A wasted chance

Eyes red from crying, Roberto Mancini shakes hands with Lennart Johansson, the Uefa president, as he receives his consolation medal. Gianluca Vialli does not even turn up for the awards ceremony. It is Johann Cruyff’s Barcelona who lift the European Cup. Sampdoria have surrendered, in the 111th minute of the game – well into extra time – to a powerful shot by Ronald Koeman.

Only a year and a day have passed since that historic first Blucerchiati championship victory. And from that great happiness in Marassi, it is a short step to great disappointment at Wembley, on 20 May 1992. Mancio is the living image of anger and sorrow. After the referee, Mr Aron Schmidhuber, blows the full-time whistle, the Sampdoria captain tries to chase him, while Domenico Arnuzzo holds him back. Mancini shouts something after the black-clothed German, who in turn writes something down in his notebook; then Roberto sits down in the middle of the pitch and bursts into tears. Neither he nor Vujadin Boskov will attend the post-match press conference – an unprecedented development for a European final.

‘It was the worst evening of my life at Samp,’ Mancini would later say. ‘The next day it was even worse though: you realise clearly what a chance you wasted. I wanted to win so badly. That cup had always been nailed in my head, and I only managed to brush past it.’

For Mancio, and the whole of Sampdoria, that cup has become a Holy Grail. The Blucerchiati have been pursuing it since the summer of 1991. In the wake of their Serie A title win, there were a few comings and goings. The legendary captain of the team, Luca Pellegrini, one of the first purchases of the Mantovani era, left for Verona. Mancini was given the captain’s armband, and Marco Lanna became the new sweeper. Mikhailichenko left, too, for Glasgow Rangers, while Marco Branca moved to Fiorentina. The new arrivals were Renato Buso, Paulo Silas (the Brazilian), Alessandro Orlando and Dario Bonetti, who came from Juventus to join his brother Ivano.

With this stronger line-up that they hoped would bring European success, Samp brought home their first trophy of the season on 24 August 1991. This was the Italian Super Cup, won against Roma, the Coppa Italia holders. With 15 minutes of the match remaining, Mancini scored from outside the box with an amazing volley, right under the Red-and-Yellow crossbar.

So they came to the European Cup qualifiers, and when the draw said Rosenborg, many among the Blucerchiati thought, well, Norway brings good luck: after all, the Cup-Winners’ Cup adventure started on Scandinavian soil. In fact, their first home match ended in a 5–0 win. The away leg, though, led to a mini-crisis: in freezing cold Norway, Vialli won a penalty, Mancini scored, and Samp won the match; however, Vujadin decided to play Cerezo and leave out Beppe Dossena, as the relationship between them had become increasingly rocky (in fact, the player would move to Perugia in the middle of the season). Mantovani did not agree with the Serbian’s decision, and when Samp lost against Parma the following Sunday, with neither Cerezo nor Dossena playing, he took the decision to sack Grandpa Vujadin and replace him with Liedholm, ‘the Baron’. Luckily, the Goal Twins were able to intervene, as they had done on many other occasions, and persuaded the president to leave things as they were: better not to change anything, they argued, with European Cup commitments on the horizon.

In the next round of qualifiers, they faced Honvéd of Budapest, historically a prestigious club: in the 1940s and 50s, it was the club of Ferenc Puskas, József Bozsik, Zoltán Czibor and Sándor Kocsis, the footballers who transformed the modern football universe with their national team, getting as far as the World Cup final in 1954. However, by the 1990s, Honvéd no longer scared anyone. With an aggregate score of 4–3, Samp went through to the group stages.

Their Group A opponents were Red Star Belgrade, the Serbian team who had defeated Olympique Marseille in the previous year’s European Cup final; Panathinaikos of Greece; and Samp’s old friends the Belgians of Anderlecht. The winners would go on to play the winners of Group B, which was to be contested between Dinamo Kiev, Sparta Prague, Benfica and Barcelona.

