Italia 90

Dotrel

St.Spodo wrote: »

that squad was probably the best we've ever had and some people think they were wasted playing such negative tactics.

There's some merit in that but it should be noted that the previous manager to Charlton had nearly the same first XI and only ever got 'close' to qualifying. I think Charltons tactics were fundamentally flawed (as is evidenced by their complete failure once the back-pass rule was introduced) and that there might have been some way to get more out of the team, but personally I don't believe that that 90 team would have done better playing 'proper' football.

Also I wouldn't call them negative tactics either. If anything they were overly positive. Basic battleplan was to keep the ball up the other end of the pitch and create as many half-chances as possible, all at the expense of quality traditional football. Horrible stuff to watch but certainly not negative. If you want an example of negative football just watch Trappatoni. Concede the ball and the territory with no attempt to even retain or reclaim the ball or create shooting positions outside of set-pieces.

garyc1987

what i remember is after the pen the kitman running on in the very oversized and baggy tracksuit...:D

Mongarra

Air to Sicily and there for group stages. Air and back to Sardinia in between for England game. Flew to Genoa for Romania, then train to Rome stopping off on way so we could say we had a piece of pizza in Pisa. Saved paying for a hotel room by going overnight. Queueing for tickets in Rome then game V Italy. Scillachi's relations saw us in market and brought us to his father's "house". Gave us ice cream and told us Italy would beat us with Toto scoring a hat-trick.

Back the next day on same plane as the team and that welcome in Dublin Airport and through Dublin. Fabulous memories. Only (sort of) regret is that we heard all about the craic at home and didn't get to see any of it.

Auvers

4leto wrote: »

we loved Jack and we all hated Dumpy, we had a hell of a team, and a hell of a time

no not everyone loved Charlton, I was in Dunphys corner

Dunphy was correct, retard Jack had the best Irish players of a generation and wasted them by not allowing them to play football, something like Trap today with not the same calibre of player

just hoof it up the field and put em under pressure :rolleyes:

4leto

Auvers wrote: »

no not everyone loved Charlton, I was in Dunphys corner

Dunphy was correct, retard Jack had the best Irish players of a generation and wasted them by not allowing them to play football, something like Trap today with not the same calibre of player

just hoof it up the field and put em under pressure :rolleyes:

It was only in later years I could see Dunphy had merit in his criticism. But at the time he was spoiling the party with the truth, who wants to hear that in our euphoric deluded state.

kelle

I was a student in London, I had a tiny portable B&W TV in my room but it was the best out of all my fellow students even though it had a crack at the side, so I frequently had visitors to my room to watch the matches. I had no interest whatsoever!

newballsplease

starbelgrade wrote: »

Roy Keane - great player.. in the Top 10 of his generation. I've a lot of respect for him as a person.

But by God, he's one miserable son of a bitch.

Think you mean, you had respect for him as a player?
You can hardly have much respect for a miserable son of a bitch?!
:cool:

gurramok

It was a great time, loads of people painted their houses in the national flag and even painted their cars. The Romania 'win' stands out as it was so unexpected and riddled with nerves for us watching!

tipptom

godscop wrote: »

Did it ever occur to you that he was injured ? And if he missed a couple of friendlies, so what. Champions league games, FA cup games. How many other players in that squad, played as many games for their clubs ? How many times did Giggs play for Wales ? Yeah play every single game and get burnt out for the crucial end of season games ! makes loads of sense to do that.

Roy was injured when he wanted to be injured,he was told in no uncertain terms what was thought of his "injuries" in Saipan by the people in the know and i am not just talking about Mick Mccarthy and rightly so,everyone in the Irish squad hated him over the years and were quite happy to play with out him.What he done or did not do for man u has absolutly no intrest to me but Giggs was always there for wales whenever he was needed,not at home feigning injuries.

The_Kew_Tour

tipptom wrote: »

Roy was injured when he wanted to be injured,he was told in no uncertain terms what was thought of his "injuries" in Saipan by the people in the know and i am not just talking about Mick Mccarthy and rightly so,everyone in the Irish squad hated him over the years and were quite happy to play with out him.What he done or did not do for man u has absolutly no intrest to me but Giggs was always there for wales whenever he was needed,not at home feigning injuries.

