Italy and Ireland met twice in the final phases of the world cup. The first time was in 1990, when Vicini’s men won 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. The match winner was Juventus striker Totò Schillaci, who surprised goalkeeper Bonner with a shot from outside the area which ended just below the bar. Thanks to this goal the national team qualified for the semi-final where it was stopped by Argentina after penalties.
Against Ireland, who at the time were coached by the legendary Bobby Charlton, the other bianconero apart from Schillaci was Luigi De Agostini. The verdict which opened the next world cup was totally different. On the 18th of June 1994, in New York, after 11 minutes Irishman Houghton beat Pagliuca winning the match and complicating life for Arrigo Sacchi’s Italy. On that occasion there were 2 Juventus players on the field: Dino Baggio who was then transferred to Parma that Summer and Roberto Baggio who was to become the leader of USA ’94.
There are another two previous encounters between Italy and Ireland which were played in our country. The first was on the 21st of March 1926 in Turin on the Juventus field in Corso Marsiglia. The result was a decisive 3-0 with all three goals scored in the first half thanks to Baloncieri, Magnozzi and Bernardini. There were two bianconeri on the field that day: right fullback Virginio Rosetta and central midfielder Carlo Bigatto.
On the 8th of December 1970 the match between Italy and Ireland was valid for the qualifications for the European Championship. The match was played in Florence and even this time the supremacy of the home team saw to a 3-0 result with a penalty scored by De Sisti and goals by Boninsegna and Prati. The coach Ferruccio Valcareggi, fresh from the positive Mexican world cup, did not field any Juventus players in the starting line-up, something strange in the history of the azzurri but no so unusual during that period which was dominated by the Inter block in addition to a number of players from Cagliari who were Italian champions.
Juventus.com
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