An agonising night in Turin ends in tears
I
T HAS become known as One Night In Turin. And what a long night it was.
The despair, the tears, the agony and, in the end, the pain, after Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle missed penalties as Bobby Robson’s England crashed out of the 1990 World Cup in the semi-finals, the last time the nation reached this stage of the competition.
But for so many the defining image of the match against West Germany on July 4 was that of Paul Gascoigne crying after he was booked and realised he would miss the final through suspension – if England were to progress.
It was 1-1 at the time in an epic match.
On the hour, Andreas Brehme had put the Germans in front, as his free-kick hit the England defensive wall and looped over goalkeeper Peter Shilton.
But 10 minutes from the end, England drew level through Gary Lineker to take the match into extra-time.
Eight minutes into the additional period came Gazza’s life-changing moment. He was carrying a yellow card after being booked for a foul on Belgium’s Enzo Scifo in the quarterfinals, and when he slid into Thomas Berthold, Gascoigne could not believe the outcome. It was his second caution, which meant he would be suspended for the next match.
But if that was dramatic, what followed was England’s first tournament penalty shoot-out, with Lineker, Peter Beardsley and David Platt all scoring while Brehme, Lothar Matthaus and Karlheinz Riedle converted for Germany.
Then up stepped Pearce to see his spot-kick saved by Bodo Illgner, before Olaf Thon put Germany in front. Waddle had to score, but he drove the ball well over the bar and England were out.
It was the first penalty Waddle had ever taken at such a level and he reflected at the time: “The only one I had taken before was for Tottenham in a pre-season game. I had watched the goalkeeper very closely and noticed that he dived low. I decided to hit it hard and high. “I kicked the post in anger and frustration, and the first player to speak to me was the West German captain Matthaus. He said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s a horrible way to go out of the World Cup’. That was a magnificent gesture.”
England were captained that night by Terry Butcher, now a Daily Express columnist for this World Cup. This week he looked back on the events of that infamous evening.
“We played the best football of the tournament in the 1990 semi-final and stood toe-totoe with the Germans, and battled them for two hours,” said Butcher.
“We played some lovely football on the night. They had one or two chances, we had one or two chances – there was nothing to choose between the two sides.
“We played really well. The goal we conceded was a fluke more than anything else but we changed the system and came back into the game. Then it went to penalties.
“I was watching from the bench, having been taken off to bring on a more attacking player in the 70th minute. When Gazza was booked, and Gary Lineker said across to the dugout, ‘Have a word’, everybody had a word.
“The whole bench was up shouting and encouraging Gascoigne.
“You miss the penalty, you lose and that’s it. But it does not feel like you’ve lost a semi-final, that does not sink in until days after. I
The dressing room was like a morgue
went over to Gazza, who was in tears, but he had really played well on the night and in the tournament, and I felt sorry for him.” Gascoigne, speaking to FIFA’s website, said: “When I was a young kid playing at my youth club, every night I used to dream about playing football at the World Cup. I lived that dream in Italy.” Butcher said: “As a captain your job was to try to console players. I knew it was my last World Cup but I wanted to make sure the other players came back from it. I remember their manager Franz Beckenbauer coming over and being a real gentleman.
“We could see the Germans celebrating and it was hard. But that is when you have to be strong. Pearcey was inconsolable, Chrissy Waddle was inconsolable. There is not a lot you can say to them, it just takes them a time to recover. The dressing room was like a morgue.”
It was the last match of Robson’s tenure as manager. It was a football night in Turin like no other.