Paolo Rossi RIP

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  • Paolo Rossi RIP

    RIP to, i suppose - THE hero of italy's 1982 wc. an improbable wc hero because he was banned (match fixing along with lazio's CF bruno giordano) from all football for a few years - i believe he played in 4 or 5 matches in 2 years prior to the 1982 wc. manager enzo bearzot took rossi on the squad as his ban had just ended prior to the '82 wc and what a decision.

    not my favorite player from that italy side...the italy CF choices were considered slim. altobelli at age 26 was probably in line for the spot. bettega was in his 30s and finished internationally. giordano and roberto pruzzo (roma) weren't selected.

    italy's CF depth at the 1982 wc: rossi (juventus) - altobelli (inter) - graziani (fiorentina and could also play wide) - selvaggi (cagliari).

    italy's strength was it's backline and it's midfield (tardelli-antognoni-conti). despite all that, no rossi, no world cup.

    rip to paolo rossi.

  • #2
    the match that made rossi famous...3 goals against one of the best brazil sides - ever. the second group stage with brazil-argentina-italy in the group.

    one of the greatest matches of all-time history and this wasn't even the best match of the 1982 wc.

    rossi's goals:

    - fine change of play from conti..cross-field ball to attacking left-back cabrini - cabrini with a good cross and rossi scores.
    - huge mistake from cerezo. a lazy square ball that junior didn't anticipate. rossi pounces and scores.
    - got lucky when 2 brazilians jumped to clear the same ball off a conti corner. tardelli shoots and rossi with an easy steer for the hat trick.

    the save by zoff off a oscar header at the death...

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    • #3
      Ahhh, the Brazil match that broke my heart. Rossi, simply put, was phenomenal in Spain in that WC, especially after the first group stage. He was literally the best player in the world for two and a half weeks of that tournament, and single handedly beat Brazil, who I consider the best team that decade. Dutch and German fans would probably disagree with me ( Netherlands 88 Euro champs and Germany 90 WC champs), but that Brazilian team with Zico, Socrates, Falcao, Junior, Edhino, Eder and company were years ahead of any other teams in terms of offensive fluidity, pace, touches and rhythm. Just a beautiful brand of football to watch and by FAR, the best team not to win a World Cup, if there is such a title.

      Getting back to Rossi, his performance in Spain came out of nowhere. A year or two before, he was suspended by the Italian FA for match fixing and was thought that his career was on the downswing. That was all the more reason that his performance in that WC, was special. Literally found lightning in a bottle, not so dissimilar to Nery Castillo's form with Oly and The Mexican NT for about a year and a half, Nery was playing out of his mind. And your right aek66, that Brazil game exciting as it was, played second fiddle to the German-French game in the semifinals that went into penalty kicks. Talk about drama, that game had amazing ebbs and flows and probably cost the Germans to lose the final game because they were drained, even though, talent wise, they had a better team than the Italians.
      Last edited by LoneHorseman; 12-16-2020, 06:55 AM.

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      • #4
        agree with all. best decade of football NT sides. easily. some nations had one stand out like a france (platini) and argentina (maradona), other nations had great talent from 1-11; germany, netherlands and brazil...and then we had italy - which relied on the best ever back 4 along with DM tardelli. i thought england's 80-82 NT side was better than the1990 england side, though the 1990 side reached greater tournament heights.

        rossi was well known. i was too young to understand or care about a player's co-ownership (juventus and vicenza). did understand the betting scandal and this guy played maybe 4 matches from 1980 until may of 1982 and then did the business at the '82 wc. maybe the freshness helped - like many of greece's 2004 players were very fresh.

        what i enjoyed from the video above, was DM tardelli's run to the left flank - giving left-back cabrini a target. cabrini hit tardelli with the pass and tardelli with a wicked cross that rossi scuffed. that happened early in the match and showed tardelli's off the ball class and his left-footed cross showed how good his '2nd' foot was. super player. a CDM did that.

        can we imagine a greece CM doing that? play a ball to the full-back from a relatively high area of the CM, run into space ahead of the full-back, collect the ball and make a dangerous cross with your 'weaker' foot?

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        • #5
          i remember that day like it was this afternoon.

          that play zico created on goal was magnificent

          RIP Mr Paolo Rossi, too many leaving this realm as of late.

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          • #6
            what a dummy by falcao on brazil's 2nd goal - he took out 2 all-time greats in tardelli and scirea on that dummy - opened up the red sea for his blast with his weaker foot. orgasmic. dummy never happens if brazil's #3 oscar doesn't make that great run. unbelievable match and talent.

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            • #7
              He stopped time and created space. Beautiful.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by aek66 View Post
                i thought england's 80-82 NT side was better than the1990 england side, though the 1990 side reached greater tournament heights.



                Totally agree, the 82 squad had great balance and talent, Trevor Francis, Keegan, Glen Hoddle, Ray Wilkins, Bryan Robson and company, went undefeated in 82 in Spain but lost out on goal difference if I remember in the second group stage against the Germans. Bryan Robson started the tournament like gangbusters, one-man wrecking crew against the French, scored in the first minute against them and another one later on. But as the tournament went on, especially in the second group stage, the Three Lions goals dried up and were eventually eliminated. Perhaps if Keegan didn't get injured or maybe was past his prime or they had a Chris Waddle on that particular team,(made his WC debut 4 years later in Mexico), they may of inched the Germans to get out of the second group stage to the semi's.

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                • #9
                  thank god for 2020 & youtube that let us revisit the past
                  beautiful football

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