FOOTY FAIR

Football's Biggest Ever Scandals (Part 2 of 5): Totonero 1980

2016-02-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

Mention the name Paolo Rossi to football fans and immediately the conversation will focus on his exploits at the 1982 World Cup. Rossi's tournament leading six goals led Italy to their first world championship in forty-four years, and the man from Prato was lauded as a national hero.

In particular, his memorable hat trick in a 3-2 defeat of a brilliant Brazilian side is rightly considered one of the greatest individual performances in a World Cup finals match.

Lost in the sands of time though is the fact that Rossi being at the World Cup at all that summer was rather controversial. In the years preceding the tournament, Rossi was a key player at the centre of one of Italian football's most notorious scandals and his story goes a little beyond his accomplishments in Spain '82.

Playing for Perugia in 1979-1980, Rossi bagged 13 goals in Serie A while helping the club to 9th place in the league and also seeing them through to the last 16 in the UEFA Cup.

All was not well in Italian football though and a scandal was about to burst Perugia and the league's bubble.

On 23 March 1980 the Guardia di Finanza announced that they had received information from two Roman shopkeepers that several Italian players were openly asking for money to throw matches.

Dubbed by the press as the Totonero affair, named after the term for illegal gambling schemes in Italy, the scandal went deeper than the fans initially feared.

The Guardia di Finanza eventually uncovered a betting syndicate that had attempted to influence numerous matches in Serie A and B.

From Serie A the club's found to be among the primary protagonists were AC Milan, Lazio, Perugia, Bologna, Napoli and Avellino. While in Serie B, the only two clubs the authorities were able to pin anything on was Taranto and Palermo.

There were mass arrests as a result, with several players including Rossi handed multi-year bans from football.

As for the club's themselves, Milan and Lazio were handed the harshest punishments as they were relegated to Serie B. Perugia, Bologna, Napoli, Avellino, Taranto and Palermo were given five point penalties for their part in the scandal.

Rossi, who was handed a three-year ban for his role in Totonero, later had his suspension cut short by 12 months so he could join up with Italy at the 1982 World Cup and the rest, as they say, is history.

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Football's Biggest Ever Scandals:
(Part 1 of 5): Manchester City's Under the Table Payments
(Part 2 of 5): Totonero 1980
(Part 3 of 5): Maradona Gets Kicked Out of USA '94
(Part 4 of 5): Olympique de Marseille's Epic Run of Corruption and Lies
(Part 5 of 5): Bad Santa - The Unbelievable Story of Chuck Blazer

5 Weird Football Moments

2015-04-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

If you were to ask someone what football is all about they would probably say great goals, or perhaps they'd use more of an abstract term like glory or passion.

Those terms do come to mind for me too when thinking about football, but I also think about the sheer madness of it all. Getting up at 4am on a Saturday to drive nine hours to stand in a rainstorm and see your team probably lose on the road, or watching a player get subbed on and within thirty seconds getting sent off for a wild lunge on someone or simply staying up until 1am to argue with a basement dwelling numskull over the merits of ticki-tacka are some of the more minor examples of football madness.

But what of the moments that seem to come straight out of a Z-Grade film on the SfyFy Channel, when football truly loses the plot?

The following are five examples of genuine football weirdness:

The Sheikh Who Got a Goal Disallowed

Remember when you were a kid playing soccer in the street with a bunch of your friends, when some filthy cheating ratbag who you didn't really like but you allowed them to join in just so you had enough players would blatantly score a goal with his hand? Then the cry baby kid, who invariably owned the ball you were playing with and was probably named Blake, would scream and cry about the unfairness of it all and take his ball home?

Well a scenario somewhat similar to that happened in the 1982 World Cup. France were thoroughly outplaying Kuwait and already up 3-1, when Alain Giresse scored a very controversial fourth goal that looked miles offside.

Not having any of it, Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the President of the Kuwait FA, then tried to either get the match abandoned or France's fourth goal disallowed because his team had stopped running because they had heard another whistle.

Incredibly the referee wilted under pressure and disallowed 'Les Bleus' fourth goal and the match restarted as if it had never happened.

The French would have the last laugh though as they added a legitimate fourth goal later in the match.

Flare for the Dramatic

In September of 1989 with Chile needing a win at the Maracana to have any chance of reaching the 1990 World Cup, but down a goal to Brazil with only twenty minutes to play, Chile's goalkeeper Roberto Rojas executed his wild plan.

