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Singing the blues Underdog Azzurri let Euro 2000 crown slip away
Posted: Sunday July 02, 2000 06:59 PM
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- The Cinderella story was signed and sealed. But it was not delivered. Italy, which looked on its way to one of the greatest upset wins in its soccer history, fell 30 seconds short of delivering on the chance to beat world champion France and capture its first European Championship since 1968. After serving up the tournament's stingiest defense -- with just two goals allowed in six games, and more than 90 minutes of Sunday's final against France -- Italy allowed Sylvain Wiltord to score the tying goal in the waning seconds of injury time. Just 13 minutes later, David Trezeguet's game-winning "golden goal" ended the Azzurri's Euro 2000 dream for good. The 2-1 loss was a bitter end to a memorable run by Dino Zoff's squad, which defied the critics throughout the competition - muscling its way into the finals with sheer determination and arguably one of the most vaunted defenses in soccer history. "Yes, we're proud, but no one likes to finish second," said midfielder Stefano Fiore, one of Italy's many surprise heroes in the tournament. "When you lose a chance to win with just a few seconds left, you can't talk about mistakes anyone made. Maybe we paid for the luck we had against Holland." That semifinal victory over the co-host Dutch, which Italy won on a shootout after playing down a man for 87 minutes and surviving two penalty shots in regulation, will go down in the annals of the nation's soccer lore. A goal by little-known replacement forward Marco Delvecchio in the 56th minute Sunday made it look like destiny would take Italy to the title. But the Azzurri's good fortune ran out against the powerhouse French, who also knocked them out of the World Cup in 1998 on a quarterfinal shootout. Two missed opportunities by star forward Alessandro Del Piero in the final 20 minutes could have put the game away for Italy. Del Piero said that missing those two chances drained him. "Regret is to say little." "I feel guilty" about the loss, Del Piero said in a subdued voice. Goaltender Francesco Toldo, who ended the game with a nosebleed after being kicked in the face, said it was the "first time I cried" in his career. "It's unexplainable," said defender Gianluca Pessotto. "Maybe this was the best game we played in the whole tournament, and it's the only one we lost."
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