Cabrini: Missing a World Cup Final Penalty Was Awful, Then Bearzot Pinned Me Against the Wall

Former Italian defender Antonio Cabrini reminisced about the Azzurri's 1982 World Cup triumph: "Upon our return to Italy, it was pure pandemonium; we couldn't even pay our restaurant bills."

"It was a tough moment." Cabrini recalled missing a penalty in the World Cup final, an incident that ultimately didn't prevent Italy's victory over West Germany. "The score was still 0-0. Before we went back onto the pitch for the second half, Enzo Bearzot grabbed me by the neck, pinned me against the wall, and told me: 'Perhaps you haven't realized that with that missed penalty of yours, we're going to win the World Cup. Now go out there and play your game.'"

The former Juventus player revealed the secrets of that Italian squad: "A strong team won, but above all, an incredibly cohesive group. Many said we had 12-13 top-level players. But that's not true; that team had 22 world-class footballers. On the night of our triumph, few slept; the emotion was too overwhelming: Marco Tardelli, Paolo Rossi, Scirea, and Bruno Conti stayed in the hotel corridor, sitting there, looking at each other, and repeating, 'We are world champions.'"

It was only the day after the victory that we truly grasped what we had achieved. We landed at Ciampino Airport, and 40,000 people were waiting for us beneath the plane. From that moment on, it was utter chaos; we couldn't even pay our restaurant bills." His bond with Bearzot dated back a long way, with the coach selecting him as early as 1978: "Bearzot was more of a father figure to many of us than a coach. He always stood in front of the team, taking responsibility, both in good times and bad."