As a flare dropped near Rojas' goal mouth, he pulled out a razor blade he had hidden in his glove, cut his forehead and dropped to the pitch with blood streaming from his wound.

His concerned teammates, who may or may not have been in on his plan, rushed to his aid and told the referee that they were leaving the pitch due to unsafe conditions.

The only flaw in the crafty keepers plan was that he had forgotten about the invention of camera's, several of which captured images of the flare dropping nowhere near him, while others showed him cutting himself.

Brazil were awarded a 2-0 win, while Chile were banned from both the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. Rojas himself was banned for life by FIFA.

In a strange twist the fan who threw the flare, Rosemary de Mello, went on to pose for Playboy.

Scotland vs. Themselves

As they stepped on the pitch in Tallinn, Estonia on October 9, 1996 for a World Cup qualifier, the only team that could beat Scotland was themselves. That's not a comment about how poor Estonia were at the time, but because the Baltic nation didn't even show up for this match and I'm not talking figuratively.

With FIFA ruling that Estonia's floodlights did not meet the required standards for an evening kickoff, the match was moved from it's scheduled 18:45 kickoff to 15:00, so the Estonians staged a protest and opted not to turn up for the match.

In order to gain their three points though, Scotland still had to take to the pitch, shake hands with the referee and actually kickoff to make it official.

This farce didn't bother the travelling Tartan Army too much though as they joyfully sang, "There's Only One Team in Tallinn" up in the stands.

Graeme Souness and Southampton Sign Ali Dia

Chances are if you're reading this article, at one point in your life you dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. Hell, you probably still drift off during a morning meeting and dream of smashing a volley into the top right hand corner deep into injury time for your favourite club.

For people like you or I, Ali Dia is a legend. Dia, who had really no football ability that would mark him out as a professional, once conned his way into a one month contract with Premier League side Southampton by claiming to be the cousin of George Weah.

He even convinced then Saints manager Graeme Souness that he had played for Liberia 13 times. With none of the aforementioned facts true in any way, Dia joined Southampton and was thrust into action as a substitute on 23 November 1996 against Leeds United following an injury to Matthew Le Tissier in the 32nd minute. Dia was absolutely woeful and was eventually subbed off himself in the 85th minute.

The gig was up and Dia's contract was quickly cancelled by the club. Le Tissier later said of Dia's appearance: "He ran around the pitch like Bambi on ice; it was very embarrassing to watch."

The Referee is... Wasted?

If you've watched football, at some point you've seen some terrible refereeing and likely screamed out your disapproval at the man with the cards, likely questioning his eyesight or his parentage. If you're a fan of a side in the MLS, you likely do this on a weekly basis.

But as poor as some of the displays I've seen from officials they would have to go a long way to match the exploits of Sergei Shmolik who refereed a Belarusian Premier League match between Vitebsk and Naftan in 2008 completely wasted.

Shmolik, who didn't leave the centre circle for the entire match, somehow made it through the entire 90 minutes before being escorted off the field. A blood test run after the match by the Belarusian FA found high levels of alcohol in his system confirming what most people watching the match had already assumed. He was subsequently suspended for his lack of professionalism.

There's been no word yet as to whether or not there is any testing that would determine if a referee is in fact a wanker though.

Top 5 World Cup Goals - Italy (Gallery)

2014-06-10T21:00:00.000-04:00

Italy has been a consistent performer at World Cups, so it is only natural that they have scored some amazing goals over the years. Here is a look at my favorite Italy top 5 goals.

Number 5 - Marco Tardelli (1982 World Cup) vs West Germany

Number 4 - Roberto Baggio (1994 World Cup) vs Bulgaria

Number 3 - Pirlo (2006 World Cup) vs Ghana

Number 2 - Del Piero (2006 World Cup) vs Germany

Number 1 - Roberto Baggio (1990 World Cup) vs Czechoslovakia

World Cup Heroes - Dino Zoff

2014-06-08T06:00:00.000-04:00

Dino Zoff is one of the world's greatest goalkeepers and without a doubt a true World Cup Hero.

He has set several records and has received several honors. He is the oldest player to win a World Cup, he did it in 1982 in Spain at the age of 40. He was voted by the IFFHS the 3rd greatest goalkeeper of all time, behind Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks. He also holds the record for most consecutive minutes without allowing a goal in international play, that streak lasted 1142 minutes and it was set between 1972 & 1974. He was capped by Italy 112 times, making him the 4th most capped Italian player of all time.

