WORLD CUPS, AND particularly Italia 90, is a time that football is taken away from the die-hards and presented gift-wrapped to the wider public.
As a result, the language of the fans gets plucked into the mainstream too. In-jokes become laughing stocks, widely held opinions become cliche and the celebrations of two wins (including a shoot-out) can be stretched out over not just an entire summer, but a lifetime.
As Ireland rejoiced, it also turned on one man bringing down the mood of a nation, Eamon Dunphy
As the years passed, many have come to agree with Dunphy, but more can understand why ‘a little bollocks’ would be locked up and silenced in Dermot Morgan’s satirical song.
It was the whole backdrop for Roddy Doyle’s magnifent tale of Bromance in Barrytown
And The Van became a film six years later, when we needed a little reminder of the good times.
England’s lost penalty shoot-out bottle
England losing on penalties is much more than just a lack of football clutch, it’s a social affliction. It’s the one thing everybody with or without a passing interest in football in Britain knows. That’s why the world gufffawed and bravoed at the wit of Gary Lineker when he said: ”Football is a simple game – you play for 120 minutes and then the Germans win on penalties.”
Every English tournament failure can be traced back to the hope, pomp and circumstance that was crushed in 1990.
The painful memories have faded, but only slightly over time
Without the World Cup, Nessun Dorma would be just another song in Puccini’s opera Turandot
Nobody can hear this song without picturing people clothed in many shades of green and white celebrating wildly in the street
However, nothing keeps the spirit of Italia 90 alive quite like advertising
From sheer wistfulness in 2012
To 1995′s English snack food of choice poking fun at their emotional exit
Too soon?
To an Irish beer, showing that we can turn any feeling in to grudging respect in the confines of a pub
– First published 07.00