It's been nearly 10 years now

move on...

orourkeda

foxyboxer wrote: »

I'd side with the Roy Keane school of thought.

You get knocked out of the quarter finals of the World Cup playing ugly football and celebrate as if you won it????? Would the Germans have celebrated that?

*i bet someone mentions Saipan - well he was right there too *

Who gives a hairy ass f*ck what the germans do?

flas

Dotrel wrote: »

Roy Keane doesn't know what the **** he's talking about. I reckon the man has psychological issues and 10 years of Sir Alec Ferguson whispering in his ear probably didn't help matter.s

Germany only got to the semi-finals in 2006 and the country went wild and treated them like heroes. In the modern era Germany have probably lost more major finals than anyone (82 86 92 02 08) but the achievement of even getting there does not go unappreciated. It's not just all about winning. It's about looking at what you have and seeing can you exceed reasonable expectations. Ireland in 1990 did just that.

OP as to your original question, no that vibe will probably never be recaptured here. Back in those days Ireland was considered more of a second class nation and the people themselves bought into it somewhat so to see an Irish team match the worlds best at something captured the nations imagination and inspired.

Current generations of young Irish people are as confident/arrogant as any other country and the psychological concept of matching the worlds best at something isn't nearly as impressive as it was during WC90.

I'd say Ireland would probably have to actually win Euro 2012 for it to come close to matching those scenes.

with the players we had at our disposal from 86 til about 94,95 we could have easily got to a semi-final of a tournament, at least won more games in the tournaments we qualified for, some of the best players in europe were plying their trade for ireland, and they were hampered by charltons lack of ambition and trust. im mean, liam brady, when he was still in the irish set up, was one of the best, top 5 at least, midfielders in europe, and what did charlton have the team doing? lumping it over his head! I know its great looking back in hindsight! saying that i remember getting a packie bonner jersey, the yellow adidas one, and wearing it for every game played! loved it!

orourkeda

A unique and never to be repeated sporting occasion.

The atmosphere surrounding that tournament is unlikely ever to be repeated in Ireland for a very long time and nothing has cme close since.

One can question the quality of the football or other football related matters but for atmosphere it is unlikely to be matched

bradolf pittler

Great memories of italia '90...my dad buying me my 1st pint during the egypt game,the penaltys v romainia,the homecoming which was great too....
No one celebrates NOT WINNING like the irish...lol

Zatman

Dotrel wrote: »

I think Charltons tactics were fundamentally flawed (as is evidenced by their complete failure once the back-pass rule was introduced)

which was ironically brought in when FIFA watched Packie Bonner time waste vs Egypt and said enough with this

kincsem

I thought Paul McGrath performance when we lost against Italy in 1990 was really up there. At the final whistle most of the Italian players made a point of shaking his hand.
And when we beat Romania all the roads in Stillorgan were mental.

Dudess

foxyboxer wrote: »

I'd side with the Roy Keane school of thought.

You get knocked out of the quarter finals of the World Cup playing ugly football and celebrate as if you won it????? Would the Germans have celebrated that?

Meh, as if he was comparing like with like. Germany and Ireland - wtf?! If someone viewed them as level in terms of footballing skill, Keane would be the first one to view it as ridiculous, yet there he is, still comparing them, just in a different context. Looks like cynicism for the sake of it. I like Roy Keane (to a point) but why piss on a parade? I know the Irish thing of going OTT about even the slightest achievement in sport is ludicrous and cringey at times, but that event was a great buzz, and it really was a very new experience.

I was 12. I remember the poor cat nearly dying of fright from my dad and his friends' roaring when Sheedy scored. My friend and I got bored during the Romania game so we wandered off in search of boys (as if there'd be any around :pac:) and as we were walking up the hill, we heard a roar from the estate below and a throng of people running out, one with a huge Irish flag. Gutted we missed it, but the aftermath was such fun! We tried beer then in one of the locals, but didn't like it...

I was interested in England's campaign too - felt really sad for them in the end. The use of Nessun Dorma was so moving...

Wertz wrote: »

That breathy vocal at the start of Put 'Em Under Pressure still sends a chill down my spine...even though I was fairly sick of hearing it 10 times a day back then.
Some really great music that summer too.

