Waddle in tears as semi-final tie summons memories of Italia 90
CHRIS WADDLE, who missed a penalty at Italia 90, broke down after England emulated his team’s feat in reaching a World Cup semi-final.
Waddle missed the final penalty that sent England out of the World Cup in 1990. Yesterday, as a commentator on BBC Radio 5Live, the sight of an England team reaching the same stage was too much for him.
Asked by a presenter: “How does it feel to watch another England squad reach that stage?”, Waddle replied: “It’s just unbelievable... I couldn’t believe… it’s quite emotional actually.” He could then be heard to be clearly “choking up”.
The last semi-final reached by England was the match that had it all: Gazza’s tears; a penalty shoot-out; and ultimately defeat to West Germany. The game even spawned an unlikely hit West End play, An Evening With Gary Lineker. ter and Martina Navratilova had just won Wimbledon for the ninth time.
Italia 90 was for any Englishman under the age of 50 quite simply the greatest World Cup of all time; but it ended in defeat to the Germans with penalty misses by Stuart Pearce and then Waddle. Before that Paul Gascoigne, the finest English player for a generation, had broken down in tears after picking up a booking in extra time that, had England won, would have ruled him out of the final. Gary Lineker, who had equalised, then signalled to the England manager Bobby Robson that Gazza was traumatised at the prospect.
The night in Turin remains etched on the mind of every England fan, the game watched by a record television audience of 26.2million.
Italia 90 even launched the three tenors – Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, and Jose Carreras – into the wider public consciousness. Suddenly, opera was a hit with the masses.
England will now face Croatia in Moscow on Wednesday night for their first semi-final since then. If they win, a final against either France or Belgium beckons. The pair meet in their own semifinal in St Petersburg on Tuesday and the winner of that game will be hot favourites to lift the World Cup.
But football, as pundits are wont to say, is a funny old game.