Italia 90 was an incredible World Cup as it was the first time I travelled abroad to support Scotland with my friends Brian & Scott. The is how our trip and the tournament unfolded, day by day.
The Tartan Army on Tour to Italia 90
WEEK ONE – 8TH JUNE TO 14TH JUNE 1990
Friday 8th June
I finished up work and went out for a few drinks with work colleagues and watched the opening game.
Group B – ARGENTINA 0 CAMEROON 1 – Milan
This was a major shock as the holders Argentina were beaten by Cameroon who had two players sent off for cynical fouls on the Argentines. Diego Maradona being the star of the Argentine team , virtually kicked out of the game.
Saturday 9th June
Group B – SOVIET UNION 0 ROMANIA 2 – Bari
Group B continued with a comfortable win for Romania.
In Glasgow we set up from Buchanan Street Bus Station by bus for Italy. The guy with ghettoblaster pumping out Pavarotti , dropped and it smashed , to which he shrugged his shoulders and said – Pavarotti’s deid !
A drunk serenaded us off with a solo of Flower of Scotland
Group A – ITALY 1 AUSTRIA 0 – Rome
The host nation kicked off their campaign with a nervy 1-0 win over Austria with substitute Toto Schillaci.
Group D – UAE 0 COLOMBIA 2 – Bolonga
We were heading through the night by motorway southwards into England and a service station stop in the middle of the night.
Sunday 10th June
We travelled through the London Borough of Peckham , famous in the comedy , Only Fools & Horses as we made our way towards the Dover ferry port
Group A – USA 1 CZECHOSLOVAKIA 5 – Florence
A Tomas Skuhravy hat trick is the highlight as the Czechs demolish the Americans
We travel by bus through France and it is as if France is shut , nobody to be seen , service stations closed to our buses until were are eventually allowed a lunch break. We make our ways across the Alps in Switzerland and stop in the evening and briefly see some football on a service station TV in Basle as Lother Matthaus scores the goal of the tournament
Group D – WEST GERMANY 4 YUGOSLAVIA 1 – Milan
A great win for the Germans as they open their campaign in style
Group C – BRAZIL 2 SWEDEN 1 – Turin
In our Group , Brazil open with an unconvincing 2-1 win over Sweden.
We travel through the night across Switzerland and into Italy
Monday 11th June
The coach travelled across the spectacular Ponte Morandi bridge which would infamously suffer a massive collapse in 2018 , as we entered Genoa at 6.30am
The coach is stopped by the Italian police with the guy in charge of the bus asking if anyone can speak Italian , we should have know at that point the day wouldn’t end well
The temperatures rose as the sun brunt off any remaining cloud, the Scotland fans arrived and took over the Italian port city in preparation for our first game.
Group C – SCOTLAND 0 COSTA RICA 1 – Genoa
The pre match excitement and singing along with Rod Stewart was soon to fall flat as despite numerous chances Scotland couldn’t score and a real danger on the heart for Tartan Army when Juan Cayasso scored for Costa Rica early in the second half
We left the stadium despondent and tired as we made our way back to the coaches for the final part of our journey to our accommodation in Rimini.
However as the fans go through the tunnel near the railway station defiant signing of Flower of Scotland begins to lift spirits
Group F – ENGLAND 1 REP OF IRELAND 1 – Cagliari
A tight tense tussle was played out on the island of Sardinia
The Tartan Army on their coaches travelled overnight down the Italian coast.
Tuesday 12th June
We arrive in our hotel at 4am and finally our first time to lie on a bed since Saturday morning at home. The holiday rep advises of a meeting at 5pm
The meeting went ahead , with everyone tired and dejected , the room was mainly silent as the young lady tried to sell us a trips to local sights and San Marino.
She concluded the meeting and asked if there were any questions
A voice came from the back of the room in a deep Highland accent –
Aye ! What was Aitken playing ?
The room burst into laughter and this signalled a change in mood as the Tartan Army began to enjoy what was now a holiday with the Scotland performance consigned to history.
Group E – BELGIUM 2 SOUTH KOREA 0 – Verona
We saw the second half of the game in the hotel when the Belgians scored the two goals much to the delight of a group of mature Belgian ladies who danced around with a Belgian flag in front of the TV,
Group F – HOLLAND 1 EGYPT 1 – Palermo
A late penalty gave the Egyptians a surprise point.
We watched the game in an Italian bar – Chequers , mixing with fans of many countries including a couple of Irish guys who worked on the railways and had free rail travel across Europe. We then headed for late night pizzas and met Swedish fans who were confident of beating Scotland on Saturday.
Wednesday 13th June
Time for the Tartan Army to hit the beach , meeting a couple of female Irish fans and playing football in the midday sunshine. Newspapers now arriving from back home suggesting the Tartan Army want to come home are way of the mark as we are having a great time enjoying the Italian hospitality and weather as well as the Pizza
Group E – SPAIN 0 URGUAY 0 – Udine
This first round of games concluded with a boring game.
Group B – ARGENTINA 2 SOVIET UNION 0 – Naples
Argentina bounced back in a must win game.
Thursday 14th June
The Irish guys appear with their giant soft toy leprechaun (they even had tickets for it at the 3 Irish matches) , before we meet them again in the evening with the Irish girls. The party mood ends when the DJ shuts down his music , he took a dislike to the Scotland fans singing about Jimmy Hill.
Group B – CAMEROON 2 ROMANIA 1 – Bari
Group D – YUGOSLAVIA 1 COLOMBIA 0 – Bolonga
The early kicks see Cameroon’s ageing star Roger Milla score twice to take them through to the last 16 , while Yugoslavia comeback from their trouncing by West Germany to lift their qualification hopes.
Group A – ITALY 1 USA 0 – Rome
Italy took an early lead when Giuseppe Giannini scored and as the Italians looked to run away with the game they were awarded a penalty half way through the first half. The Italians however went into their shell after Gianluca Vialli missed the penalty.
We watched in a bar with football supporting fans mainly Italian and a guy rode up on the motorbike outside, didn’t realise Vialli had missed the penalty and rode off into the distance celebrating, what he thought was a second Italian goal.
These games concluded Week One of Italia 90
Football is Academical 