when a team could go in as a wild card. Ecuador, Mexico and Croatia definitely were worthy opponents yet Italy was of such a strength that this really did not represent any great danger. Ecuador, a team which I was glad to see in a world cup as I had such fond memories of my charming friend from Guayaquil; Vito Munoz. Vito Munoz perhaps the most famous sports commentator in Ecuador and a man whose knowledge of football was truly admirable.
Italy's first match at Japan/South Korea would be against Ecuador and how I remember seeing it at San Lorenzo. This the first time I would watch a match in this place which had already become my favorite Italian restaurant in Warsaw. This also being the first time an Italian football match had drawn a large crowd since it had only been the previous year in which it had opened to the public. For my part, it was interesting as I looked about to see all the people I knew so well and had seen on so many occasions.
So long had it been since I had seen an Italian football match among so many fellow Italians that I really felt that Stadium atmosphere of all supporting the same team. It being my Italian blue jersey which drew the attention and to a certain extent admiration of those about me as we watched the game.
As for Ecuador, they were a team which had qualified for the first time to a world cup and would definitely be looking to make a good impression. Italy being perfectly aware of this which made them come out most aggressively on the attack while I ate the pasta I had ordered and truly felt myself in the society of Italians. Their cheering being not so much loud but spirited and even clever I might say in the choruses they repeated.
As for the Italian team, they were a new one and did it ever show with dynamic players like Totti, Gattuso and Vieri. Italy even coming close to a goal very early yet just a minute later, at the six minute mark of the game; it was Vieri who blasted the ball past Ecuador's goalkeeper Sevallos to give Italy a 1-0 lead. There is something about celebrating goals scored by one's team which makes it all the more special which is precisely what it was like when all those at San Lorenzo; who supported Italy shouted out Italy's goal. San Lorenzo being packed like I had only seen it for the New Year's eve party which had welcomed the year it was.
A bombastic goal by Vieri in his style of the strong bull taking charge yet it was Totti who beat the Ecuadorian defense and managed to spot him with the perfect pass to put Italy in the lead and make all of us relax. Italy was winning after all and does that ever make life taste better along with the pasta, fish and wine which was in front of my friend Piotr Gorstein and me. Piotr Gorstein being a reporter friend of mine who is one of the few people I have ever known who shared my devotion to history.
All was wonderful yet best of all, Italy was playing a great game. Of course, I knew players like Tenorio were dangerous yet Italy's defense seemed to be in control. It being at the 24 minute mark of the game that Italy got their second. This time Vieri got on the end of a long pass and beat his marker to be left one on one with Ecuador's goalkeeper; whom he simply powered past. Vieri kicking the ball in to him which bounced over him and just as the ball was about to go in for a goal Vieri ran on to it to make sure that it would go in. Italy 2 Ecuador 0, what a great start to the world cup as well as our hopes that Italy would be raising their fourth world cup. I looked around and saw all the smiling faces as Italy had never lost a game in which they were winning by 2 goals and on this occasion they might even add more.
Of course Vieri had scored his second of the day but it had also been Nesta's defensive effort which made the goal possible along with Di Biagio long pass. It seeming as if Italy was a perfect machine which could find Vieri at will. The half however ended at 2-0 with all of us thinking more goals would come and though chances were not lacking; the match ended with a score of Italy 2 Ecuador 0.
Italy had won and had looked so good doing it that I thought Italy might become the first champion of the new millennium and after all why not? Italy had a good team and nobody else had looked particularly good. Italy also having defeated a very good team from Ecuador which in fact had had to defeat Brazil to get to the world cup.
The next match came against Croatia and by then I had gotten used to this wonderful feeling at San Lorenzo. So much food on the tables and at prices which were reasonable while large TV screens were to be found all around. It was however in this game that certain things would become clear to me which I feared and one of them being that Italy's most powerful opponent would not be any specific team but the referees. They clearly being against us.
Croatia had had a good team in the previous world cup in which they had come in third yet their 2002 team was clearly not as good. Italy even dominating in the first half though they did not score. A draw however would not be bad yet we were all hoping for a victory against Croatia which would practically guarantee our going in to the next round. The second half started and a goal came when Vieri's powerful header found the back of the net off a Doni cross which he managed to beat a Croatian defender for.
Italy was on its way to getting three points or so did it seem yet Olic managed to get an equalizer for Croatia when a center from the right side of Italy's goal bounced just right for him to beat Buffon with a nicely placed shot. Olic anticipating better than Materazzi, who was fooled by the bounce. Italy and Croatia were tied at one each with 73 minutes gone from the match. This not really being a problem yet it was not long before matters would get worse.
