A happy ending for quiet man Jacquet and Les Bleus
Name : Aime Jacquet
Born: 27 November 1941
After being criticised, lampooned and even insulted before being acclaimed and eventually adored, Aime Jacquet can truly say he traversed the full spectrum of managerial experiences during his four years in charge of the French national team.
After being criticised, lampooned and even insulted before being acclaimed and eventually adored, AimeJacquet can truly say he traversed the full spectrum of managerial experiences during his four years in charge of the French national team. He took up the reins at a time when the position was regarded as something of a poison chalice, with Les Bleus having spectacularly botched their attempt to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA TM.
Once in charge, he soon set his sights on world supremacy and duly accomplished his mission. And then rather than use his success to tout his services to the highest bidder, he simply moved upstairs and took control of France's national training system before a well-earned retirement came in 2006. Fitting for a quiet man who sent an entire nation into ecstasy in 1998 and whose dignified appearance conceals an intense and studious passion for the game he has made his life.
A natural ability
Long before that unforgettable summer when he guided his country to the top of the world, Jacquet had already enjoyed the sort of playing career that many only dream about. A resilient defensive midfielder, he was part of the great Saint Etienne team of the late 1960s and earned his place in French footballing lore by helping Les Verts win five league titles and three French Cups in his eleven years at the fabled club. In 1973, he finally left the Forez and signed for bitter regional rivals Lyon, with whom he ended his playing career.
Having been heavily influenced by the legendary coaches he worked under at Saint Etienne - men such as Jean Snella, Albert Batteux and Robert Herbin - it was only natural that Jacquet sought to turn his hand to management. His first chance to impose his vision of how football should be played came by the banks of the Garonne, where he took over at Bordeaux. He promptly guided the Bordelais to the most successful decade of their history, during which they were crowned champions three times, picked up the French Cup twice and reached two European semi-finals and one quarter-final. Unsurprisingly, Jacquet became a highly respected figure among both players and peers.
Right man for France
After his stint at Bordeaux, Jacquet opted to fine-tune his theories and training ideas with less illustrious clubs, starting with Montpellier before moving on to Nancy, where a certain Michel Platini first captured the attention of the football world. However, as someone who is by nature discreet, he then decided it was time to withdraw from the limelight and, in 1991, accepted a post with the National Technical Training Centre (Direction Technique Nationale), where he worked to develop French football more or less behind the scenes. On 15 July 1992, however, he was appointed assistant to then national team manager Geard Houllier.
Les Bleus had just completed a disastrous venture to the European Championships in Sweden and one year later would embark on a nightmarish run that saw them blow qualification for USA 94 by capitulating at home to Israel (2-3) and Bulgaria (1-2). After that disaster, public confidence in the team fell to almost subterranean levels, and few believed France would achieve anything of note despite hosting the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals. A new manager was needed, someone who would build afresh and infuse a crestfallen squad with renewed confidence. A mighty task, one that not many could be expected to accomplish. The French Football Federation decided the best course of action would be to hire someone from within their own ranks: Aimé Jacquet stood head and shoulders above anyone else.
He took to this sizable challenge with relish, slowly but surely overhauling the wounded French squad. He showed he knew how to be tough, but also that he was capable of putting a comforting arm around players when required. Whatever approach he opted for, the goal was always the same -- to build a better team. The fruit of the new boss's labours were discernible as early as his first match in charge (versus Italy in Naples on 16 February 1994), when a side playing with new-found heart and verve triumphed 1-0 thanks to a Youri Djorkaeff strike.
Zidane becomes the one
The major foundation of this new French team's success was, however, laid in late summer of 1994 when, in the 63rd minute of a friendly match that the French were losing 2-0 to the Czech Republic, Jacquet gave an international debut to a 22 year-old Bordeaux player by the name of Zinedine Zidane. Thirty minutes and two goals later, Zidane had untangled Les Bleus from a decidedly sticky situation, turning probable defeat into a creditable draw and introducing himself on the international scene in spectacular fashion.
At that time, the team's play-making duties were still falling to Eric Cantona, a gifted maverick but one whose character tried the patience of more than one boss. On 18 January 1995, Jacquet took a bold decision and, in the face of much criticism, handed Zidane the place that had hitherto been the preserve of the man Manchester United fans called Le Roi.
