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