It being at the 73 minute mark that worried faces started to appear all around me as Hapail scored one of the perhaps strangest and most unstoppable goals I had ever seen in my life. It being a run down the left side of Italy's defense, around Materazzi which found a well placed defensive header yet Croatia sent the ball back in to the penalty box. It being a divided ball between Materazzi and Hapail which the Croatian managed to get to almost as if he were falling backward when he kicked it yet not with any real power though it took the oddest deflection of Materazzi and ended up being the perfect lob over Buffon. The ball going in to the back of the net off the post. As the ball simply went way above Buffon's reach; who was left with absolutely no chance what so ever.
Italy was down by 1-2 yet we still had time and the players to make use of it. It being at the 80 minute mark of the game that a pass was floated in to the box by Toni, to find an acrobatic Inzaghi; who flicked it over for Vieri's diving header to put Italy back in the game. Screams of goal were heard as Italy had their point yet they were short lived. Vieri was judged to have been off-sides which looking at the replay, he clearly was not though this did not matter as the line judge held up his flag. Naturally, all of us at San Lorenzo were clearly upset as we looked at the instant replay which proved our points while some less polite tongues hurled verbal abuse at the referee of the kind I can imagine he was already getting from those Italian fans at the stadium.
A bad call but Italy had suffered from these before as was the case in their match against Nigeria when Zola was ejected yet never had I seen Italy have such a perfect goal taken away. Of course there was nothing any of us could do or our team for that matter yet some of us saw it as an omen of things to come. It being ten minutes later that perhaps the play which really got us angry came when Materazzi sent a long ball in to the penalty box which somehow managed to go in for a goal. This without a single player even touching it. What a spectacular goal it had been as the ball had traveled such a long distance with nobody even being able to touch it. The goalkeeper being more worried about who would get on to the ball than the ball itself which went in to the back of the net with so much agony.
Materazzi had redeemed himself or so it seemed yet again the line judge raised his flag claiming that Inzaghi had committed a foul with his elbow or pushed off but looking at the replay; it was clear that this had not been the case. It in fact being Croatia's defender, who tried to block Inzaghi with his arm while all Inzaghi did was try to free himself of a defender's arm with his own. It clearly being the Croatian defender who was trying to hold Inzaghi yet the same line-judge (as if paid by some) wrongly ruled against Italy. All of which making it clear that something or somebody was against us yet for reason's we knew not.
A lot of controversy during the days which preceded Italy's match against Mexico. Many feeling there was a conspiracy against us yet we were still optimistic of our chances to qualify to the next round. Specially since all we needed was a draw against Mexico. Naturally providing that Ecuador either tied or won against Croatia.
The match against Mexico was special at San Lorenzo and not just because Italy would be playing in a world cup but because some of the local TV stations would be coming around before the game to interview some of us. Our beloved, San Lorenzo would be on the news as one of the many places where one could feel the atmosphere of the world cup yet ours was perhaps slightly unique at the time. San Lorenzo, a place where one definitely got a sensation that this place was totally in favor of Italy. As this was the clear message our banners and flags sent out to any who ventured in to our cozy Italian place of gathering and what a lovely day it was too. All being as it should for a world cup yet at this point we were starting to see that there was definitely a conspiracy against us.
San Lorenzo was just as nice as it always was though on this occasion they had made a very special dish for the cameras. The name of which escapes me yet I do remember it being offered to all who entered San Lorenzo and at a relatively low price. The mood was one of festivity on that very hot Warsaw day which would see us sweat and suffer yet more from this match than the weather. I even remember what I and a friend of mine said to the camera that Italy could win if the referee simply called it the way he should yet this we were not sure of anymore. After all, one bad call could be an accident yet two in the same match had to be more than just a mistake. These two mistakes not being of the kind which incorrectly gives away corners or even free-kicks but of the variety which took away two perfectly good goals. This going beyond Zola's unjust red card in USA 94 and to something which to us seemed like a plot against Italian football.
Italy in fact had never played either Croatia or Ecuador before but Mexico we had faced twice before with our first match ending in a 4-1 victory for Italy. It being in USA 94 that Italy and Mexico would meet again yet on that occasion it would be a score of 1-1 to send both teams in to the next round. Would the score repeat itself and both Italy and Mexico go through, well this none of us knew for sure but we were definitely hoping for it if not an outright victory.
There definitely was excitement about as the game started yet in contrast to Italy's two previous matches, many of us were focusing more on how the referee would behave toward us than the opponent we had in front of us. Naturally, we aware that Mexico was no longer a team which Italy could easily beat yet in all honesty, we did feel that an Italian team playing at its best and with no referee mistakes; should be able to beat Mexico. As for the food on that day, it was something in the way of seafood; naturally prepared in the Toscana way. San Lorenzo, taking pride in not only Italy's legendary cuisine but in the delightful manner in which it was interpreted in the northern region of Tuscany.