On 1 April 1992, on a neutral ground in Sofia (there was an international blockade against Serbia and Montenegro, because of the bloody war in the Balkans), Samp played the second leg of their tie against Red Star Belgrade. In the first leg, Mancini and Vialli had struck to earn a 2–0 win, but the return game was shaping up to be a lot more complicated. First of all, it was the fifth match day for the group, and the team’s previous exertions had taken their toll; secondly, Samp were playing Jugovic, Mihajlovic, Pancev, Belodedic, Savicevic and their team to top the group; and finally, the atmosphere was truly horrendous. Thirty thousand Serbian supporters had invaded the city: they besieged the hotel where Samp were staying, and they tried to attack the team coach on its way to the stadium.

The streets of Sofia were a battleground, and things were no different on the football pitch. The Serbian hard-core supporters tried to break into the changing rooms, and on the stands, and behind the gates, all manner of things was happening. The 300 Sampdoria fans dared not say a word; they hid in a corner of the stadium where they were guarded by police. So even kicking the ball around became scary. And when Mihajlovic, 20 minutes into the game, scored the opening goal with a powerful shot from way outside the box, Samp must have thought it was all over. However, Katanec arrived in the box to equalise following a goalmouth scramble, after which the Twins took care of the rest. Mancini headed the ball towards Vialli; Vasiljevic, under pressure, tried to anticipate him, but only managed to put the ball into his own net. With 15 minutes left to go, the Mancini–Vialli partnership was working wonders. Mancio passed the ball to Gianluca just outside the box, Vialli provided a chipped return pass, and Samp’s number 10 beat Belodedic and the goalkeeper to score. That was it: 3–1.

To get over the final hurdle, Samp still needed a result against Panathinaikos at home. Once again, Mancini settled the score, hitting an unstoppable shot just under the crossbar to equalise at 1–1. With eight points, two more than Red Star Belgrade, who lost against Anderlecht in their final group game, Samp had qualified for the Wembley final.

Things were not going so well in the league though, with Samp only making sixth place, missing out on qualification for the Uefa Cup. In the Coppa Italia, the Blucerchiati were knocked out in the semi-final against Parma, so the game against Barcelona – the same club that had beat them in Berne three years earlier – now represented their only chance to finish the season in trophy-winning style.

The London bookmakers had made Barça the favourites, and Johann Cruyff, the Catalans’ manager, was forthright about this assessment. ‘Sure, the odds are for us, and I believe that’s right, too,’ he said. ‘Being favourites means that our opponents respect us, and I can’t see why being favourites would put any extra pressure on us.’ Pep Guardiola, then the deep-lying playmaker for the Blaugrana, asserted, ‘They have Vialli and Mancini, so what? We have Nando, Ronald and Hristo. What’s the big deal? We must enter the field with determination and boldness, and without fear.’

Actually, the Spaniards must have been trying hard to keep their fear at bay, having previously experienced some crushing disappointments at this stage of the competition. In their 93 years of history, they had played two European Cup finals, and lost them both. The first was in 1961 against Benfica; the second was in 1986 against Steaua Bucarest, when they lost on penalties. After 120 minutes, the Rumanian goalkeeper Ducadam saved four of Barça’s spot-kicks.

And it was not only the past they had to worry about, but the present, too: Real Madrid were top of La Liga, two points ahead of them, and the club was burdened by endless arguments between Cruyff and the president, Josep Lluis Núñez.

Fear was also weighing on the Samp side. There was less pressure on them, but still they knew that it was a unique opportunity. Vialli, sounding every inch the philosopher, said, ‘He who fears beforehand is strong; he who fears in action is a loser; he who fears afterwards is mad. We are afraid, and we hope our fear is of the right kind.’ The papers, meanwhile, were full of his imminent departure for Juventus. The other ‘twin’ chased his fears away: ‘Barcelona are favourites: they are a more prestigious club and they are politically influential. But we are not scared, we know we will have chances to win and we will try to make the best of them,’ he said. Vujadin Boskov was on the same page, arguing that it was Barcelona who had more to fear. ‘Cruyff may sound arrogant, but it is only a strategy,’ he asserted. ‘In fact they have a lot of problems.’

