I floored Keegan with an elbow. It was harsh, but nobody moaned
Legendary Italian hard man Tardelli recalls day he cut English hero down to size
MARCO Tar Dell I frowns at the dust spinning from the wheels as our Fiat Panda climbs through the hairpin bends. Tardelli and Fiat, two Italian icons, built in Turin and bound to Juventus.
a robo-mower whizzes around his feet as he leans over his garden fence and offers a wave of encouragement. Sparkling before him is lake Como. Behind him Switzerland.
To his right, a building he is converting into a holiday villa for rent. It’s not quite hatchet-man turned handy-man, but since leaving a coaching role with the republic of Ireland, he has become closer to the project.
To his left, George Clooney’s pad. He jokes that the Hollywood star has a photograph of them together on display in his house, but Tardelli is not big-time. Far from it.
He drives a small car, ideal for Cernobbio’s steep and twisting lanes. His home is tastefully designed and the view is spectacular — but it is no mansion and there is barely a trace of his footballing fame.
Two black-and-white prints sit on a sofa. One of Tardelli celebrating that goal and one of enzo Bearzot, manager of that Italy team.
He is still in demand as a TV pundit and bonafide Juventus legend as they prepare for the Champions league final on Saturday.
at 60, he looks tanned and healthy, every inch the vintage sporting hero. He exudes warmth and charm and yet appreciates that to an english audience he will always be cast as the Italian brute.
‘It was justified, I could be harsh,’ he smiles, hands up in admission. ‘But I was never as bad as Nobby Stiles. and I never moaned when it happened to me. You talk about us, but we had stories about the english. I remember Dave Watson, the centre half from Manchester City . . .’
Tardelli widens his eyes and blows out his cheeks. Then he recounts bruising duels with Steve Coppell and Brian Kidd and the time he floored Kevin Keegan at Wembley in 1977, the moment his reputation was cemented.
‘He went down and that was it,’ he says, miming the elbow. ‘I was very sad about it. But Keegan was a strong player. Fantastic. I fought against Keegan and Zico. I fought against Maradona, who would take it and not say a word. I don’t think today’s players could play the football we played. It was very tough.’
Tar Dell I may have been a ferocious competitor and tactically astute, but he could play a bit and had a knack for important goals.
One in a UeFa Cup final and a winner against england in the 1980 euros, two years before the ‘Tardelli Cry’, a scream of ecstasy from a man who knew his sweet left-footer had won the 1982 World Cup in a 3-1 win over West Germany.
‘I remember it because I see it all the time,’ he says. ‘ But I don’t know where it came from. It was a reaction. People say I went crazy and it was a moment of madness. For me, it was an explosion of joy.
‘It was the second goal, two-zero. I knew we had won it. It was the third time we’d won the World Cup, but the first since the 30s. and noone expected us to win. We believed, but nobody believed in us.’
In a glittering decade at Juventus, Tardelli won the lot: Serie a five times, the Coppa Italia twice, the UeFa Cup and the european Cup Winners’ Cup. There was the european Cup, also, but Heysel provokes only sadness.
He joined former team-mates at a mass in Turin last week to mark the 30th anniversary of the tragedy and addresses the final against Barcelona as Juve’s chance for a second european title, not a third.
‘Brussels was a defeat on all levels,’ says Tardelli. ‘a big defeat. You carry it with you. It never leaves. You don’t just remember it every 10 years. It is with you, it is part of you.
‘We didn’t want to play. We played because we had to. UeFa told us to play. Television contracts.
‘I knew one person had died. We had managed to allow one father and son into the tunnel, near the dressing rooms. The man was in shock but determined to save his son. He was shouting for help. There was a policeman at the entrance and I urged him to let them in. It was the natural thing to do. The kid was crying.
‘For the team, it was really upsetting. We felt bad. But when you’re told to play, you have to play.
‘The liverpool players were very professional. When the penalty was awarded it was outside the area and they could have kicked up a fuss but it didn’t seem like they did. after the match, the liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar came on to our bus. He congratulated us on our victory and apolp ogised for what happened ened on behalf of the club.’
