Cue up Queen, folks. Italy beat France today on penalty kicks to win the World Cup for the first time since 1982. That last championship victory was 24 years ago. Not exactly a drought of Red Sox proportions, but still a pretty long gap between championships. I was 13 when Italy beat Germany 3-1 in the 1982 final, and I still remember watching the game with my parents in N.H.
I also remember the years of frustration for the Italian team since they last won the World Cup, and the parallels with the Red Sox are kind of interesting. They were beaten by France in the Round of 16 in 1986. In 1990, they were bounced in the semifinals by Argentina, on penalty kicks -- on their home turf.
In 1994, when the World Cup was played in the U.S., I got to see my first World Cup game live: Italy v. Bulgaria in the semifinal game in Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey. Italy beat a solid Bulgarian team 2-1 in a tight game and earned a trip to the finals against Brazil, the New York Yankees of soccer. The final took place in Pasadena, California, on a hot, midsummer day. The teams played a grueling match to a 0-0 draw at the end of regulation, and then overtime. Again, it came down to penalty kicks. I was so happy and proud that the Italian team had fought hard against Brazil, the team that most people considered to be the best in the world, and was about to win the World Cup in the United States - my country.
Now, one would think that as a Red Sox fan (pre-2004, of course), I would have known better than to feel so confident before the proverbial fat lady had raised her melodic voice and begun to sing. But this was soccer, not baseball. Surely the Italian team would not do an "El-Foldo" like the (pre-2004) Red Sox and would nail all 5 penalty kicks and become champions.
Alas, it was not to be. Indeed, I daresay that Italy lost the 1994 World Cup Final in true (pre-2004) Red Sox fashion. Their best defenseman and captain, Franco Baresi, and their best player and offensive engine, Roberto Baggio, BOTH missed penalty shots. Brazil won the shootout 3-2. Watching the game from my law school apartment with my roommates, I wanted to put my fist through a wall. It was like Bill Buckner all over again, although, I have to admit, the loss didn't remotely carry the same emotional wallop as the 1986 World Series for me. Still, it stung like a bastard.
1998? A similar story. Italy bounced out of the quarterfinals of the the World Cup in France by... the fucking French. On penalty kicks. Again.
2002 was pretty much a disaster - they didn't even get out of the Round of 16. But by 2006, I had learned to hate penalty kicks. It's like Russian Roulette on steroids. Penalty kicks have not been kind to Italy.
So, it was with great trepidation that I watched today's game wind down to penalty kicks.
But let's rewind the day for a moment. For some reason, I thought today's game was supposed to start at 3:00 p.m., and it actually began at 2:00. I watched the first half at home, but I really wanted to see the game with a group of people, because it's way more fun to watch that way. So, after the first half, I got on my bike and started riding around Williamsburg looking for a bar to watch the game. Zebulon Cafe was standing room only - there were actually people outside who couldn't get in. Same for Iona. So, on I rode.
I finally ended up at Levee on Metropolitan, which had to be the only pro-France bar in Williamsburg. I think there were a total of 4 fans of Italy there, including me and one of the bartenders, who, every 15 minutes or so would yell FORZA ITALIA!!! just to piss off most of his patrons. I arrived just in time to see Italy start to play like shit. When I was watching the first half alone at home, Italy was playing really well. They evened the score after a bullshit penalty that was called 10 minutes into the game.
The second half, however, was a different story. Italy was pretty much outplayed and France was the aggressor. If it wasn't for Buffon, who made a couple of amazing saves, Italy would have been in big trouble. One of his saves was on a great header by Zidane (not his most memorable header of the day) that I thought for sure was going in. Buffon followed the cross kick from his left and then Zidane's redirecting header - the ball must have come off his head at 30 miles an hour - and leapt at the last second and managed to get one hand on the ball, pushing it over the crossbar. It was an incredible save.
Then, towards the end of the game, Zidane inexplicably head butted an Italian player - Materazzi - in the chest. It was a shocking display of stupidity from one of the greatest soccer players in the world. For some reason, in the World Cup, it's the greatest players who seem to lose their cool when the spotlight is burning the brightest. Beckham did it in 2002, Rooney this year, and now Zidane. Kind of bizarre - though Zidane does have a bit of a checkered history with these kinds of fouls. His timing today was impeccable.
Anyay, Zidane or no Zidane, I wasn't too happy when the game came down to penalty kicks. It was like 1998 all over again. The equivalent of the Red Sox going back to Yankee Stadium for Game 7 in 2004. Really stressful. Ulcer inducing. With penalty kicks, you know the game is going to end one way or the other in the span of five minutes. For better or worse. In a way, it's a crappy way to end a game, let alone a World Cup Final.
But this time, THIS time, the Azzurri pulled it off. Banged in all five. My cousins in Italy are probably still partying.
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