FLASHBACK - MATCH 460 - 20 June 1990

SEASON 1989/90

FIFA WORLD CUP FINALS

Venue: STADIO DELLE ALPI

BRAZIL 1  SCOTLAND  0

Scorer: Muller

Attendance: 62.500

My final match at Italia 90 and it is a match against the Brazilians although not a vintage Brazil team nonetheless it was fantastic to see them at a World Cup Finals.

The venue this time was Turin and there was meant to be a carnival atmosphere by the time we got there but due to torrential rain, it felt more like summer in Troon and all festivities were off.

The match looked to be heading for a goalless draw but with 7 minutes to go Brazil found the winning goal.

After the match we headed into Turin for a party but everything was closed so had to wait in Turin's train station to catch an early morning train back to Rimini.

Match report: 

Personal note:

• The 4th match I attended at Italia 90 World Cup
• It was also my 5th time seeing a match on mainland Europe
• This was my 18th time seeing Scotland overall and 2nd time seeing them play Brazil

FLASHBACK - MATCH 459 - 19 June 1990

SEASON 1989-90

FIFA WORLD CUP FINALS - ITALIA 90

Group D

Venue:  Stadio Renato Dall'Ara

YUGOSLAVIA  4  UNITED ARAB EMIRATES  1

Scorers:  Susic, Pancev(2), Prosinecki;  Thani

Attendance: 27,833

It was always the intention to get to another match at Italia 90 other than one involving Scotland so I took a train trip to Bologna to watch a random one between the old country of Yugoslavia and the Arab state of United Arab Emirates.

Yugoslavia had some of the finest footballers of European football at the time including Dragan Stojkovic, Darko Pancev and up and coming stars Robert Prosinecki and Dejan Savicevic. So it was well worth the trip from Rimini to see a few stars of European football and they didn't disappoint scoring four goals.  Carlos Alberto Parreira was the manager of UAE at the time.  At the next World Cup he would manage Brazil to their 4th World Cup win.

Italy's set up for the World Cup was excellent for the travelling fans.  As soon as you got off the train there was bus link direct to the ground of Renato Dall'Ara.

Match report: 

Personal note:

• The 3rd match I attended at Italia 90 World Cup Finals
• This was the 4th match on mainland Europe that I have attended
• This was the 2nd time seeing Yugoslavia having seen them at Hampden Park, Glasgow during the qualification stage for the 1990 World Cup.

FLASHBACK - MATCH 458 - Saturday 16 June 1990

SEASON 1989/90

FIFA WORLD CUP FINALS - ITALIA '90

Venue:  Stadio Luigi Ferraris

SWEDEN  1  SCOTLAND  2

Scorers: Stromberg; McCall, Johnston

Attendance 31,823

On this day in 1990 I was at the FIFA World Cup in Italy watching a clash between two Northern European countries Scotland & Sweden.

Like the first World Cup match the venue was Genoa which meant another 10 hour round trip by coach from our base in Rimini.  

Many of the Swedish fans were also based in Rimini and mixed brilliantly with their Scottish counterparts. 

This time Scotland recorded a rare World Cup finals win.

Match report: 

Personal note:

• This was the 2nd match I attended at the 1990 World Cup Finals
• This was the 17th Scotland match I had attended 
• 3rd match attended on Mainland Europe

FLASHBACK - MATCH 457 - Monday 11 Jun 1990

SEASON 1989/90

FIFA WORLD CUP FINAL - ITALIA 90

GROUP C

Venue: Stadio Luigi Ferraris

COSTA RICA  1  SCOTLAND  0

Scorer: Juan Cayasso 

Attendance: 30,867

On this day in 1990 I attended my first game of Italia 90 FIFA World Cup Finals.  The match was played in the North-west of Italy, Genoa.  Our base for the two week stay in Italy was Rimini which is on the opposite coast so it meant a 6 hour trip by coach to the game that I'm not sure many were expecting.

Pre match there was a great atmosphere in the city and it was everything you would want to be - a great football festival.

The match did not go as well as expected though as Scotland suffered what was considered a shock defeat at the hands of their Central America opponents who were competing in their first World Cup finals.

Personal note:

• Overall this was the 16th Scotland match that I had attended but the first one not at Hampden Park.
• Outside of Bonnie Scotland this was the 16th match I attended.
• This was the 2nd match I attended on mainland Europe.  

Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa