1970 – Italy Beat West Germany 4-3

Here we have another match from the World cup of 1970 that is also known as “Game of the Century. In the first 90 minutes, it seemed one of the most ordinary matches with Italy leading by 1-0. Captain Uwe Seeler explains  “Once you have beaten England, you know you can beat anyone.” In the eight-minute Roberto Boninsegna kicked the ball into the corner that helped Italy lead the game but after that, they struggled hard to score another goal but got blocked by Enrico Albertosi, the goalkeeper. 

Anger In Stadium

The game got tensed when Franz Beckenbauer started to feel infuriated over referee as he did not award penalties on two occasions. The patience of Germany began to wane by the time 90th minute arrived with Striker Gerd Mueller saying to Beckenbauer “We are being cheated.” Despite that Beckenbauer who had his shoulder severely injured kept on playing the game. Karl-Heinz Schnellinger the Germany left-back who had been playing football for a long time tried to tie the game with what was expected the last kick, getting extra time. 

Crucial Time

From there on, a slew of goals came into play. West Germany set the score with Mueller hitting a goal that hardly rolled over the line. However, the real twist came when the free kick of Gianni Rivera was volleyed home by defender Tarcisio Burgnich. It was about to be halftime in extra time when Gigi Riva made a super goal to get the score of 3-2. German made its come back on 110 minutes when Mueller scored by getting the ball ahead by Seeler’s header. In the time of thirteen minutes sprawling from 98 to 111, total five goals had been made. Now, the match was a tie with 3-3. 

Reaching To Deadlock

The tie was put to an end by Roberto Boninsegna who rushed towards Rivera to score the winning goal past Sepp Maier that took Italy to the finale. Post-match, Seeler put his positive attitude on display “If we had to play in the final against Brazil after our extra-time games against England and Italy, we would lose by five. This way, we get to go home as the happy heroes in defeat.”  

1982 – Italy Beat Brazil 3-2

In 1982, the world saw another memorable World cup in which giant Brazil was put in the same group with mighty Italy. Prior to the match with Brazil, Italy had already played four games and Paolo Rossi could not score in any of them. The selection of Rossi was questioned as he was banned for two years in regarding the betting scandal in 1980 but the playmaker was soon going to prove his worth. 

Game  Opening

Rossi scored the first goal in the first five minutes of the game. He headed the ball passing Antonio Cabrini and put Italy ahead in the score. Brazil equalized the score shortly after, with Captain Socrates hitting a goal. Italy, on the other hand, did not give up and retaliated with Rossi making a Cerezo pass and struck his second goal of the game.