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For Italy, Ferrara was capped 49 times and played 1 match each at the 1990 FIFA World Cup on home soil (where Italy finished in third place after a semi-final penalty shootout defeat to Argentina) and at UEFA Euro 2000 (where Italy reached the final, losing to France on a golden goal). Ferrara took part at Euro 1988, where Italy reached the semi-finals, although he did not appear during the tournament. The same year, he was a member of the Italy team that finished in fourth place at the 1988 Summer Olympics after reaching the semi-final. Ferrara’s brilliance, however, was never truly realised at international level despite his impressive tally of caps. During this time, Italy had a plethora of top-class defenders such as Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta, Mauro Tassotti, Pietro Vierchowod, Riccardo Ferri, Giuseppe Bergomi, Gianluca Pessotto, Paolo Maldini, and in later years, stars like Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta. He was also unfortunate with untimely injuries, most notably in the buildup to the 1998 World Cup in France. Ferrara, aged 31 at the time, was at the peak of his career and had just finished three superb seasons at Juventus; during the 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons, he had established himself as one of the best defenders in Italy, and was a regular in his national side’s line-up. Ferrara, however, suffered a serious injury a few weeks before the 1998 World Cup and missed the tournament; he was replaced by Nesta, who would go on to take his place in Italy’s starting line-up alongside Cannavaro.From this time on, Ferrara was a reserve for Italy. Had Ferrara not suffered this injury, many believe he would have been one of the stars of France 1998, as he was at the peak of his career. For this reason, he is not so well known outside his native country, but within Italy he is regarded as yet another illustrious defender in a long line of world class Italian defenders.
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Ferrante made one appearance with the Italy national under-21 football team in 1992, in a friendly match against Egypt on 10 July. He was included in the Italian squad that took part at the 1992 Summer Olympic games in Barcelona, but he failed to make appearance throughout the tournament. He was never capped for Italy at senior level.
World Cup 1994
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, held in nine cities across the United States from 17 June to 17 July 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on 4 July 1988. Despite the host nation’s lack of a national top-level soccer league, the tournament broke the World Cup average attendance record with nearly 69,000 spectators per game, a mark that still stands today. The total attendance of nearly 3.6 million for the final tournament remains the highest in World Cup history, despite the expansion of the competition from 24 to 32 teams (and from 52 to 64 games) in the 1998 World Cup. Brazil beat Italy 3–2 in a penalty shootout after the game ended 0–0 after extra time, the first World Cup final to be decided on penalties. This made Brazil the first nation to win four World Cup titles. Greece, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia made their first-ever appearances in the finals, Norway made its first appearance since 1938 and Bolivia made its first since 1950. Bulgaria, Morocco and Mexico returned after missing the 1990 tournament.
Fifa World Cup “USA 94” Match Worn Shirts
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The 1994 FIFA World Cup Final took place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, United States, on July 17, 1994 to determine the winner of the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Brazil beat Italy 3–2 on penalties to claim their fourth World Cup title when the match finished 0–0 after extra time; this meant that Brazil surpassed Italy and Germany as the tournament’s most successful nation. It was the first World Cup final to be both scoreless in regular and extra time and to be decided by a penalty shoot-out. Silver Ball winner Roberto Baggio missed the decisive penalty. Brazil had previously beaten Italy in the 1970 final, marking the 1994 final as the second time that the same teams had met in two different World Cup finals, after Argentina and Germany met in 1986 and 1990. FIFA awarded the final match of the tournament to this famous college sports stadium near Los Angeles on June 30, 1992; the Rose Bowl was the largest stadium used for this tournament. The World Cup trophy was presented to Brazil captain Dunga by then-Vice President of the United States Al Gore. The Brazilian team dedicated their win to the late triple Formula One motor racing world champion Ayrton Senna, who had died in an accident at that year’s San Marino Grand Prix in Italy two and a half months before. With Italy finishing as runners-up, Franco Baresi became the sixth player in history to win gold, silver and bronze medals at the FIFA World Cup.
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Signori was not able fully to translate his success to the national level, partly due to differences between him and national coach Arrigo Sacchi, who preferred to play him in the midfield, as a left winger, only using him as a forward on occasion, both as a striker and as a supporting forward. He played for the national side 28 times between 1992 and 1995, scoring twelve goals. The only major tournament Signori played in was the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where he appeared six times as Italy finished in second place, but he did not play in the final against Brazil, as Italy were defeated on penalties after a 0–0 draw following extra time. Despite going scoreless during the tournament, he assisted Dino Baggio’s match-winning goal against Norway in Italy’s second group match, and Roberto Baggio’s match-winning goal in the 87th minute of the quarter-final match against Spain.
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After under-performing during the group stage, Baggio refound his form in the knockout stages, where he scored five memorable goals. Baggio scored two goals in the round of 16, helping a ten-man Italy defeat Nigeria 2–1 at Foxboro Stadium in Boston, after trailing for most of the match. He scored his first goal of the match with two minutes left on the clock, after receiving ball at the edge of the area from Roberto Mussi. He then went on to score the winning goal from a penalty in extra time after setting up Antonio Benarrivo with a lobbed pass, who was then fouled in the penalty area.
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Zola appeared at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, making one substitute appearance in the second round knock-out match against Nigeria in Boston. After only twelve minutes, Zola was controversially sent off, after ‘fouling’ Augustine Eguavoen, which forced him to miss the two subsequent World Cup matches. Although Italy managed to reach the World Cup final, Zola did not regain his place in the side after this suspension.
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In the second World Cup 1994 match against NorwayGianluca Pagliuca was sent off for handling the ball outside the area. Luca Marchegiani was brought in to replace him. Arrigo Sacchi decided to take off Baggio in what produced an outcry amidst the fans. Baggio later stated that Sacchi was “crazy”.
ITALY NATIONAL TEAM
World Cup “USA 94”
Italy Team Delegation Medal
ITALY NATIONAL TEAM
1994-1995
Match Worn Shirt
ITALY NATIONAL TEAM
1994-1995
Match Issued Shirt
