July 11, 1982: The Wrong World Cup Final

July 11, 1982: The World Cup Final is held at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, Spain. Going in, everyone seemed to want a Final between Brazil and France. Neither made it in.

This World Cup had a First Group Stage and a Second Group Stage, a format not used since. In their last game of the Second Group Stage, in Barcelona, Brazil were shocked by Italy, with Paolo Rossi of Juventus scoring 3 goals. He would title his subsequent book I Made Brazil Cry.

France reached the Semifinal in Seville, where they played West Germany. With the game tied 1-1 after 60 minutes, German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher collided with French player Patrick Battiston, who, as a result, suffered 2 broken teeth, several broken ribs, and a damaged vertebra. Incredibly both the referee and the linesman missed the challenge, and instead of awarding France an obvious penalty and sending Schumacher off to be replaced by another goalie, awarded Germany a goal kick. After seeing the challenge on TV later, the referee admitted that he should have given Schumacher a straight red card.

Regulation ended 1-1, and France jumped ahead 3-1 in extra time, before West Germany equalized, and then won the 1st penalty shootout in World Cup history. So both of the favorites were out, and the Final, in Madrid, was to be between 2 teams that hardly anybody outside either country wanted.

ABC, learning from its own mistakes as well as those of NBC and CBS, decided to buy the U.S. broadcast rights to the biggest sporting event in the world. They broadcast selected games on tape delay, and, for the 1st time in America, a World Cup Final was broadcast live. Games were also shown on ESPN (not yet owned by ABC) and the Spanish-language network SIN, which later became Univision.

The 1st half was uneventful. Italy were awarded a penalty, but Juventus' Antonio Cabrini missed it. Rossi scored in the 57th minute. Another Juventus player, Marco Tardelli, scored in the 69th. Alessandro Altobelli of Inter Milan put the game away in the 81st. Paul Breitner, the former Bayern Munich left back, now a central midfielder for Eintracht Braunschweig, scored a consolation goal in the 83rd, but that would be it: Italy won, 3-1. It was their 3rd World Cup, an achievement previously reached only by Brazil.

Suddenly, Italians all over America, who couldn't have cared less a month earlier, celebrated this victory. In my hometown of East Brunswick, New Jersey, the walls of Brothers Pizza were covered with photos and paintings of famous sites in Italy (the Colosseum in Rome, the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, the Leaning Tower of Pisa), and also with photos of Frank Sinatra and his friends, other Italian-American actors, and photos of various New York Yankees. Within days, probably received by mail from Europe -- it's not like American companies were lining up to produce them -- it had 2 big new posters: One of the Italy team, and one of Paolo Rossi.

At a time when the NFL was being considered "boring," and baseball was said to be "in decline," this could have been a moment for soccer to make a big move in America. But, despite its biggest star, Giorgio Chinaglia of the New York Cosmos, being Italian, but also English-speaking because his mother was from Wales and he'd lived there, the North American Soccer League did not act, mainly because its management was so inept. (At age 35, Chinaglia was not selected for the World Cup by Italy. He had played in the 1974 edition.) After 2 more seasons, the league folded, setting American soccer back 20 years.

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July 11, 1982 was a Sunday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the California Angels, 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Shane Rawley of the Yankees and Steve Renko of the Angels both had good starts. But Brian Downing led off the bottom of the 8th with a home run off Goose Gossage, making a winning pitcher of Andy Hassler.

Yankee icon Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4 for the Halos, while Rod Carew did not play. Graig Nettles and Butch Wynegar each had 2 hits, but the rest of the Yankees combined for 1 hit and 3 walks.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, 6-2 at Shea Stadium. Tim Lollar was the winning pitcher, and helped his own cause with a home run. Mike Scott, not yet pitching his home games in the Astrodome, didn't get out of the 4th inning.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Montreal Expos, 8-7 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. The Giants got 2 home runs from Milt May, including 1 in the top of the 10th inning to win the game, and 1 each from Joe Morgan, Reggie Smith and Champ Summers. Gary Carter hit 1 for the Expos.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski flew out as a pinch-hitter.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-2 with 2 walks. Pete Rose went 1-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Willie Stargell, in his final season, struck out as a pinch-hitter.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 16-7 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Harold Baines went 3-for-5 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Doug Bird was the winning pitcher. Bill Buckner hit a home run. Tom Seaver didn't get out of the 3rd inning. Johnny Bench did not play.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Manager Harvey Kuenn's Pennant-bound Brew Crew, nicknamed "Harvey's Wallbangers," got home runs from Gorman Thomas, Paul Molitor, Ted Simmons and Charlie Moore. Robin Yount went 2-for-4. George Brett went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 3-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Houston Astros beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-7 at the Oakland Coliseum. Eddie Murray went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and 4 RBIs. Rookie of the Year-in-waiting Cal Ripken Jr. went 1-for-4 with a walk.

* And the Cleveland Indians beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle.