Football matches of Italian National team (1980-2000)

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This summer I will go to two matches of the European Football Championship: Italy-Switzerland on 17 June and Italy-Wales on 21. I had also applied for the inaugural game, but I lost the draw. So I will come back to watch a match of our national football team after 20 years and one of the ECH after 40.

My first game of the national team was Italy-Spain of the 1980 ECH (it was 12 June, the same day of next year's the inaugural match, but I only know this because I checked). I remember that my father and I arrived in San Siro quite late, a few minutes before the kick off. The lineups were announced, and the Spaniards were almost all unknown. I had heard that their manager was following a renewal policy and would exclude the "senators", but it had gone far beyond expectations.

We were in the second and then last deck (the third would be added in 1990), in one of the curves, I think the South one, however behind the goal where Spain shot in the first half. It was a 0-0, not particularly exciting. However, we went closer to losing than to winning: the only episode I remember was a post hit on a free kick by a Gomez.

The next day I found out why the names of the Spaniards said nothing to me: the speaker had read the lineup with real names and at the time almost all Spaniards were known by nicknames! That Gomez who hit a post on a free kick post was actually better known as Juanito (and the following year, in Inter-Real Madrid, I ended up knowing him very well ...). Italy then beat England 1-0, made another 0-0 with Belgium (after 90 minutes of siege) and qualified for the final for 3rd place, which lost on penalties to Czechoslovakia.

The second match I watched was precisely against Czechoslovakia, also in San Siro, which in the meantime had been dedicated to Giuseppe Meazza. It was the first match (at least the first official) after the 1982 World Cup, therefore the first as world champions. So I would have said it was September, instead I read that it was 13th November. I was with my father and his group of friends with whom we went to watch Inter, we were very high, in what is now the second orange deck (at the time without colour and without seats), near the left goal.

It was a rainy day, even if luckily it had stopped raining, or almost: the stadium was still uncovered. It was a far from memorable game: I remember the heavy field and the difficulties in controlling the ball. Italy went ahead twice and was caught twice. So it ended 2-2 and we understood that the magic of the World Cup was over. Neither team qualified for the 8-team finals: Romania passed.

I went back to watch the national team 18 years later, right against Romania. It was 7 October, 2000, but here too I had to check, otherwise I wouldn't even have been sure of the year . My fiancée (now wife) lived far away: that week we met in Milan and we took the opportunity to go to the 2002 World Cup qualifying match. There are not many matches we have watched together: there was on 5-5-2002, but I do not know if I'll ever write about that ...

We were in the second orange deck, to the left. The game was certainly more enjoyable than the other two: Italy started immediately offensively and soon went ahead with a nice goal by Inzaghi. Shortly afterwards they doubled, and the game could be considered over: Romania was never dangerous. The third goal also arrived, I would have said in the second half, instead it was at the end of the first.

That was the last game of the A National. In 2012, in Frankfurt, I went to see an old timers' match between Italy and Germany, won by Italy on penalties. But I'll talk about that again.