Why did Italy lose the 1994 FIFA World Cup final?
It’s a question with – on the surface – a fairly simple answer:
Italy lost the 1994 FIFA World Cup final because Roberto Baggio ballooned his spot kick over the crossbar during the penalty shoot out.
When Baggio missed, Brazil won, and Italy lost.
Culpability for Gli Azzurri’s heartbreaking World Cup final defeat, therefore, lies with Il Divin Codino…right?
Well, maybe not.
Maybe culpability for this singular and wholly uncharacteristic – Baggio converted 71 of 79 career penalties – failing lies not with the player himself, but with something intangible; for everything tangible that was needed for the ball to hit the back of the net was in place.
The ball didn’t fly over the crossbar because Roberto Baggio lacked the physical talents needed to score the penalty. In fact, in 1994, the Italian trequartista was undoubtedly the best footballer in the world, and had – up to the final – been the star of the tournament.
Baggio was the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year, and had single handedly dragged Gli Azzurri to the World Cup final. The number 10 scored five of Italy’s six goals during the knockout rounds (including a penalty kick) against Nigeria, Spain and a heavily fancied Bulgarian side.
The ball also didn’t fly over the crossbar because the surface at the Rose Bowl was disastrously boggy, bumpy, or dry. Granted the Rose Bowl wasn’t a football (soccer) stadium, but the pitch posed no threat to the likelihood of Baggio’s penalty nestling in the back of the net; as the fact that the Italian number 10 didn’t slip before hitting the penalty, nor did the ball roll off the spot as he was about to take the penalty, attests.
Despite these aforementioned tangibles being in place, Roberto Baggio still missed his spot kick. His nation still lost the World Cup final. And Brazil’s captain Dunga still lifted the World Cup trophy.
So, what happened?
Why did the greatest Italian footballer of all time miss when it mattered the most?
It’s a question that Roberto Baggio himself has struggled to find an answer for: “I don’t know how, the ball went up three metres and flew over the crossbar.”
And it’s a question that still haunts him to this day: “It affected me for years. It was the worst moment of my career. I still dream about it. If I could erase a moment from my career, it would be that one.”
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