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The all-time World Cup




January 28th 2005
Rome, Stadio Olimpico
ITALY - HUNGARY
2-1 (0-0)

      GOALS                   50'  0-1  Ladislao Kubala
                              53'  1-1  Luigi Riva
                              76'  2-1  Marco Tardelli

      REFEREE                 Romualdas Arppi Filho (Brazil)

      ATTENDANCE              82,000

      YELLOW CARDS            Bergomi (ITA) - Biro (HUN)




      ITALY (Coach: Vittorio Pozzo, system 4-3-3)

       1 Dino Zoff
       2 Giuseppe Bergomi
       5 Riccardo Ferri
       6 Franco Baresi (captain)
      15 Paolo Maldini
      14 Marco Tardelli
       8 Romeo Benetti
      10 Gianni Rivera             (-63)
       7 Giuseppe Meazza           (-72)
       9 Silvio Piola
      11 Luigi Riva                (-88)

      Substitutes:
      12 Sandro Mazzola            (+63)
      16 Valentino Mazzola         (+72)
      18 Roberto Baggio            (+88)



      HUNGARY (Coach: Gusztav Sebes, system 4-2-4)
      
       1 Gyula Grosics
       2 Jenö Buzansky
       5 Kalman Meszoly
       4 Gyula Lorant
       3 Sandor Biro               (-81)
       6 Jozsef Bozsik             (-58)
      15 Tibor Nyilasi
      14 Ladislao Kubala
       8 Sandor Kocsis             (-70)
      10 Ferenc Puskas (captain)
      11 Zoltan Czibor

      Substitutes:
      17 Ferenc Sipos              (+58)
      18 Imre Schlosser-Lakatos    (+70)
      12 Gyorgy Sarosi             (+81)


MATCHREPORT


    Italy-Hungary, the first confrontation in this All Time World Cup between two real superteams, two favourites for the ultimate title. And probably the encounter between the best defence and the best attack. Pozzo had plenty to choose from for his back four, but decided to play the whole 1990 defence. That gave for instance Paolo Maldini the nod over Facchetti. In 1990 quartet Bergomi, Ferri, Baresi and Maldini kept five shut-outs in a row, only to give up the first goal deep into the semifinal. The same luxury problem Hungary's coach Sebes had, but then in attack. Who would be dropped from all those brilliant strikers? Sebes chose four of them, with Czibor on the left, Kubala on the right and the marvellous duo Kocsis and captain Puskas in de the middle: simply frightning.

    Pozzo had a surprise in store, asking Franco Baresi to take care of Puskas. That made it a 1-on-1 game throughout the field. Ferri was linked to "Golden Head" Kocsis, Bergomi would meet Czibor and Maldini Kubala. What a thrill! It turned out to become a great match. Hungary, with Nyilasi just behind the front line, went forward without any fear. They seemed to realize that they would probably not be able to keep a clean sheet against Italy anyway and they had to score one goal more than Italy, to win. Italy on their turn knew that keeping Hungary from scoring would probably be enough for three points. Apart from their defence, they had two battling players in midfield with Marco Tardelli and the strong Romeo Benetti. Two completely different styles divided the teams, and that produced the match the world awaited.

    Hungary started furious. Zoff had to stretch to full length after a header from Kocsis. It was the only time Kocsis could withdraw from the tight marking of Riccardo Ferri. A blasting effort from Puskas just missed out, and Bergomi saved on the line when Nyilasi beat Tardelli and almost sent his header past Zoff. And all this within the first 15 minutes! Czibor went down after a tackle from Bergomi, but Arppi Filho thought it had been a fair challenge: no penalty kick. Italy saw themselves limited to very few counter-attacks. The spectators couldn't believe their eyes. Italy's only chance came after half an hour when Meazza squeezed past Biro and served Piola. The big centre forward, heavily hampered by Lorant, headed wide. It would have been against all ratio.

