Italia '90 is a world cup which holds a special place in the hearts of a generation of English football fans.
It is not so much the fact that their team scraped its way into a semi-final, but the
broader significance that tournament, the first which had been experienced as a real
shared national event since 1966.
England striker Gary Lineker, a golden boot winner at Mexico '86, and scorer of four goals
at Italia '90 said: "It was a seminal moment almost, in terms
of football in this country.
Lots of different kinds of people got interested in football, all different classes of people,
I think it had a significant effect on the growth of football."
It is remembered as much for the aria used by the BBC as the theme music for their coverage as it is for the goals.
The romance of the near-miss, as England lost to Germany on penalties, Paul Gascoigne's
tears, shed when he realised his semi-final yellow card would rule him out of the final
if England made it that far, and the sense of a team growing with every game, all of
these things captured the collective imagination and paved the way for a decade in which football
in England would change forever, with the advent of the Premier League and a huge uptick in glamour.
But of course, theirs was not the only story of Italia '90.
There were the hosts, semi-finalists themselves thanks to one-summer wonder Salvatore "Toto" Schilachi.
This unheralded frontman finished the tournament as top-scorer with six, a feat no one would have predicted.
He had been well-known in Italy before hand, indeed in 1989 Juventus paid Messina £3 million
for his services, but Italia '90 was his true moment in the sun.
He only ever scored one more goal for Italy once the tournament ended.
Then there was the Republic of Ireland.
In the Group stages, as Roddy Doyle put it so eloquently in his 1991 novel The Van, they
"beat England 1-1, lost to Egypt 0-0 and drew with Holland 1-1."
That was enough to see them through—the records show them finishing third in the group,
but Holland and Ireland were only split by the drawing of lots.
Few expected the Irish to get past Romania in the round of 16, but a 0-0 draw was followed
by a famous penalty shoot-out win.
And when they went out to Italy in the quarter final only a single Schillachi goal separated
them and the host nation.
The eventual winners, West Germany, hardly set the tournament alight.
They blasted four goals past Yugoslavia and five past the United Arab Emirates in their
opening two games, but then managed to score two goals in a game just once more en route to victory.
They drew 1-1 in their final group game with Colombia, managed a 2-1 win over arch-rivals
Holland in the Round of 16, beat the Czech Republic 1-0 in the quarter final, beat England
on penalties in the semi after a 1-1 draw then scraped past Argentina thanks to an Andreas
Brehme penalty in one of the most boring, scrappy, ill-tempered finals in living memory.
Argentina themselves were a far cry from the majestic Maradona inspired side of '86.
El Diego, and the team, were not at the peak of their powers by this point.
Their run to the final was as prosaic as West Germany's, and the fact that the title was
contended between two sides who prized functionality above glamour explains why the football is
not necessarily remembered as making a classic world cup.
But the stories above speak to a more romantic truth about Italia '90.
Italia '90's glory was the triumph of adversity, cruel defeats made for the most romantic stories of the tournament.
And no one epitomised that more than Cameroon. Cameroon shook the world in 1990.
While they did not make Pele's infamous proclamation that an African nation would win the World
Cup by the year 2000 come true, they nonetheless lit up the event.
On 8th June they opened the tournament by beating eventual finalists Argentina 1-0 despite ending the game with 9 men.
They beat Romania, ensuring qualification, and indeed eventually topped their group.
Their round-of-16 game with Colombia featured two injury time goals from Roger Millla, whose
hip-swaying dance celebration is one of the tournament's most iconic images.
And while arrogant English scouts told manager Bobby Robson they had been "handed a bye"
in being drawn against Cameroon, the Indomitable Lions came within seven minutes of knocking
the Three Lions out in what finished 3-2 to England after extra-time thanks to a couple
of questionable penalty calls in Gary Lineker's favour.
Roger Milla dancing, Toto Schillachi celebrating, Gazza crying and Ciao, the coolest mascot
of all time, all played out to the strains of Nessun Dorma.
It's no wonder that Italia '90 was a cultural milestone in football history.