The greatest of missed opportunities

Updated: July 14, 2007

Roberto Gotta

ESPN.COM
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Just over a year ago, Fabio Cannavaro accepted the World Cup trophy from one of his teammates - in typical Italian fashion, authority was disrespected and none of the FIFA dignitaries could hustle his way through the celebrating throng of Azzurri on the podium - and lifted it towards the sky. FrancoOriglia/GettyImages Donadoni has been under pressure since day one It prompted TV commentators to dust off well-rehearsed one-liners which they hoped would become part of history as much as the legendary, simple, "campioni del mondo" (world champions) which the late Nando Martellini had repeated endlessly - or so it seemed - at the final whistle of the 1982 World Cup final. Martellini's successors enjoyed something the old maestro could not even have dreamt about: the advance in technology that now allows mobile phone users to transfer pieces of commentary or songs into their devices and use them as ringtones. If that annoying stuff can really be identified as progress, of course. For a while I used the "Match of the day" (don't ask) theme on my mobile but I soon reverted to the simplest and shortest of bleeps because I was starting to hate that tone instead of being warmed by it. Anyway, one year on, as winning coach Marcello Lippi himself told La Gazzetta dello Sport's Saturday supplement the other week, Italian football has failed to build on the legacy of that triumph over France. An intriguing opinion, and sadly a well informed one. Having chosen to rest and spend the past year doing whatever he felt like doing, which included a lot of sailing, relaxing in his hometown along the northern coast of Tuscany and denying various reports linking him to several high profile clubs scattered around Europe, Lippi was in a perfect position to evaluate the non-effects Italy's wonderful World Cup win has had on domestic football. Milan, of course, or AC Milan as they're known outside of Italy, won the Champions League and their success after a season full of problems - most of them of their own making, of course - was hailed by the more narrow-minded commentators as another example that Italian football is in much better shape than it's given credit for. But that, too, was a smokescreen. Milan won because the many quality players in the side found their best form at the right time, not because of the overall excellence of the Serie A or the sudden increase in the collective sense of pride of Italian football. Milan's triumph, in fact, irked many in Italy, which has become a fractious, divided, confrontational nation not only in politics but in most sectors of public life, so much so that Milan winning the Champions League - or if the same achievement had been reached by Inter, Roma, Juventus - brings out the haters and the smirkers more than the neutral admirers. And the fact most clubs are still reluctant to follow the Sports Ministry lead and accept that a more equal sharing of TV revenues may benefit the game in the long run - instead of helping just a handful of clubs compete for the top players with La Liga and the Premier League - also tells a sad story of how winning the World Cup may now be looked back as a bump, albeit an unforgettable one, on the road to self-destruction more than as a unique chance to rally around the bling bling of the trophy and turn over a new page for our football. Why, not even the Azzurri themselves, the World Cup winners, have been able to build on their days of glory. Some of them have profited individually, like captain Fabio Cannavaro, who glided to a FIFA World Player of the Year and a Golden Ball double basically on the strength of a few commanding performances in June. But the missed opportunity is more evident when one considers the cringingly bad atmosphere that welcomed Italy's first match of any kind after the World Cup final, when they played Croatia in Livorno in mid-August in a game mainly remembered for the volley of political insults the two ends exchanged. Even more discomforting is that new national team coach Roberto Donadoni has looked doomed from the start. ChristopherLee/GettyImages Fabio Cannavaro was crowned World Payer of the Year As if the fact he was named by the interim chief of the Italian Football Association (FIGC), Guido Rossi, who bolted after a few months when a better opportunity came up was not enough to undermine Donadoni, one point from Italy's first two Euro 2008 qualifiers increased the pressure on him. In addition, Francesco Totti's refusal to commit to the Azzurri until later this summer has left Donadoni exposed, as the FIGC has not appeared to be taking a strong stance in support of its coach. When the Italian League refused to bring the start of the Serie A forward by one week to August 19, disregarding a request by the Players' Union, another nail in the coffin of the Azzurri and their 2006 legacy was planted. Some of the more prominent members of the national team, among them Cannavaro, Rino Gattuso, Marco Materazzi and - oddly - Totti had strongly argued that playing France in a crucial Euro 2008 qualifier on September 8 with just one Serie A match - and little competitive rhythm - under their belt would have gone against the best interest of the Azzurri, but the League refused to change its stance. In a worst case scenario, a fitter France holds Italy winless and damages its chances of qualifying, Donadoni gets into hot water and goes and just 18 months after a momentous triumph the Azzurri are back at square one. Curiously enough, that's exactly what happened 24 years ago. Despite winning the 1982 World Cup, Italy failed to qualify for the 1984 European Championship, although that was more a case of then coach Enzo Bearzot growing too fond of his World Cup winners and sticking to players who were clearly past their best than a consequence of internal squabbles and scandals. Speaking of which& With exquisitely ironic timing, the prosecutors in the 2006 Calciopoli scandal sent 37 former and current referees, directors and officials to trial exactly on the first anniversary of the World Cup win. They expressed their disappointment at the leniency the football authorities had shown towards most of those individuals, as well as at the fact those who were being questioned about the scandal adhered to the good old concept of 'omertà', one of the pillars of all types of mafias around the world, and basically refused to acknowledge their sins and name names. Most of the evidence, then, had to be collected by sorting through the hundreds of hours of wire-tapping that had been recorded by the investigators, who also found that phone cards capable of avoiding surveillance had been purchased abroad and distributed among some of those who have now been charged, another sure sign something fishy was going on. But the fact a good portion of the fans of the clubs which were penalized still insist their sides were harshly treated by prosecutors and investigators acting on a hidden agenda shows punishment and justice are among the hardest things to take in this country. Italy, in a football sense, has failed to build on the legacy of a historic win which should have been seized by the football authorities and squeezed dry, with all the juices used to inject new life into fading fan interest, frivolous media coverage and ageing grounds. Instead, only months after Cannavaro lifted the trophy, we've had a police officer killed in a riot outside a stadium, and the suspect's father remarking the Police basically asked for it by charging the rioting fans. Italy won the World Cup twelve months ago, did not cheat one bit doing it and their triumph will live forever in memory, although it seems the heroes of 1982 still enjoy a better status and profile in the media than those of 2006. Whether this is because 24 years have passed and kept only the good memories afloat, or because then-captain Dino Zoff was more universally loved than Fabio Cannavaro, only time will tell, but perhaps it's better not to find out.