San Lorenzo had truly come to life and did it ever show as we not only felt the atmosphere of an authentic Italian feast but the attention of the whole of Poland. This due to the TV cameras which were about in an attempt to capture the passion Italians are famed for. Thus creating a scenario in which the media was covering us as we watched the game. This making us in a way feel like celebrities as we were pretty much sure that we would make it on the evening news.
A goal came when Totti found an unmarked Inzaghi in the box just 12 minutes in to the game and screams did come of goal which the cameras about managed to catch. Italy was winning and on its way to the next round or so we thought till the line-judge's flag reared its ugly head one more time. Off-sides, naturally! What else could it be? It did not matter that every reply demonstrated that the goal was as legitimate as they get but what was of consequence was that FIFA had clearly decreed that no longer would we be allowed to score goals. Some of us feeling frustration while others had come to terms with our reality on the field which would no longer be decided by what our players managed but how much the referees allowed.
I, by then while others hurdled insults at the referee and at the world; started to wonder if we would ever be given any of the goals we scored. This after all was the third good goal in a row which was being taken away and in two separate matches and by two different linesmen. The goal however was nice and showed Inzaghi's quick decisive moves in the box in not wasting as much as a second in setting up and shooting. It seeming as if Inzaghi could do both in one single move which made him or should have made him; all the more dangerous had the referee's calls been on the square.
The food was without doubt wonderful yet this match was not going our way though perhaps this was what we expected and even wanted. The competition of working hard for a win even if things did not always go the way we wanted so we could cheer loudly when they did yet perhaps it is too much to ask a team to have to fight against unwilling referees. This specially against a team which did have it in them to score goals as was the case with Mexico; who had players as capable as Blanco and Borghetti.
Borghetti getting on to the end of a perfect floating pass in to the box which he flickered past Buffon and in to the corner of the Italian net to give Mexico the lead. Italy at that point was not only not winning but were trailing by 1-0. Borghetti had turned around just perfectly to catch the ball as it was coming in and weather or not he was trying to aim where he did or simply keep it from going out, was that which did not matter; as the end result saw the ball go ever Buffon's head and in for a goal. Buffon not really being too far off his line or even out of place but the placement of the ball being just too perfect while the trajectory of the shot was one which saw the ball almost take a bend in the air as it made its way in to the net. This goal being similar to Croatia's second in Italy's last match. Those of the kind which rarely come yet when they do are those which can not be stopped.
Italy was down yet despair did not come since it had not been the first time and definitely would not be the last that Italy would find itself behind in the scoreboard. The half however did end with Italy trailing by 1-0 and all of us wondering what we needed to do get a goal apart from just scoring it cleanly. Another factor about this game was that it was the third time we were seeing Italy play as a group and by then we had grown used to each other along with our reactions to not only football itself but the Italian team and their players. It being clear that each of us supported Italy in his or her own way and while some did it with constant shouting others through constant observation yet the result was the same. There even being those who apart from wanting Italy to win cheered on certain players due personal taste or because that particular player played for a their chosen team. This being the case with Totti whom naturally Roma fans followed while Juventus's fans clearly followed Del Piero as they had once done with Roberto Baggio.
The second half started and did Mexico ever come close to a second goal yet just as the ball was about to go in; it was cleared by an alert Maldini. The play however was a nice one which saw Avelardo pass the ball to Blanco for a classic give and go yet the shot was weak. So close to being cast out of the world cup had we came yet we were still in it. Montella would get a spectacular goal when Mexico's goalkeeper came off his line, only to be perfectly lobbed yet by then I had gotten used to seeing Italy's goal not counted due to ghost off-sides; visible only to anti-Italian referees. Many were upset yet I had simply accepted the injustice about as that which I could not alter though I did wish to.
I could see Italy going out of the world cup and it was strange because my sentiments were not in the least involved with weather or not we could get an equalizing goal or perhaps even two to win it but if the line-judge's whims would allow them. A goal however did come when a ball sent in to the penalty box found the diving head of Del Piero yet mine was not to celebrate given the four goals in a row which had been falsely ruled off-sides. Italian players started to run after Del Piero yet I felt wisdom indicated under these circumstances that it would be wiser to wait a minute before feeling cheerful over a goal which might easily be disallowed any second for any reason. The goal however stood and I knew it was the one which would get us through to the next round as not only was Ecuador not going to lose against Croatia; they were even going to win. This making it automatic that Italy and Mexico would both progress to the next round.
As for the match, it ended at 1 a piece and Italy did go through yet I felt that it should have been with a record of 3 victories and 8 goals scored instead of the 1 victory, 1 defeat, 1 draw and the 4 goals we were allowed. The evening however was calm as we watched on TV how we looked on camera. It being myself and my friend, Enrrico Buscema who got the most camera attention on the local channels for our comments regarding not only Poland but its lovely ladies. As for San Lorenzo, the cameras and television had been most kind and considerate in showing not only the great atmosphere but the delightful cooking all us knew so well.
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