At the Euros, building up to 1998
Having topped their qualifying group, France went in to EURO 96 as one of the favourites for overall glory. Though his side somewhat failed to live up to that billing - going out on penalties in the semi-final to the tournament's surprise package, the Czech Republic - Jacquet learned enough from the English expedition to put out an even stronger side for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
He used the following two years of friendly matches to do just that. His focus was clear and his moves deliberate, yet a sceptical media poured scorn on his "tinkering"; some press commentators went even further and rather than concentrate on his decisions or technical merits preferred to assail the man for his quiet and introverted personality. Jacquet never sunk to this baiting, and instead continued to work towards his target, which was not just to perform well in "France's" FIFA World Cup, but to win it.
All the right moves
When the big competition came round, the French had no trouble negotiating their way through the group stage, sweeping aside South Africa (3-0), Saudi Arabia (4-0) and Denmark (2-1). The records may show that they only squeezed past Paraguay in the second round thanks to a Laurent Blanc's golden goal (sealing a 1-0 win), but the fact is that the hosts controlled the match from start to finish and would have won far more comfortably had their finishing been better. The French steamroller then carried on relentlessly, overcoming Italy (0-0, 4-3 on pens) and Croatia (2-1) to set up a final match showdown with Brazil.
Once there, Les Bleus could not have dreamed of a better outcome, and while it is true that the Seleçao may have been knocked out of their stride by the mysterious affliction that struck Ronaldo on the morning of the game, France's emphatic 3-0 victory came courtesy of the most complete 90 minutes of football of the Jacquet era.
By guiding his homeland to the top of the world, Jacquet sent all of France into a month-long celebration and then, ever the quiet man, returned to his beloved DTN until retirement in 2006, satisfied with the knowledge that he had achieved what he had set out to do. Without ever shedding his dignity, he had served up the perfect answer to all those who had been so acerbic in their criticisms over the previous years. His finest achievement, however, was to have succeeded in unifying not just a team, but an entire country.
Tactics
By France 98 Jacquet had honed his innovative 4-2-1-3 system into one of the most solid in the history of the French national team. In front of goalkeeper Fabien Barthez stood a fantastic four-man defence consisting of Lilian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Laurent Blanc and Bixente Lizarazu. These 'four musketeers' deployed a zone-marking method, with Blanc operating as an old-fashioned sweeper. Sitting in front of this four-man blockade were Didier Deschamps and Emmanuel Petit, who mopped up incalculable amounts of possession before knocking the ball to the team's one central playmaker, Zinedine Zidane. The three attackers consisted of one centre-forward (Stephane Guivarc'h or David Trezeguet) and two wide men (Thierry Henry and Youri Djorkaeff). Jacquet controlled Italy and Brazil in the finals by reverting to the same system he used at the European Championships in 1996 - three ball-winners (Christian Karembeu, Petit and Deschamps) across the midfield.
Coaching career
National team
1992 - 1993 : France (jointly with Gerard Houllier)
1993 - 1998 : France
1998 - 2006 : France (as technical director)
International achievements
Semi-finalist at UEFA EURO 96 in England
Winnner of the 1998 FIFA World Cup
Clubs
1976 - 1980: Olympique Lyon
1980 - 1989: Bordeaux
1989 - 1990: Montpellier
1990 - 1991: AS Nancy-Lorraine
Club achievements
Ligue 1 champion in 1984, 1985 and 1987
Coupe de France winner in 1986 and 1987
European Cup semi-finalist in 1985
European Cup-Winners Cup semi-finalist in 1987
European Cup quarter-finalist in 1988
Playing career
2 senior French caps
Clubs
1961 - 1973 : AS Saint-Etienne
1973 - 1976 : Olympique Lyon
Club achievements
Ligue 1 champion in 1964, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970
Coupe de France winner in 1962, 1968 and 1970
Classic XI: France's 1998 winners
Barthez, Thuram, Blanc, Desailly, Lizarazu, Karembeu, Deschamps, Zidane, Petit, Djorkaeff, Guivarc'h.
El Flaco Menotti raised Argentina's game
Name: Cesar Luis MenottiDate of Birth: 5 November 1938
Strong-willed and with a flair for attacking football, Cesar Luis Menotti suffered slings and arrows for leaving Diego Maradona out of the 1978 Argentina squad. In the end, though, he had the last laugh as Kempes and co lifted the FIFA World Cup for a first time.
