1994 World Cup Final – Brazil vs. Italy
Jun 12 2014
Brazil and Italy had met each other in the 1970 World Cup Final with Brazil taking a 4-1 victory. Both sides were tied heading into the 1994 World Cup with three World Cup titles each. The two would look to break the tie on July 17 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Of course only one of the sides was going to be able to do so.
1994 World Cup Final – Brazil vs. Italy
How They Got There
Brazil gave up one goal during the first round of competition. The side defeated the United States, the Netherlands and Sweden in the knockout stages. Romario had five goals, thus making him second behind Bulgaria’s Hristo Stoichkov and Russia’s Oleg Salenko for the Golden Boot. Bebeto also had three goals in the series.
Italy was led by Roberto Baggio, who had five goals in the tournament. The country was in a four-way tie at the end of initial play but advanced to the knockout stage because it had one more total goal than Norway. The Italians then beat Nigeria, Spain and Bulgaria to reach the final.
Both sides were back and forth during the entire match but it ended up being even all around in spite of the two sides looking towards for their fourth title each. Each side used both of their substitutions and each was carded twice. Mazinho was particualrly carded at 4′. Meanwhile, Luigi Apolloni and Demetrio Albertini were carded about a minute apart from one another near the end of the first half. All of the cards that were issued were yellow cards.
The game resulted in a period of extra time but no one scored during that period either. Both sides went on to penalty kicks at that point. This was the first time in World Cup history that the title would be determined by penalty kicks.
After each side missed their first kick, Brazil connected on its next three. Romario, Branco and Dunga all got goals past Gianluca Pagliuca. Demetrio Albertini and Alberigo Evani got goals past Claudio Taffarel but the next two attempts both failed, thus giving Brazil a victory off of a 3-2 shootout. This resulted in the fourth World Cup title for Brazil.
After the Match
Romario received the Golden Ball for the tournament while Brazil also won the Fair Play Award. The side was also given the honor of being the most entertaiПing team of the event. The side particularly dedicated their victory to Ayrton Senna, a Brazilian Formula One driver who died in a wreck during a race just a few months earlier. One noteworthy event after the match was the announcement of the All-Star Team. This was a recently introduced feature of the World Cup that honored the eleven best players on the event.
Jorginho, Marcio Santos, Dunga and Romario all мейд the All-Star Team for Brazil. Italy was represented by Paolo Maldini and Roberto Baggio. More than half of the overall team was мейд up of people who had some experience in the tournament.