ITALIA 90 THE TOURNAMENT THAT CREATED LEGENDS

Thirty-five years have passed since the lowest-scoring World Cup, yet the chronic lack of goals didn't stop it spawning big-stage heroes. As well as Gary Lineker, others shone and later recounted their memories to FFT

- Chris Hunt

“LIFTING THE WORLD CUP WAS SPECIAL, BUT I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ANGRY IF ENGLAND HAD BEATEN US”

In a column for FFT, captain Lothar Matthaus revealed West Germany’s shootout secret against the Three Lions was... beer

Interview Chris Flanagan

People often say 2002 was the World Cup of Ronaldo and 1986 was the World Cup of Diego Maradona. I’m proud when people say that 1990 was the World Cup of Lothar Matthaus – it’s a nice compliment, but I didn’t win it alone. We had a great side, not only in terms of quality, but mentality and team spirit. I was West Germany captain, but I don’t see myself as a hero. I didn’t dominate like Maradona in 1986.

The first match was very important. It was one of the best games I had for Germany. We beat Yugoslavia 4-1 and showed that, hey, if somebody wants to win the World Cup, first they have to beat us. It also gave us peace from the journalists, as they couldn’t write s**t and disturb the atmosphere.

Our toughest game was England. It was one of the best games at that World Cup – both teams tried to attack. England didn’t start the World Cup too well, but they’d been playing better and better. They had great players – David Platt, Paul Gascoigne, Gary Lineker, Stuart Pearce, Peter Shilton, Chris Waddle. They played very well against us, and I was a little bit surprised they played quite so well.

We did a very good job, too. I recall Gascoigne’s yellow card, because that was also my problem. I’d been booked against Holland and thought, ‘Please control yourself, Lothar – you’ve had a good World Cup, and if the team gets to the final, you will play in the final’. Psychologically, it was a lot of stress.