Argentine football, recognised among the finest in the world, owes its lofty standing in no small measure to Cesar Luis Menotti. The arrival of El Flaco ('The Thin One'), as he was known from an early age, was a turning point in both the organisation and planning of international football in Argentina. Under his expert tutelage, the Albiceleste won both their first FIFA World Cup TM and their first FIFA World Youth Championship.
A well-spoken leader, Menotti's name is synonymous in Argentina with the concept of stylish, forward-thinking football. "A goal should be just another pass into the net," became one of his favourite expressions. Before his era at the helm of the national side, Argentine football was known for its systematic turnover of coaches and the refusal of its top players to travel overseas on international duty. Post-Menotti, the side not only continued to chalk up titles but managers were also allowed to see out their contracts. Playing for the national side nowadays is an honour coveted by all the country's top players.
Menotti's crowning achievement as manager was in leading Argentina to the 1978 FIFA World Cup title when they hosted the competition. Menotti's first big gamble, which is still much discussed to this day, was to prefer veteran striker Mario Kempes in place of a promising youngster from Argentinos Juniors named Diego Maradona. That decision sparked a furious debate, but subsequent events were to prove Menotti's intuition impeccable. Kempes was the inspirational leader and goal scorer of the 1978 FIFA World Cup winning side, while Diego Maradona became the star of the following year's FIFA World Youth Championship in Japan, which Argentina also won under his guidance.
Scaling new heights
After hanging up his playing boots, Menotti threw himself into his new career as coach. In 1973, after just two years in management, he led modest club side Huracán to the only league title in their history. The Parque Patricios club produced a side that will be long remembered for being one the most stylish outfits ever to grace the Argentine league. This was all down to the inimitable touch of El Flaco and players like René Houseman, Miguel Brindisi and Carlos Babington, who all flourished under his watchful eye.
After Argentina's gloomy exit from Germany '74, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) offered Menotti the chance to manage the national team. His heady task was to prepare a team capable of winning the world's premier football tournament when it came to Argentina four years later. In building his side, Menotti went immediately for experienced players like Ubaldo Fillol, Daniel Passarella and Kempes, men who could fulfil the coach's enigmatic philosophies.
"The effectiveness of our tactics depended greatly on how clear the players were on what was being asked of them," the coach remarked later about his well-disciplined side. "Someone without a clear idea of what he is looking for will never find anything."
At the event, the Albiceleste beat Hungary and France in the first round but then lost to Italy, which forced the team to leave Buenos Aires. In Rosario for the second phase, Argentina won against Poland, drew with continental rivals Brazil, and then destroyed Peru to set up a mouth-watering final against Holland.
And so it was that on 25 July 1978, Menotti's side beat the Dutch 3-1 after extra time, with two goals from Kempes and one added by Daniel Bertoni. Praise for El Flaco was justifiably lavish, and the coach himself proved ecstatic: "Not many people know that after the game, I went to the Obelisk to celebrate with the rest of the supporters," Menotti confessed later. "I put on a disguise so that no one would recognise me, and I went incognito in the back of a pick-up. I was keeping a promise I'd made earlier. Although there weren't many people left when I arrived, I still enjoyed my own celebration."
Winning with Maradona
A year later, Menotti personally asked to coach the youth side at that year's FIFA World Youth Championship in Japan. Gabriel Calderon, a member of that side before becoming a full international, takes up the story: "Just to see him there in front of us talking about football was an incredible experience," related the player. "He told us that he was coaching us because he believed in our potential. The best thing about him was that he never lied to us. Instead, he put special emphasis on the strengths of each individual. Every player ran out on the pitch crystal clear on what they had to do, and determined to do it."
The 1979 youth side that travelled to Japan seamlessly applied Menotti's ideas of attacking football and were soon showing impressive results. With Maradona, Ramon Diaz and Calderon leading the charge, the Albicelestes had the watching public back home glued to the TV in the early hours of the morning. Nobody was complaining though, and after lighting up the tournament with their glittering play, Menotti's youngsters found themselves in the final against the USSR.
The subsequent 3-1 win over the powerful Soviets was unquestionably one of the golden moments in the history of youth football in Argentina. Maradona recalled years later: "I never enjoyed myself so much on the field of play as I did with that team. That was all down to Menotti's work."