In 1974 he played in his first World Cup and it wasn't a memorable one, he had an impressive run of no goals allowed leading into the tournament but Italy would not make it pass the group stages, defeating Haiti, followed by tie with Argentina and losing to Poland.

His second World Cup was in 1978, and Italy was one of the heavy favorites going in to the tournament. Zoff and Italy started the tournament well winning all three group stage games including the hosts and eventual winners, Argentina. In the second round playing a decisive match against Netherlands, Zoff was unable to stop Arie Haan's 40 yard shot and Italy was out of the final. They would also lose the third place match to Brazil by the scoreline of 2-1 after having the lead.

Zoff had his final chance at glory in the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Italy had a very slow start, with ties in all three group stage games against Poland, Cameroon and Peru. They managed to score 2 goals and allow 2.
They would go on as the second place team in their group, and manage to defeat Argentina, Brazil, Poland and West Germany in a row and win the 1982 World Cup. For Zoff this was his moment of glory. To captain his country to a title is something incredible but to do it at the age of 40 is truly impressive.

Zoff was not just any keeper, he was now a World Cup Hero.

SEE THE OTHER HEROES IN THIS SERIES>

Top 5 World Cup Goals - Brazil (Gallery)

2014-06-03T15:00:00.000-04:00

Brazil has had some of the greatest players over the years, and with great players come great goals.
World Cup history is full of great goals by Brazilian players, but it won't be an easy task to pick the top 5 of all time considering how many they have scored.

Lets take a look at Brazil's Top 5 goals in World Cup history.

Number 5 - Pele (1958 World Cup in Sweden) vs France

Number 4 - Socrates (1982 World Cup in Spain) vs USSR

Number 3 - Ronaldinho (2002 World Cup in South Korea & Japan) vs England

Number 2 - Carlos Alberto (1970 World Cup in Mexico) vs Italy

Number 1 -Pele (1958 World Cup in Sweden) vs Sweden

World Cup Heroes - Paolo Rossi

2014-05-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

Paolo Rossi’s professional career lasted just 13 years as he retired from football in 1987 at the somewhat early age of 31. And while Rossi doesn’t even come near the top 10 most capped Italian internationals, his performance during the 1982 Fifa World Cup in Spain made him an instant legend and a “no-doubt” pick for our World Cup Heroes series.

1978 World Cup

While Rossi’s club football success is most notable during his days with Juventus, his first call-up to the Italian squad came in 1977 when he was playing for domestic side Lanerossi Vicenza (currently just called Vicenza). A year later at the age of 21 Rossi was named to the Italian squad that would fly across the Atlantic, to compete in the 1978 Fifa World Cup in Argentina. Drawn in a group with Hungary, France and hosts Argentina, the Italian squad with Rossi up-front managed to avoid any damage, winning all 3 matches. Paolo Rossi scored a goal in each of the first two matches, but although he could not manage a goal against the hosts, the Italians came out victorious with a 1-0 win, Argentina managed to avoid embarrassment with a second place finish. In the next round (again played in a group format, with the winners of the two groups advancing straight to the Finals) Rossi did not manage to shine, and although his goal was the one that provided Italy with a 1-0 victory, Italy could not manage to claim first place in their group, qualifying to the 3rd place match up against Brazil and losing that as well, with Rossi in the line-up, but unable to put a ball past Brazilian keeper Leão.

Totonero Scandal – Omission from the 1980 Euros squad

In 1980, Paolo Rossi along with 19 other footballers and 2 team managers was involved in the Totonero gambling scandal. He was suspended from football for 2 year (reduced from an original 3 year sentence) and therefore had to miss out on the 1980 Euros that coincidentally took place in Italy, with the host nation of course being favorites to win the title on home soil. But without Rossi and partner striker Bruno Giordano (who was also involved in the Totonero), Italy managed to produce very little offense, scoring just twice in four matches and watched West Germany raise the trophy in Rome.

1982 World Cup

The 1982 World Cup in Spain was Paolo Rossi’s stamp on the world of football. But to understand the intricate details of what went on, let’s briefly talk about up the format changes that the 1982 tournament took on.

