Memory of the World Cup in 1990. The Slovaks and Czechs went far away

BRATISLAVA. The official anthem of the World Cup in football called Un’estate Italiana She was a global hit at that time and the most played song in Italy for several months.

Czechoslovak football players also sang a hit: « Wine, pizza, macaroni, italia, italia. »

Wires were removed, boundaries opened. A bunch of jumping fans who could first cross the border. And then one picked up a shoe that whistled with the air. Czechoslovak football finished sixth at the World Cup in 1990.

Thirty -five years have passed since then.

Memories will be equipped mainly for the generation of forty, fifty and older.

The mascot « Ciao » resembled a Lego figure with a football head and became a symbol. Czechoslovak glass and porcelain shops also sold mascot containers. So many of them were on the market that even ten years after the tournament you could get tea in the mug, or the dolls were served on a saucer with a « cia ».

At that time an unprecedented look at the backstage of the Czechoslovak team at a big tournament offers the film Ciao Italia. Some shots are bold today.

As the Skoda disintegrated

« I remember shouting in the camera in one scene, running naked on the cabin and I’m in a big euphoria, » recalled Ľubomír Moravčík in the past.

The then player of Nitra was one of the support of the federal team at the 1990 World Championship in Italy.

« I will recall how our flags were tied everywhere, so many of them were not before. And we were progressing. Euphoria. It was the peak of a strong generation – the most beautiful time, » Moravcik said.

The reconstructed Italian stadiums played the first big tournament since the fall of the Iron Curtain.

After a long time, the selection of coaches of Jozef Venglos and Václav Ježek could enjoy the support of their own fans abroad as the first Czechoslovak team.

Many of them night in Italy nightnnasted in tents because they did not have better accommodation.

« I remember the first match in Florence, where the crowds of people came. We have never experienced that, » described Jozef Chovanec, one of the representation.

Until now, stories about how many Czechs and Slovaks on their way to Italy collapsed Skoda.

They cut off the anthem

« Three times we went wrong with Skoda 120, so we did not manage to even the last match, » recalls the then journalist Jozef Korbel.

Italian organizers caused inconvenience at the beginning. The Czechoslovak anthem was heard without the Slovak part and the Czech one was strangely shortened.

Coach Venglos admitted that they also used the team underestimated. « The US coach said before the tournament that they should certainly overcome Czechoslovakia. So we told the players that they say we are the weakest, » Venglos recalled. This motivation worked.

Entry to the tournament was great, Czechoslovakia swept the US 5: 1. The triumph could be even higher, but Michal Bílek did not change one of the two penalties.

At the Stadio Comunale in Florence in front of thousands of fans from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Tomáš Skuhravý first showed up, who then became famous for the nickname « Bomber ». Moravčík passed perfectly for his first goal.

« I scored my first goal. For sure in the national team, and perhaps even in life, » he said in the euphoria after the victory.

They smoked and cooked well

He was known for shooting goals almost exclusively his head.

In the second match against Austria it was already a procedure. Czechoslovakia won 1: 0 thanks to the transformed penalty Bílka.

« The fans even came to Montecatini, where we lived. When it was time off, we pushed by the pool, » recalled the well -known bohemian Skuhravý.

« In the corner I lit a cigarette not to get the coaches. I remember how well they cooked there. There was no day when I didn’t add, » he described.

Both coaches were able to tolerate the small offenses. They knew that no one would misuse their kindness. They also closed their eyes over the night « haul » after the advance to the eight -final.

« We will not pretend that we did not go anywhere and were holy. But it was not to see us, we were not in the eyes, the boulevard was not. We had an advantage in that, » the team captain Ivan Hašek admitted in the past.

Have overtaken the time

Venglos and hedgehog had no problem with the arrival of wives and family members of the players after the basic group.

The funny story is remembered by defender Július Bielik.

« I sat in the toilet and smoked. The goalkeeper Jan Stejskal stood at the open window when the coach Venglos entered the room. He felt the smell of smoke and stajskala and lovingly asked me not to smoke in the room, » Bielik explained to ISPORT.cz.

The coaches were ahead of the game. In 1976 they became European champions, the main coach was then hedgehog.

Four years later they won bronze at the European Championship, but exchanged positions. Also in Italy 1990 was the head coach Venglos.

« We called them good and bad.

Venglos became the first foreign coach in the Premier League after the Italian championship.