An inauspicious performance by Maradona and the entire national team at Spain '82 marked the end of Menotti's term in charge. Despite having the nucleus of the cup-winning side from four years earlier, the Albiceleste took a relatively early flight home after second round defeats to Brazil and Italy.
Clear concepts
Astute ball-movement, swift passing and motivation were concepts that Menotti instilled in all his teams. It surprised nobody that the savvy Argentinean found the winning formula as manager of some of the finest club teams in Europe and South America, and also in his subsequent work for the media.
As time went by, Menotti became something of an ambassador for attractive football. In Argentina, where everyone has an opinion on the game, the camps are divided between those who value the result above everything else, and those who think that good football is the best way to get results. The latter are referred to as Menottistas.
Of the teams Menotti managed, the most famous were River Plate, Boca Juniors, Independiente de Avellaneda, Rosario Central, Peñarol de Montevideo, Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona. At the Catalan club, reunited with Maradona, the Argentine won major honours including the Copa de la Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Supercopa. With his international track record, it came as no surprise that he was later offered the job of coaching the Mexican national side. In 1992, however, with Mexico in the second qualifying round for USA '94, Menotti stepped down to pursue a career in sports commentary.
After further short spells in Argentina and Italy, where he briefly coached Sampdoria, Menotti retired from football management altogether to concentrate on his work with the media. At the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan and again at 2004's Copa America in Peru, he worked as a commentator for Mexican television.
Tactics
From his early days in coaching, Menotti always advocated attacking football over the risky business of defending deep and waiting for chances. Although he accepts that "everyone plays to win," he was always known for deploying his team's resources to maximise goal scoring chances. His sides were all about teamwork, with quality players in midfield and technically gifted individuals up front.
One of his calling cards was, paradoxically enough, his most criticised trait - the offside trap. His defences used the trap systematically as the back four pushed up quickly, but the system was far from perfect and caused its share of headaches over the years. Menotti was always quick to defend his tactics: "It's always better to push up and go at your opponents, so that you can recover the ball as far up the field as possible." As for tactical formations, the Argentine normally opted for four across the back and a holding midfielder. The other midfielders would have licence to push forward and be responsible for supplying the two or three front men.
Management Career
National team
1974 - 1982 Argentina
1991 - 1992 Mexico
International honours
1978 FIFA World Cup Argentina TM Champion
1979 FIFA World Youth Championship Champion
Clubs
1972 - 1974 Huracan
1982 - 1984 Barcelona (Spain)
1986 - 1987 Boca Juniors
1987 - 1988 Atletico Madrid (Spain)
1988 - 1989 River Plate
1990 - 1991 Penarol (Uruguay)
1993 - 1994 Boca Juniors
1996 - 1997 Independiente
1997 - 1998 Sampdoria (Italy)
1998 - 1999 Independiente
2002 Rosario Central
Club honours
1973 Torneo Metropolitano
1982 Spanish Copa del Rey Champion
1982 Spanish League Cup Champion
1984 Spanish Supercup Champion
Playing Career
Clubs
1960 - 1963 Rosario Central
1964 Racing Club
1965 - 1966 Boca Juniors
1967 New York Generals (USA)
1968 Santos (Brazil)
1969 Juventus (Brazil)
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Name: Rinus Michels
Born: 9 February 1928
Rinus Michels was the innovative thinker whose concept of 'Total Football' helped first Ajax and then the Netherlands break new ground in terms of both tactics and success - as well as capturing the imagination of football lovers the world over.
Rinus Michels - The watchmaker behind the Clockwork Oranje
If the Netherlands teams of the 1970s were the 'Clockwork Oranje', then Rinus Michels was the genius watchmaker behind the machinery. A man of few words, this innovative thinker was the guiding hand behind the brilliance of Total Football's finest.
Born in 1928, Michels enjoyed a fine playing career, scoring 121 goals in 269 appearances for Ajax and appearing five times for the Dutch national team. It was after his subsequent step into coaching, however, that Michels truly made a name for himself - first on the European club scene with Ajax from 1965 to 1971 and then on the global stage with the Netherlands at the 1974 FIFA World Cup TM. Led on the pitch by the immaculate Johan Cruyff, the losing finalists were admired the world over for their style of play, which reflected Michels' belief in fostering both team coherence and individual imagination.