The only decent year of the '90s for pop IMO (Deee-lite, Adamski, Beats International etc) - I personally think the vast, vast majority of good music for the rest of that decade was indie or dance. Virtually none of it was in the top 20.

foxyboxer wrote: »

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Adored it. Put 'Em Under Pressure... I liked it for the sentimental value... but World In Motion is actually a top tune (I'm a big N.O. fan anyway though).

LH Pathe

Was 12, 'twer awesome. N I still get called schillaci to this day, by kids not even born come WC 94 WTF

losthorizon

chin_grin wrote: »

Ah nostalgia, it's great isn't it?

Its not as good as it used to be.

ItsAWindUp

I wasn't alive in 1990. Was it really as good as they say?

Dotrel

foxyboxer wrote: »

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/73/Trollface.png

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcy3gwwxat4

Barnes had quick the music career going.

The_Kew_Tour

ItsAWindUp wrote: »

I wasn't alive in 1990. Was it really as good as they say?

Ya it was. I was only 7 at time but by god I remember country places where I come from would come to standstill farmers the whole lot in places where GAA was the religion and was the same in cities.

losthorizon

ItsAWindUp wrote: »

I wasn't alive in 1990. Was it really as good as they say?

Personally I think the European championships of 1988 were even better. But what still lodges in my brain after all theses years was failing to qualify for Spain 1982 - we were truely and utterly robbed. What made it even worse was that Irish team played some great football and Spain 82 was a fantastic WC with some brilliant football and some shocking and incredible incidents. And we missed it.

Dotrel

ItsAWindUp wrote: »

I wasn't alive in 1990. Was it really as good as they say?

Yeah it was better than ten Super Bowls.

(or 50 regular bowls)

The_Kew_Tour

losthorizon wrote: »

Personally I think the European championships of 1988 were even better. But what still lodges in my brain after all theses years was failing to qualify for Spain 1982 - we were truely and utterly robbed. What made it even worse was that Irish team played some great football and Spain 82 was a fantastic WC with some brilliant football and some shocking and incredible incidents. And we missed it.

why were we robbed? was it against Belgium was it? goal disallowed or something?

remember something but not sure what

Tigerbaby

yes it was great, I was 30 then. my God the Country was electrified. But, it wasnt as good as '88. Sitting in the Roselawn Inn with me darling watching us beat england. 6 minutes of pleasure, 84 minutes of torture. Thank God for Paki Bonner and the rest.

I could not stop the tears, nor could anyone else. I cried a river.

We had come of age.

beauty.... thank you Ray.

4leto

ItsAWindUp wrote: »

I wasn't alive in 1990. Was it really as good as they say?

It really was wonderful Italia 90 and Germany 88, ask any of your parent or relations. The whole country was on a high.

But its just possible it might happen again.

4leto

Tigerbaby wrote: »

yes it was great, I was 30 then. my God the Country was electrified. But, it wasnt as good as '88. Sitting in the Roselawn Inn with me darling watching us beat england. 6 minutes of pleasure, 84 minutes of torture. Thank God for Paki Bonner and the rest.

I could not stop the tears, nor could anyone else. I cried a river.

We had come of age.

beauty.... thank you Ray.

God I remember that Gary Linekar nearly killed me with the tension, But Pakkie, god bless him. probably the best keeper in the world back then. I to cried a river.

losthorizon

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

why were we robbed? was it against Belgium was it? goal disallowed or something?

remember something but not sure what

Yeah, We scored a perfectly good goal against the Belgians By Stapleton which was disallowed and also they fouled the Irish keeper when the scored their goal. It was a complete con job.

Dotrel

losthorizon wrote: »

Yeah, We scored a perfectly good goal against the Belgians By Stapleton which was disallowed and also they fouled the Irish keeper when the scored their goal. It was a complete con job.

That was the difference tho. Games like that. Charlton realised that Ireland were throwing away crucial draws in places like Belgium and eastern Europe due to naivety and set the team up to come away with 0-0's rather than sob-stories.

LH Pathe

4leto wrote: »

God I remember that Gary Linekar nearly killed me with the tension, But Pakkie, god bless him. probably the best keeper in the world back then. I to cried a river.