As anticipated, there were no great surprises in the line-ups named by Vujadin and Cruyff. Barça began with Zubizzareta, Nando, Ferrer, Koeman, Juan Carlos, Bakero, Eusebio, Guardiola, Salinas, Laudrup, Stoichkov. Samp named Pagliuca, Mannini, Bonetti, Vierchowod, Lanna, Pari, Cerezo, Katanec, Lombardo, Mancini, Vialli.

Arrigo Sacchi, the then Azzurri coach, was in the stands and offered his unbiased opinion before the game: ‘These two teams have very different ideas on football, and in a final, fear usually prevails over play. In order to overcome their defensive instincts, Sampdoria will rely on Vialli and Mancini, so they will base their game on counter-attack. Barcelona will dominate ball possession, but they will need to be careful. They have players who can make a difference, such as Laudrup and Stoichkov, but we are still talking about an unpredictable final.’

The man from Fusignano was right: the outcome of the match was so uncertain that it took 111 minutes to settle it. Before then, both sides had good chances. And although Barça held the ball and dominated possession as they tend to do, Samp were troubling them with their counter-attacks. Pagliuca saved a free-kick by Koeman, but equally Zubi had to punch the ball clear from a Lombardo shot. Pagliuca was also called upon to repel a header from Stoichkov.

Both teams had their best opportunities in the second half: Julio Salinas prevailed in a scramble among many white shirts, and fired in a sharp shot; Pagliuca got a fist to it. Then, a few minutes later, the Sampdoria keeper saved a Eusebio shot with his foot. In the other direction, Lombardo on the wing crossed to Vialli in the middle but the striker, alone in front of Zubi, fired his shot just over the crossbar. Next, Stoichkov, on a solo run, hit a cross-cum-shot that – while the Catalan commentators were already cheering – bounced off a post. Vialli again lost his marker Koeman, but Zubi raised his hands high to push away his powerful right-foot shot. Then Mancini played a perfect ball to his ‘twin’, whose finish left the keeper helpless – but the ball went just wide, brushing the post. Vujadin’s scream, together with that of the bench and 30,000 Sampdoria fans, died in their throats.

After 90 minutes, the score was still 0–0 in a Wembley Stadium painted blue and red. Extra time began. In the 111th minute of the game, Laudrup crossed the ball in to Stoichkov, just outside the box, who passed it to Eusebio. Invernizzi, on for Samp as a substitute, challenged for the ball, and both players went down. Mr Schmidhuber blew for a foul and awarded a free-kick to Barcelona. Knowing that this represented a golden chance for their blond-haired Dutchman, who had already tried to inflict some damage from a similar position in the first few minutes of the match, the Catalans rejoiced. Sampdoria’s players, meanwhile, protested fiercely, but to no avail: the shot was taken and the ball went straight through the wall and into the net, beyond the reach of the diving Pagliuca.

So it is all over, and there is nothing that can be done about it. In the heat of the moment, Mancini (and not only him) takes it out on the referee – the same man, as it happens, who refereed Samp’s game against Anderlecht two months previously, in which Mancio had a goal disallowed and Lombardo was booked. Invernizzi can’t believe the decision made by Mr Schmidhuber for the crucial free-kick. ‘He fouled me,’ he would say. ‘I really had to hold back not to punch the referee.’ Vialli, replaced because of cramp, admits that ‘life goes on, no one died, but the free-kick their goal originated from was dubious, to say the least.’

Sampdoria’s goalkeeper, Pagliuca, offers his perspective: ‘I’ll tell you what is really sad: the goal we conceded came right at the end, when the match was almost over and in my mind I was already preparing for a penalty shoot-out. I had worked it all out; I knew everything about their penalty takers. And then came that free-kick from Koeman: beautiful, but a one-off.’