    It wasn't until then that Italy got more grip on the Magic Magyars. The Squadra finally bared their teeth. Benetti battled with Bozsik and the blond-haired hot-tempered midfielder kept his head cool this time and showed his teammates the way: win the ball earlier and go forward with it. Tardelli now could master Nyilasi a couple of times and support the attack. Attacking would also be the best chance for Italy, they only seemed to understand now after escaping from going behind. In defence, Hungary certainly lacked the big class they had so much available up front. They wished they could have borrowed Burgnich, Collovati, Scirea and Facchetti, the second choice from Italy. It was now more of an even match, though Bergomi still had to handle the emergency break and was cautioned by Arppi Filho. Later in the match Biro underwent the same fate. Piola tested Grosics with a low drive, the goalkeeper did well to turn it away. No goals at the break, but the spectators had been fascinated all the way by the great display of Puskas and his men and the dedication of the hometeam.

    In the 50th minute Hungary finally got what they deserved. Bozsik set up the attack and served Puskas. The Galopping Major released Kubala who went past Maldini and chipped the ball brilliantly over Zoff into the net: 1-0 to the Hungarians. As if it hadn't been enough, this was what this game needed to improve from great to fantastic. Italy immediately took the initiative, Hungary were entrenched in their own half and it wasn´t to be long before Pozzo´s soldiers made amends. Rivera for the first time proved what he could do, the ball went to Riva. The outside left from Sardinia did what was his second nature: not hesitate and shoot. The ball smashed in behind Grosics.

    With the games against Romania and Paraguay, both cosidered to be remarkably weaker, coming up both teams could now be satisfied with a draw. But that didn't happen. Hungary once more did everything for the win, but conditionally they were in pain. Bozsik had to be replaced by Ferenc Sipos, a man who mostly could hold the ball well. But not this time, on this ultimate level. With so much world class around him, Sipos looked a bit out of place. Pozzo tried to bring fresh blood with Sandro Mazzola in place of Gianni Rivera, the opposite from the famous substitution by Valcareggi during the World Cup 1970 and soon after father Mazzola, Valentino, entered the pitch in place of Meazza. The experienced Italians knew they were above now but they had to be careful. Puskas released an inch perfect volley only to see Zoff tipping it to corner. Valentino Mazzola was released by Sandro but shot it wide, on the other end subsitute Imre Schlosser-Lakatos came within inches of sliding a Czibor cross home.

    A quarter of an hour before the end, Italy struck. It was Valentino Mazzola again doing the first damage, moving past Biro and Meszoly and passing the ball neatly to Tardelli. The elegant workhorse hammered it in: 2-1. Sebes wouldn't lose any time and took defender Biro off for still an extra striker, Gyorgy Sarosi. With all these masters up front Hungary desparately threw themselves into the attack. And they came close to equalizing more than once. Which would have been deserved. Puskas tried from a narrow angle, Baresi blocked the shot with all his might. And Zoff, one of the best this night, saved impressively with his foot on a effort from Schlosser-Lakatos. And when everything seemed to be over, Meszoly headed the ball on the upper side of the bar.

    Though Arppi Filho added 6 minutes of stoppage time. it wasn't to be for Hungary. Italy were saved by the bell, had their share of luck, a superb defence and a great goalie on their side. In this form and with this style of play, Hungary however had to be able to beat both neighbour Romania and Paraguay. There was little doubt that they would. Italy virtually had secured a place in the second round already. A team not only strong at the back, but they had also shown that they were able to turn a match around. Against the strong Hungarians they had exercised patience and struck when the time was right: an important quality for a possible champion!

    Next Tuesday, Scandinavia Time! Sweden and Denmark open their account - in a tight group with Austria and England - in the Rasunda Stadium in Stockholm. An even match at first sight, although the Swedes have the home advantage and their World Cup history as a possible omen. Coach George Raynor is expected to field some of his 1950's stars: Gustavsson, Liedholm, Gren and Skoglund. Topscorer Gunnar Nordahl is a 100% certain addition. A strong and sound team. Danish Dynamite will be built around vastly talented Michael Laudrup, with support from Elkjaer-Larsen, Poul "Tist" Nielsen and one of Europe's biggest stars of the early 1900's, Nils Middelboe. Also no push-overs for any team. Maurice Guigue is the referee.




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