I reckon packie could still keep goal for us, after all a goalkeeper and still of that stature, never looked like waning. oh yeh the holland goal but remember Given was an understudy, hell of a void to fill but he was well mentored in the mould-of

.. Fùck this retrospect I am out. Today's crop don't compare, Armenia is the litmus test but we've not scored a goal-goal in 3 games

The_Kew_Tour

losthorizon wrote: »

Yeah, We scored a perfectly good goal against the Belgians By Stapleton which was disallowed and also they fouled the Irish keeper when the scored their goal. It was a complete con job.

Thats it.

Remember the Anderlecht bribing scandal too?

Some former Irish players and management that Belgium were in it during that period too, but that's for another debate I suppose.

pebbles21

Remember being in Ibiza on holidays for the Holland match

There were four of us dressed head to toe in green,white and orange and armed with green inflatable hands,hammers and hats......

We were then approached by an blonde English timeshare girl who gave out those "scratch cards" that you always won on (but they really only wanted Uk holidaymakers at the time cos of the sterling currency being stronger etc)

Anyways she comes running over to the four of us and says in her finest cockney twang ..."excuse me lads ...are you english?????"

We just looked at each other then looked at her and after a long silence she says "ehhhhhh.....your not....are you ????"

x in the city

4leto wrote: »

Let's reminisce, let's be nostalgic.

Watching reeling in the years and the hairs stood up on the back of my neck, I remember those 2 weeks as the best time I ever had on a holiday, I didn’t go away, I was on my holidays from the job I had at that time and I stayed in Dublin.

A brief time when the nation was truly happy, united, we all draped ourselves in green, the women were amorous and the drinking was only celebratory.
The world loved us, the pope blessed us, our away fans gave us pride, we loved Jack and we all hated Dumpy, we had a hell of a team, and a hell of a time.

It all for me culminated for me at my brother’s wedding and Salvatore Schillaci and that sneaky goal, then the final when west germany won, then Pavorotti sang that song.

Will we ever have that again? What was Italia 90 like for you

watched the romania game on a 14" mitsubishi tv in the livin room eatin mash.. :pac:

tv was a trusty 'monitor' for my amiga/spectrum back then also but thats another thing...lol

remember the streets of dublin..

the squad meetin the pope.

the tracksuit and kit.

packies goal kick right into the net basically vs the dutch.

dancin on a fountain, all ages, all green.

the home coming.. molly malone

singin on the streets.. who put the ball in the english net... we did... we did...

and of course....

give it a lash jack...:o

happy days for sure.

x in the city

ItsAWindUp wrote: »

I wasn't alive in 1990. Was it really as good as they say?

jaysiz...:cool:

losthorizon

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Thats it.

Remember the Anderlecht bribing scandal too?

Some former Irish players and management that Belgium were in it during that period too, but that's for another debate I suppose.

Flipping Hell I do.

Didnt realise there was an Irish element.

x in the city

the final was the worst ever in livin memory...

maradona took his side almost by himself to the final. argentina were brutal in the final and had no answer for the masters.

they also were the first team to have someone sent off in the final if i stand corrected.

other memorable moments...

'that music' in the opening game..

cameroon 1 argentina 0... with the match officials looking on in awe before the kick off as maradona did his keepy ups.


in hindsight football is b0llocks now...

euro 88 italy 90 and usa 94 had much more memories that 'modern' finals have..

its all money now, celb b0llocks, wives, orange football boots, broken metatarsals, corruption, boring games......

look at england lol..

the daily tabloids are probably creaming themselves already ahead of euro 2012

god help england.

Dotrel

x in the city wrote: »

the final was the worst ever in livin memory...

Final decided on a penalty.
3rd place game decided by a penalty.
Both semi-finals decided on penalties
Two QF's decided by a penalty and one QF by penalty shootout.

Ireland v Italy was the only game from the QFs onward that was decided without a penalty! :eek:

Dotrel

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Thats it.

Remember the Anderlecht bribing scandal too?

Some former Irish players and management that Belgium were in it during that period too, but that's for another debate I suppose.

What was the Irish connection to the bribery scandal?

The_Kew_Tour

Dotrel wrote: »

What was the Irish connection to the bribery scandal?