Vujadin’s judgement is that ‘In the first 90 minutes, we could have won 3–1. They hit the post once; we had so many chances with Vialli and Lombardo. With Gianluca’s lob, I really saw the ball in. But I don’t want to sound like I’m against Barcelona. They did their duty. Just like in any other battle, generals know why they lost, but there is no sense in talking about it now.’ The following day, the Serbian will add, ‘Good players play well in big games. I played in World Cups and Olympics; I know winners from losers. In a final, the team that makes more mistakes loses: that’s what happened to us. We had more chances, and we lost. It would have been better to lose this game on penalties.’ He is asked whether it is Mancini and Vialli’s fault. ‘I’m not saying that,’ he replies, ‘I’m only saying that the match was in their hands – well, in their legs. Mancini wasn’t with it; Vialli was unlucky: he didn’t score, and it looks like he played a mediocre match, but if he had scored, he would have looked phenomenal.’ The impression is that he was expecting more from the ‘Twins’. That is also the case with the press, who are hard on Mancio. ‘On the field of Wembley,’ they write, ‘Mancini got on the ball properly only a couple of times, and apart from his brilliant opening, he almost looked out of the game. He is supposed to be the hinge around which Sampdoria revolves, but he was either failing to get involved, or else the play just passed him by. He was not really effective, either in attack or in midfield – so in short, to be totally honest, he was no use to Samp at all.’

Between the lines, and sometimes even explicitly, they hint at the end of an era. ‘That’s not true,’ Mancini responds, ‘sooner or later I’ll get another chance in the European Cup. The truth is that we felt the weight of this game too much, and suffered for it.’ He is hopeful about the future, too: ‘I really hope we can still be all together. I am just sorry for Cerezo: he won’t be playing another final again. Vialli? What about him? I don’t know where things stand with him at the moment, and I am not sure whether he knows either.’

On this, the Sampdoria captain is wrong. On 22 May, on a dull afternoon, a press dispatch from Ansa reads, ‘UC Sampdoria have reached an agreement for Gianluca Vialli’s transfer to Juventus FC. The deal will be officially closed according to national standards. UC Sampdoria thanks Gianluca for the wonderful achievements gained together.’ Vialli is traded for four players (Corini, Giampaolo, Michele Serena and Bertarelli), plus a fee of about 4 billion liras. The cost of the whole deal for the Black-and-Whites is over 30 billion.

After eight seasons, 221 appearances, 84 goals, one league championship, three Italy Cups, a European Super Cup and an Italian Super Cup, Vialli is leaving. Mantovani has honoured his promise to Juve president Gianni Agnelli, made a few years earlier. ‘When I finally decide to sell Vialli or Mancini,’ the Samp president had said to ‘The Lawyer’, ‘you will have first refusal.’

Mancini, who just that morning had been talking about the possibility of another championship, is devastated by the news, and the Blucerchiati fans with him. Everyone thought that, just like on the previous occasions, either Mantovani or Vialli would eventually have spoken up and said ‘Look, nothing is happening.’ However, despite the supporters’ and his friends’ desperate attempts to call off his departure, Vialli packs his bags and leaves. ‘I must do this,’ the president says, while Vialli explains, ‘There are feelings at stake, but also rationality. I’d rather see Samp without me, but remaining in Serie A, than us all being relegated together.’ Mancini states that Sampdoria are not dying, and that they will live on even without their top goalscorer. Vialli joins in: ‘They’ll be a great team, even without me. They should not fear the future: Mancini will lead them to great achievements.’

On 24 May, at Marassi, Gianluca Vialli plays his last game for Sampdoria, against his former team Cremonese. It is eight years since his first appearance in the Blucerchiati jersey, on 16 September 1984, against the same opposition. On his right arm is the captain’s armband – a kind offer from his ‘twin’ Mancini. And after 51 minutes, he scores his farewell goal. He goes around the football pitch for over a minute, to say his goodbyes. Everyone is standing and clapping for their number 9. ‘When you leave, you will realise what being loved means,’ reads a huge banner made by the Tito Cucchiaroni fan club.

After 71 minutes, Fausto Pari – who received the captain’s armband upon Vialli’s substitution – scores the penalty that makes it 2–1, before he too says goodbye after nine long years. And they are not the only ones. Toninho Cerezo appeared on the pitch prior to the game with his wife and four kids, to take his leave of the supporters.

Vujadin Boskov, the manager who led the Blucerchiati to the top, says, ‘I grew fond of this city and these people, who have given me a lot in the past six years.’ And even though Marco Lanna and Gianluca Pagliuca deny that a chapter has been closed, the best part of it, sadly, is over.