Tardelli flew straight ht to Mexico for interna- tional duty and it was not until he landed that he understood the scale of the disaster. Thirty-nine had died, mostly Italians, crushed when n a wall collapsed as they ey tried to flee from chargrging liverpool fans.
What should have bbeen ththe pinnacle came to symbolise something else for one of Italy’s finest teams. after 375 appearances, Tardelli left for Inter Milan but is bonded to those at Juventus with whom he conquered all.
‘We’d go to the dressing room half an hour early just to have fun,’ he says. ‘It’s different today. agents are pushing players to play for their own good rather than the team.
‘For us it was a family. I was the one always moaning. (Dino) Zoff was the quiet one. (Paolo) rossi was very nice. Gentile was the nicest and funniest guy, always telling jokes.’
really? When it came to uncompromising defending, Claudio Gentile was even more extreme than Tardelli. ‘On the pitch, a different story,’ he grins, before moving on to the foreign stars. ‘liam Brady was a good man and a very good player. We were all sad when (Michel) Platini arrived and liam was transferred to Sampdoria. But (Platini) never missed a training session, ever, and his attitude brought us together. He had some magic. liam also, but Platini was one of the best in the world. He was intelligent. He was funny. He was ironic. and he’s become UeFa president.’
When Tardelli signed from Como for a billion lire (£375,000), just 12 months after leaving third-tier Pisa, he stepped into a dressing room boasting legends and strict rules of behaviour. ‘I was scared,’ he recalls. ‘I was a little boy of 20. Juventus were the biggest club in Italy and the most important in the way they managed their players. You could not get a tattoo. It was forbidden. They looked after theth man as well as the player. ‘Juventus belonged to the agnelli family, and they managed it with the same standards they managed Fiat. It was disciplined. They insisted that we studied. I studied to be a surveyor. Their philosophy was that it was easier to manage a player who had intelligence.’
High standards and unrivalled success reinforced the status of Juventus, but polarised opinion.
‘You love it or you hate it,’ says Tardelli. ‘ In Italy there are not those fans who love to see Italian football win. If you hate Juve, there is no way you will support them against Barcelona.
‘Italian people always think if you’re winning, you’re cheating. Maybe you’re friends with the referee. If you’re doing well, something
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is wrong. England is different because all people believe in the referee. They respect his integrity. In Italy, no. They think the referee is for the biggest teams.’
This mood, he admits, is amplified by corruption scandals, and the inability of Italian authorities to tackle racism and hooliganism.
‘There is no willingness to attack the problems,’ says Tardelli. ‘I appreciate what England did to end hooliganism. They said it’s finished and it was finished. We have been trying since 1977.’
When the authorities did make a stand, Juventus suffered, but Tardelli believes the club’s relegation to Serie B after the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal in 2006 was the foundation stone for another era of domination.
‘Other teams who acted the same way were not relegated and did not get the clean break,’ he says. ‘There is still a way before Juventus have the presence on an international level like Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. But it’s starting to get back to that.
‘Not seeing Manchester United on top of the world is not nice. Like Juve. And Milan. It’s important for European football. We all lose out when they’re not there.’
Tardelli detects qualities in Massimiliano Allegri’s side akin to those in Giovanni Trapattoni’s Juventus. ‘I like their determination. They don’t give up.’
Barcelona, however. How exactly would Tardelli stop Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar? ‘I’d do what I did against Maradona,’ he laughs. ‘But now you can’t play like that. So, I don’t know. Juventus has a good defence. Barcelona has a great attack.
‘It’s one match. Jose Mourinho found a way to stop Barcelona (with Inter in 2010) but that was a different Barcelona. I’m not sure there is a way to stop Barcelona now. Maybe they need holy water.’
Over pizza and salad in a nearby trattoria, Tardelli gently fishes for gossip from Manuela Spinelli, driver of the Fiat Panda and a friend and translator to both him and Trapattoni during their five years with Ireland.
He asks with genuine concern for an update on the welfare of Paul Gascoigne and ventures into world affairs. He addressed a conference at the United Nations in New York in March, although he has shelved the idea of a political career.
Football is in his blood, and he believes he can still contribute as a coach. Until then, life is not so bad in the hills above Lake Como.