Rossi. A two-syllable name. Easy to say even for Doordarshan newsreaders, unlike Xi ‘Eleven’ Jinping. In India, in 1982, this name became admired and hated in millions of families over a course of just a few days. This was thanks to Rossi’s - Paolo Rossi’s - heroics at the World Cup that year.
Pele was adored in India, more so after he visited Kolkata in 1977. But in 1982 he was retired. His successor Diego Maradona was expected to be a star at World Cup ‘82. But his time would come four years later.
And so, for a brief while, it could be said that Rossi was the most popular active international player in India, perhaps even the world. At the same time, for several Indians, he was a villain. Rossi’s hat-trick sank Brazil, the most stylish and loved team in the tournament, although with a porous defence. With the likes of Zico, Socrates and Falcao in the side, and samba tapping fans in the stands, Brazil was expected to seduce and swagger to the title.
Rossi arrived in Spain, which hosted the World Cup, in inauspicious circumstances. In 1980, he had been banned from playing for three years due to his alleged involvement in a betting scandal in Italian league football. The sentence was later reduced to two years, enabling Rossi to make the World Cup squad just weeks before the tournament started.
Though barely 26, ‘Pablito’ was a veteran of almost a decade. He had made his debut in top-flight football at 17, playing for Juventus. But water took some time to turn to wine. By the physical standards of Italian football, Rossi was slight. This was after all a culture which created Claudio Gentile, the violent defender who once said, “Football is not for ballerinas.”
Rossi was fast and talented, but he struggled with injuries, and coaches switched him to positions where he would suffer fewer body blows and get to display his attacking abilities. Giovan Fabbri, Rossi’s coach during his spell at Vicenza, is credited with making him a striker. Immediately, Rossi showed the classic goal-poacher’s instinct of being at the right place at the right time.
At the 1982 World Cup, Italy started poorly, not winning even one of their three group matches. But then they scored an encouraging win over Argentina to set up a contest that would become among the most memorable games in history. The year 1982 seems like another lifetime. The match, on the other hand, still feels alive and worth talking about. The match, of course, was Italy vs Brazil in Barcelona’s other stadium, the Estadi de Sarria.
Even on our black and white televisions, we could sense the colour of the occasion. The sun was out. The spectators blew horns and beat drums. The grass on the ground was striped, which is sometimes deliberately done with a roller or an optical illusion created by blades of grass bending in different directions.
In contrast to Italy’s laborious progress, Brazil had waltzed up to this point scoring 13 goals. But within five minutes they were brought down to earth when Rossi scored with a header. You cannot live this life without watching Brazil’s equalizer, and the magic of Zico that made it possible. On the right in Italy’s half, he left a defender for dead with a backheel, turned, took the ball again and tapped a perfect through pass for an onrushing Socrates. The captain rifled a low right footer through a needle’s eye past his counterpart, Dino Zoff.
You also cannot live this life without watching how a momentary lapse in concentration can result in disaster. In Brazil’s own half, Cerezo squared the ball to no one in particular. Rossi latched on to the opportunity and shot home. Brazil equalized again, through Falcao. And then Rossi swept home from close range to end the match.
It is said the match changed Brazilian football, especially the defensive error that led to Italy’s second goal. But it is equally true that each of Rossi’s goals involved skill. The first was a strong header off a curling cross, the second a fierce right-footer and the third a clever finish.
Rossi scored twice in the semifinals against Poland and then the opening goal in the final against West Germany. He emerged the highest scorer and outstanding player in a tournament few thought he would play, let alone set alight. And even in far flung places like India, grandparents and paanwallahs, children and their teachers came to know of a man named Paolo Rossi, who on December 9 left this world aged 64, but who will almost always be 25 in our memories, like he was in 1982.
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