Just few the Irish team felt that Ref had been bribed at time.

Again nothing was proven so no point opening can of worms, but lot of decisions went against Ireland that night.

x in the city

here ye go lads

italy vs argentina...:p

gotta love diego..

only he could have the balls to pull that off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI3l06OcKFM

starbelgrade

x in the city wrote: »

italy vs argentina...:p

gotta love diego..

only he could have the balls to pull that off.

I thought he used his hand.

x in the city

starbelgrade wrote: »

I thought he used his hand.

4 yrs previously... was old news then.

jmayo

ItsAWindUp wrote: »

I wasn't alive in 1990. Was it really as good as they say?

Only great just because Ireland were there.

losthorizon wrote: »

Personally I think the European championships of 1988 were even better. But what still lodges in my brain after all theses years was failing to qualify for Spain 1982 - we were truely and utterly robbed. What made it even worse was that Irish team played some great football and Spain 82 was a fantastic WC with some brilliant football and some shocking and incredible incidents. And we missed it.

The fooking Belgians robbed us.
Cloughie always maintained they were cheaten bast***s.

That was one of Ireland's best ever teams.
Far better than some of the sh**e that has followed.

To hell with 90 lets remember the boys that beat the French, lost to the cheaten Belgians and lost out on goal difference to eventual semi finalists.

Stapleton, Brady, Lawrenson, Whelan, Tony Grealish, Gerry Daly, Mike Robinson, Hughton, Davie Langan, Heighway, Gerry Peyton, Moran, Dave O'Leary, Don Givens, Seamus McDonagh, Paul McGee, Mickey Walsh, Pierce O'Leary, Ashley Grimes.

filthymcnasty

black francis wrote: »

I can clearly remember the shoot-out between Ireland and Romania at the 1990 World Cup. I was with my family and we were on the Rosslare- Cherbourg ferry bound for a camping holiday in France.

The match went into extra time as the ferry docked at Cherbourg and despite numerous intercom announcements for people to make their way back to their cars for dis-embarking, nobody was going anywhere – this was our first time in the World Cup and nobody wanted to miss it. There were hundreds of people clustered around a couple of (quite small) tv’s and the atmosphere was (not to sound clichéd) electric.

When David O’Leary scored the winning penalty the whole boat went mad – people jumping around hugging strangers etc. I can remember the eventual disembarking of the ferry. Hundreds of cars poured into the port with people hanging out of windows, beeping horns and generally going crazy – how there weren’t any accidents is probably a minor miracle. The bemused faces of the French customs officials in the port only added to the surreal situation. Even now 21 years later it still makes me smile.:)

fair fcuks for sharing, great story

x in the city

jmayo wrote: »

Only great just because Ireland were there.



The fooking Belgians robbed us.
Cloughie always maintained they were cheaten bast***s.

That was one of Ireland's best ever teams.
Far better than some of the sh**e that has followed.

To hell with 90 lets remember the boys that beat the French, lost to the cheaten Belgians and lost out on goal difference to eventual semi finalists.

Stapleton, Brady, Lawrenson, Whelan, Tony Grealish, Gerry Daly, Mike Robinson, Hughton, Davie Langan, Heighway, Gerry Peyton, Moran, Dave O'Leary, Don Givens, Seamus McDonagh, Paul McGee, Mickey Walsh, Pierce O'Leary, Ashley Grimes.

:pac:

grenache

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Thats it.

Remember the Anderlecht bribing scandal too?

Some former Irish players and management that Belgium were in it during that period too, but that's for another debate I suppose.

Anderlecht, those cnuts, robbed Nottingham Forest of a place in the 1984 UEFA Cup final, by bribing the ref to go through over two legs in the semi. They were kicked out of Europe for 1 season in 1997 as punishment. Not that it was any good to Forest then. As you suggest, i'm pretty sure the wider Belgian footballing association was in on it.

Dotrel

x in the city wrote: »

:pac:

You'll enjoy this headline.

Kersh

What a deadly thread

I remember it all so clear, the country went mad!

nice_very

88 and 90 were awesome, I was 12 and 14 and will never, ever ever forget those iconic words of George Hamilton:

"..a nation holds its breath.."