WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Spotlight : IF YOU CAN’T SAY ANYTHING NICE . . .
Times Rome Bureau
As expected, Italian newspapers and TV news were rough after the team’s 1-0 loss to Ireland. Most headlines blamed Coach Arrigo Sacchi. Front pages, sports sections and cutting editorials dissected Saturday’s game in unrelenting detail.
“Poor Italy” said front page headlines Sunday in the Rome daily La Republica. The Rome daily Il Messaggero on Monday ran a photo of goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca wearily wiping his forehead and the headline: “Azzuri in the storm. Only his mother defends Pagliuca.” Azzuri is the nickname for the team.
La Stampa also had a front-page editorial Monday headlined, “The General Custer of Football.” The editorial called the Italians “a lobotomized team.”
