Before kickoff at every Serie A game this past weekend, the stadium fell silent as players, officials and supporters took a moment to remember Azeglio Vicini. The former boss of the Italian national team, he had passed away a few days earlier, prompting many to recall a summer that marked both his greatest accomplishment and his deepest regret.
Vicini had enjoyed a relatively modest playing career, a functional midfielder who represented Sampdoria, Vincenza and his hometown club Bresica, winning just two Serie B titles along the way. He would quickly move into coaching, taking charge of Brescia less than 12 months after hanging up his boots and the Italian FA quickly took notice of the potential and intelligence he displayed on the bench.
Handed the reins of Italy’s under-21s in 1976, he steered them to the latter stages of the European Championships four times before finishing as runner up in 1986. After a decade there he was promoted to Coach of the full national team, taking over from Enzo Bearzot as he followed the same path as the 1982 World Cup winner.
Much like his predecessor, his task was to bring through many of the players he had been working with at U-21 level and usher in a new era for the Azzurri, but with one major difference. Bearzot raised the bar by delivering the ultimate glory – and ending a barren run for Italy that stretched all the way back to 1938 – but the next edition of the World Cup would see the nation not only seeking another triumph, they would also be the hosts.
Everything seemed to be going according to plan as players like Walter Zenga, Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli stepped up from the U-21s comfortably, Vicini continuing to mould them into a team capable of taking on the very best competition. The whole peninsula eagerly anticipated the tournament, but the 1989/90 domestic campaign would see two men stake surprising and unexpected claims for a place in the starting lineup.
The talent of Roberto Baggio was well-known, but this would be his breakout season with Fiorentina, netting 17 league goals and setting on countless others for his team-mates as his combination of speed, trickery and vision laid waste to defences across Serie A. The Viola would reach the final of the UEFA Cup thanks to the “Divine Ponytail,” his impact undeniable yet not enough to help them overcome Juventus in the European clash.
The Bianconeri would also lift the Coppa Italia, a resurgence sparked by the goals of a previously unheralded striker named Toto Schillaci. Small, slow and balding, he could not be more different to Baggio, yet with 44 goals over the previous two years, the clamour for both to be given a place in the starting XI became deafening.
Schillaci and Baggio could not be ignored, but the decision to actually play the duo would prove incredible difficult. As Italia ’90 began with a backdrop of the nation’s proud footballing traditions and the incredible arias of Luciano Pavarotti, it was the Coach who was left to make some impossibly tough decisions. Indeed, the tournament is famous for the tenor’s rendition of Nessun dorma – “Nobody sleeps” – but it would be Vicini that was kept awake as he mulled over his attacking selections.
Believing in what he had built over the previous decade, he stuck with those who had been there from the beginning, but as the World Cup progress, Baggio and Schiallci would make that impossible. Their goals, their play and – in the latter’s case – his eye-popping reaction to all of it saw them capture the hearts of Azzurri supporters everywhere, culminating in a semifinal meeting with Argentina.
Facing Diego Maradona at his best was always a mammoth task, doing so in Naples only magnifying the challenge. Heading to a sold out and red hot Stadio San Paolo, Vicini would make a decision few could believe, dropping Baggio in favour of Vialli despite the obvious case for the former.
His side would lose on penalties, the dream over for another four years and the Coach would never be the same again. Doubting his own ability, he failed to qualify for Euro ’92 and was replaced by Arrigo Sacchi, going on to have brief but unsuccessful spells in charge of Cesena and Udinese before retiring altogether.
Yet it is not his time in club management that will be remembered, but instead those magical nights when all of Italy hoped to see their wonderful team triumph. "He was a man who was hugely important for my footballing life, he made me known all around the world,” a tearful Schillaci told Sky Italia. "He believed in me and if I am what I am, 80 per-cent of the merit belongs to coach Vicini. I hope the football world remembers him like he deserves to be remembered."
Every nation has a sliding doors moment, and for the Azzurri it has to be that clash with Argentina. What if they had played in Rome not Naples? What if Baggio had started the game? What if Zenga had claimed the cross before Claudio Caniggia could head in an equaliser? We will never know, but any one of those incidents going the opposite way could’ve led to Azeglio Vicini being a World Cup winner.
Arrivederci Mister, memories of that unforgettable summer are your legacy and they will last forever.
