1990 World Cup: The Cup in Italy

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Introduction: 1990 World Cup

Chile’s farce in qualifying and few goals during the tournament. This was how the 1990 World Cup went, which prevented the favorite teams from falling into the same group. But this was not enough to win the dreamed-of fourth Brazilian Championship.

Italy: Host of the Low-scoring Cup

Held in Italy, the 1990 World Cup was the first to have the groups drawn by lot. In this way, it avoided favorite teams being in the same group in the first phase.

Two countries bid farewell after this World Cup for territorial and political reasons: Czechoslovakia, which was to be dismembered, and the Soviet Union. It was also the last competition for West Germany, which was to be united with the East in 1992, becoming a single team.

It was after the 90’s World Cup that FIFA determined, by the rules, that the own goal initiated by an attacking shot would be attributed to the striker (and not to the unlucky player). By the way, that year the tournament was considered a little “stagnant”, with an average of 2.2 goals per match – the lowest ever recorded.

Chile punished during the 1990 World Cup qualifiers

The Chilean team didn’t qualify for the 1990 World Cup, was punished by FIFA and even prevented from participating in the next edition of the World Cup. All this was due to a simulation by goalkeeper Rojas, during the qualifiers, in a decisive game against Brazil.

In the episode, Rojas pretended to have been hit by a firecracker that was fired on the Maracanã field. His teammates supported the lie and even left the field. The objective was to get Brazil punished and Chile guaranteed a place in the classification. However, the hoax was discovered and Rojas was banned from football.

Find out more about how this story went:

Brazilian National Team in 1990

The 90’s World Cup was one of the worst for the Brazilian national team, even with all the excitement of the crowd packed with the musical theme “Papa Essa Brasil“. Players who were not in a good moment were called up, including Romário, who was still recovering from surgery.

Coach Lazaroni tried to innovate with a more defensive tactic for Brazil, but it didn’t work. The team managed to beat Sweden, Costa Rica and Scotland. However, there was a lot of discord and competition for “stardom” among the star players. This disrupted the team’s concentration, which ended up losing to archrival Argentina in the round of 16.

The early elimination would show that Brazil needed a lot more organization and overall preparation to win the title, even though they had a talented squad.

1990 World Cup Final

Led by one of the greatest players of all time, Franz Beckenbauer, Germany reached the 1990 World Cup final in great style. With an impeccable campaign, they competed against Maradona’s Argentina for the coveted 90 Cup trophy.

Argentina had striker Claudio Caniggia suspended, as well as other important players. Still, they had Maradona, but the player was very well marked by the German defense and did not stand out in the match.

At 39′ of the second half, Argentinean player Sensini commits a penalty and leaves to the defender Brehme the honor of the decisive goal of the world title for Germany. After losing the final in the two previous World Cups (1982 and 1986), Germany was finally three-time world champion.