The case of Kubík and Knoflíček

« They were two phenomena. Venglos was a strategist, reason. Hedgehog again the motivator. Such our father. He was older, the best he had behind, but he had a fantastic relationship with us, » Moravcik added.

Video: Document of World Cup 1990

« You always like to play for the representation, but under the guidance of such coaches it was even more pleasure. Already at that time it was legends, » described the then captain Hašek.

At that time, both coaches had a wealth of experience from abroad. Venglos developed professionally in Australia, led Sporting Lisbon, jumped to Malaysia.

Hedgehog had an engagement in the Hague, Feyenoorde Rotterdam or Zurich.

Nevertheless, shortly before the World Cup, they dealt with the most sensitive thing to coach career – the return of emigrants Ľuboš Kubík and Ivo Knoflíček.

The pair fled from Czechoslovakia in 1988 without the consent of the then Communist sex.

After the revolution, the coaches wanted to incorporate them into the team again. Only two months before the championship. This caused tension.

Weiss was there too

« The coaches explained everything to brilliantly. The team and the public. Yet it was not an easy case at all, on the contrary, very difficult to the cabin, » admitted the then national striker Stanislav Griga.

« There were two boys who did not play the qualification and were supposed to be in the championship. It was a lot of tension, but the coaches made it. It was a fantastic step because they both played a great championship, » he added.

At that time, Grig didn’t care. While the qualifying was the number one striker, the main tournament was given precedence just returned Knoflíček.

The team was packed with dominant players, big personalities. The leader was Jozef Chovanec, Captain Ivan Hašek.

Other players of Prague Sparta played an important role – goalkeeper Jan Stejskal, František Straka, Július Bielik, Tomáš Skuhravý, Václav Němeček and Michal Bílek.

In addition, significant Slovak names such as Ján Kocian, Ľubomír Moravčík, Vladimír Weiss and Milan Luhový.

Such Czech postponement

Czechoslovakia advanced to the knockout fights after the first two matches in the tournament.

« After a long time, we have done great advertising in the World Forum. I take it very positively. It was a football miracle, » Moravcik said.

In the eight -finals, the team also knocked out Costa Rica thanks to three goals of Skuhravý and only in the controversial quarterfinal he was stopped by Germany.

« We lost everything before the match. We stood in the tunnel of the Milan stadium, inside was like in a greenhouse, the temperature exceeded forty and everyone was visible.

« Only after the half -time hedgehog blew us, but we were already losing after Matthäus’s penalty. Maybe if Moravčík didn’t let him be stupidly excluded … if he didn’t kick the football.

Most of his teammates, however, still feel wrong that the representation was damaged by the Austrian referee Helmut Kohl, the name of the then German Federal Chancellor.

Video: The most interesting moments from the 1990 World Cup in Football

Kicked the kick

The commemorative action of Moravčík is still being discussed today. The Slovak in the 16th German Pierre Littbarski climbed his leg so that his kick relaxed.

However, the referee did not sign the penalty. The angry Slovak complained the foul and kicked the swept into the air. And got a red card.

Czechoslovakia finally lost 0: 1.

« If there were cameras at the stadium, there would be nothing to deal with, » Moravcik thinks.

« The Czechoslovaks were Communists, so they cut us. Although it was after the revolution, the world was still divided into two parts. West and east. Stronger were always preferred, » believes Moravčík.

Most heroes after the championship have moved to foreign clubs. Moravčík headed to Saint-Étienne.

The biggest stir was around Skuhravý. After each of his five goals at the championship, he victoriously raised both index fingers.

They changed their life

The 1990 World Cup changed his life. He became famous and extremely rich. During the tournament he moved from Sparta to FC Genoa.

« Immediately after the match in Bari, Bayern Munich and Genoa came in. The offer of Bayern did not seem too much.

According to ISPORT.cz, Skuhravý replaced the gray Panelák in a housing estate in Motola for a luxury apartment in Arenzan on the shore of the Ligurian Sea. The monthly rent of two thousand marks was paid by the club.

In the cards he earned the scraps for complete equipment of the apartment, smoked cigarettes Merit and every Friday went to one owner of the shop for a glass of whiskey.

It was a ritual that he usually scored over the weekend. He was shining in FC Genoa for five years.

Skunny, however, did not avoid the scandal, the boulevard feeded on exuberant stories. In 2012, for example, the Prague Court 4 imposed a conditional two -year sentence for a luxury car for finging.