I HAVE some incredible personal memories of attending the Italia 90 World Cup in a working capacity.
From sipping coffee with Jack Charlton and Bobby Moore to almost getting mugged and then spending the night in hospital on my return to London!
I was employed for the tournament as a reporter by Capital Gold Radio and the telephone information service Clubcall. My role involved covering the Republic of Ireland in their first ever World Cup Finals appearance.
Could they defy World Cup odds and go far in the tournament? Hopes were high but fans were realistic with expectations.
Italia 90 started for me watching Group F action on the beautiful islands of Sardinia and Sicily. The opening game finished in a 1-1 draw between England and Ireland at Stadio Sant’Elia in Cagliari.
Immediately afterwards, the Capital Gold team were invited back to the Irish squad’s palatial hotel.
Our delegation consisted of top commentator Jonathan Pearce, legendary pundit Bobby Moore and myself.
Of course, the Ireland manager Jack Charlton instantly spotted his former international team mate Bobby and so he called the three of us over to join him for a chat.
I could barely believe what was happening! It was just a real treat to sit in the hotel lobby having coffees alongside two former World Cup winners.
I listened intently for several hours as Jack and Bobby discussed a multitude of fascinating stories from their glittering footballing careers.
This Jack Charlton documentary is amazing. I remember sitting drinking coffee with Jack, Bobby Moore & Jonathan Pearce at the team hotel after the Ireland v England match at Italia 90. I was just a young radio reporter but Jack knew I am Irish & he spoke to me like an old friend
— Tony Incenzo - my 50th football season (@TonyIncenzo) March 29, 2021
Anyway, three drawn matches led to Ireland reaching the knock-out stages and I flew to the mainland for my next destination which was Genoa.
In the British-like Stadio Luigi Ferraris, I commentated on Ireland 0 Romania 0 plus extra-time in the ‘Round of Sixteen’.
I was told that there were record incoming calls on the specially designated Clubcall line as David O’Leary tucked away Ireland’s winning kick to seal a thrilling 5-4 penalty shoot-out victory.
From there, I was on another flight down to Rome for the Quarter Final. It was host country Italy versus Ireland at Stadio Olimpico.
Amongst the huge crowd of 73,303, I was probably the only person who couldn’t lose that evening due to my Italian and Irish parentage!
The noise was immense – particularly when Toto Schillaci buried the only goal for Italy in a tight affair. Alas, the Republic of Ireland had been knocked out although they had covered themselves in glory.
My work assignment had therefore finished, but I decided to stay on for a few days to take in some more World Cup action.
I saw West Germany beat Czechoslovakia 1-0 at Milan’s magnificent San Siro. I remember marvelling at how steep the stands were with chocolate box top tiers that seemed to directly overhang the pitch.
Then it was on to Naples where I witnessed one of my all-time favourite matches. Italy faced Argentina at Stadio San Paolo and it turned out to be a truly unprecedented occasion.
Italy are usually near the top of World Cup markets in football betting and that was no different in 1990.
However, Napoli superstar Maradona was playing for Argentina and he appealed for all the local fans to support him.
As a consequence, there were 59,000 Italians in the stadium loudly booing Italy! Argentina won 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Following that game, a couple of nightmare scenarios rapidly unfolded for me. I didn’t have a hotel booked so I headed for the city centre to find one.
Unfortunately, a local thug appeared from nowhere and tried to rip the gold chain from around my neck. I managed to repel him and made my escape!
I subsequently checked into the first hotel I came across and this was a big mistake.
It was clean enough but had no air condition and temperatures topped 35° in Naples that night. Hence I had to leave the bedroom windows open to get some sleep as I was sweltering.
That allowed an exotic variety of winged predators easy access to my skin and I was almost eaten alive by hungry mosquitoes. Nevertheless, I flew back to London the next evening and my mother came to pick me up at the airport.
But I had suffered an allergic reaction to the insect bites causing my face to swell up dramatically.
Mum shrieked when she set eyes on me and loudly shouted across the airport in her Irish accent: “What happened? You look like The Elephant Man you total eejit!”
So she drove me straight to Barnet General Hospital. I was there until dawn the next morning having soothing creams applied and a tetanus injection in the A&E department.
A bizarre denouement to my trip of a lifetime at Italia 90.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 11th October 2022