THE FORMAT: In the first round robin the 24 participating nations were divided into 6 groups of 4 teams. The two group winners would then go-on to the next round, in which the 12 squads were put into 4 groups of 3 teams. And lastly, the winners of the 4 groups would advance to the semi-finals (hopefully you can understand how it worked from there without having to purchase Soccer for Dummies).

In the first group stage, Italy were drawn in with Poland, Cameroon and Peru. But while it seemed like a fairly easy draw for the Azzurri, Rossi (who now played for Italian giants Juventus) could not find his feet and could not find the net in all of his nation’s three matches. Italy managed to scrape by and qualify to the next round over third place (and first time World Cup participant) Cameroon by a virtue of having scored more goals, a total of 2 in 3 matches.

From that moment on it would be Paolo Rossi, who would almost single-handedly provide the Italians with their third World Cup title. Drawn with world football giants Argentina and Brazil in the second round of play, few gave the Italians a chance of qualifying to the semis, after their dismal performances in the previous stage. But, with the Italians claiming a 2-1 victory over the Argentines and Brazil doing so as well with a score of 3-1, the match-up that would put Rossi on the world stage was set, with Italy and Brazil having to play it out for a spot in the semi-finals. Brazil held a one goal advantage in the differential, and so a loss or a draw would show the exit door to the Italians. Rossi was not in a mood to wait long, and headed a good ball from teammate Cabrini past Brazilian keeper Waldir Peres in just the 5th minute to give Italy the advantage. But a Brazilian squad filled with talented footballers the likes of Socrates, Zico and Falcao, seemed to have all the answers, and just 7 minutes later, fooling Italian keeper Dino Zoff with a shot to the near post, Socrates tied the game up at 1-1. In the 25th minute of the match Rossi injected life into the Italian squad yet again, pouncing on a defensive mistake made by the Brazilians and scoring his second of the match with a powerful strike from just outside the box. In the second half, with the Italians still ahead 2-1, Rossi had an incredible chance inside the Brazilian box to put a third goal in and surely place his team in the semis, but saw his shot go wide of the post. The Brazilians pressed on and although keeper Zoff made sure the ball stayed out of his net on multiple occasions, in the 68th minute the Italian defense froze with the ball at Brazilian midfielder Falcao’s feet; Falcao’s strike left Zoff helpless and with just over 20 minutes to play Brazil was on course to a semi-final qualification. 6 minutes later, a corner-kick for the Italians would prove to be the decisive moment of the match, and a moment Paolo Rossi would cherish for the rest of his life. A harmless looking ball to the edge of the Brazilian box found a couple of players before conveniently landing at Rossi’s feet, and with the easiest half-volley he would ever attempt, Rossi had his hat-trick and a place in the World Cup semi-finals.

In the semis the Italians would meet Poland for the second time in this tournament. After a 0-0 draw in their previous encounter less than a month earlier in front of 33,000 spectators in Vigo, the stage was set for Rossi to shine on a bigger stage at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. Rossi did not disappoint, again scoring all of Italy’s goals in a 2-0 victory that would seal a finals match-up with the West Germans who raised the European championship trophy just two years earlier on Italian ground. In the finals, in front of an audience of 90,000 at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, both the Italians and Germans failed to find a goal in the first half (Italy missed a penalty in the first half). But in the second half, the already “back and forth” match opened up even more and the goals started to flow, with Rossi opening the scoring in the 57th minute by way of a low headed ball inside the German box. Rossi would not score another goal in the match, but his teammates found a way to secure a glorious 3-1 victory, and claim the World Cup title.

At the conclusion of the tournament, Rossi received the Golden Boot award for most goals in the tournament with a tally of 6. He was also crowned the best player in the tournament with the first ever Golden Ball award.

1984 & 1986

Leading up to the European Championships in France 1984, The Italian national team struggled in the qualifying matches and with just 1 goal from Paolo Rossi (in the very final match of qualifying against Cyprus) Italy failed to qualify to the tournament they hosted just 4 years earlier.

In 1986, Rossi was selected to represent his country and defend the World Cup title in Mexico. However, due to injury Rossi did not play in the tournament; marking the 1982 Fifa World Cup not only as the most memorable and important tournament in Rossi’s career, but also as the last major tournament he would ever play in, retiring from professional football one year later in 1987.

In 2004, Brazilian legend Pelé released a list of 125 “Greatest Living Footballers” to commemorate FIFA’s 100 year anniversary. Paolo Rossi along with 13 other Italian internationals were named on that list.