Though his coaching career also took him to the United States, Germany and most notably Spain, where he established a Dutch connection with Barcelona that still exists today, Michels is linked most closely to his hometown club Ajax and the Dutch national team. It was with those two that the 'total football' movement that he fostered would flourish in the late 1960s and early 70s.
When Michels was appointed Ajax coach on 22 January 1965, he took charge of a team embroiled in a battle against relegation. Within a few seasons he had turned them into European contenders and by 1971 they were crowned continental champions in what proved his last match at the helm. The team he built would go on to win two more consecutive European Cups but Michels - a bright and serious man, nicknamed 'The General' for his uncompromising manner - sought a new challenge in the heated world of Spanish football with Barcelona.
By that point Michels was well known for his emphasis on intelligent movement and versatility on the field. He won a league title with the forward-thinking Catalan club but, as the natural choice to lead the Netherlands at the FIFA World Cup in West Germany, it was with a different team that he made his definitive statement that same year.
The figure most closely associated with Michels' achievements is the magical Cruyff, the playmaker who put into effect his coach's ambitious game plan with his uncanny ability to read a match. Amid a kaleidoscopic shifting of players, switching in and out of defence and swarming about the ball, Cruyff was the on-field organiser who brought Michels' ideas to life. The pair worked together at Ajax and Barcelona, but it was with the Oranje, in Michels' first stint in charge at the age of 46, that Cruyff and a band of willing accomplices showed the world a new kind of football.
Ironically, not much was expected of the 1974 Netherlands team and Michels, appointed post-qualification, had only three friendly matches to prepare before the finals. However, a team comprised mostly of Ajax and Feyenoord players came together quickly under their new coach, who did a remarkable job building multifarious factions into a whole. They breezed through their opening group, beating Uruguay 2-0, drawing 0-0 with Sweden and then crushing Bulgaria 4-1. In the second group phase, the likes of Jonny Rep, Johan Neeskens and Rob Rensenbrink helped Cruyff demonstrate the gulf in class between Michels' side and rivals Argentina (4-0), East Germany (2-0) and even the holders Brazil (2-0).
Although the Netherlands fell 2-1 to hosts Germany in the final, they remain widely regarded one of the greatest teams never to have won a FIFA World Cup. If they had triumphed that famous day in Munich, that 1974 Dutch team would surely be uttered in the same breath as Brazil circa 1970.
Michels wrote later in his life about that fundamental task that he seemed to do so well: "It is an art in itself to compose a starting team, finding the balance between creative players and those with destructive powers, and between defence, construction and attack - never forgetting the quality of the opposition and the specific pressures of each match."
After the 1974 finals, Michels went back to his club career with Barcelona, though he never strayed too far from Ajax or the national team subsequently. Nor did he ever achieve as much elsewhere as he did with the Netherlands. In his four stints in charge, he coached the Dutch to 30 victories and 14 draws in 54 contests. Most remarkably he led an entirely new generation of players to European glory in 1988.
Michels gained a measure of revenge for 1974 when his side beat hosts West Germany 2-1 in the UEFA European Championship semi-final, en route to a 2-0 victory in the final over the Soviet Union. This new team featured a spine made up of the lethal Marco van Basten in attack, the magnificent Ruud Gullit in midfield and the composed duo of Frank Rijkaard and Ronald Koeman at the back.
Though he had mostly adapted his concept of 'Totaal Voetbal' to fit the times, Michels' team still featured skilled players all over the pitch and a commitment to playing creative attacking football. His decision to field Rijkaard and Koeman in the centre of defence was proof of that. A thankful world applauded appreciatively as the Dutch finally lifted their first major trophy under the watch of their 60-year-old coach.
Four years later, Michels almost repeated the trick, leading his team to the semi-final of the European Championship where they were only eliminated by tournament darlings Denmark in a penalty shootout. It was the final chapter of a compelling story.
Tactics
Michels is best known for what are essentially the anti-tactics of Total Football, a strategy legendary for allowing players to adjust their positions and runs in order to exploit the space afforded them by the opposing team. His 1974 team ostensibly lined up in a 4-3-3 with Jonny Rep charging down the right flank and Rob Rensenbrink doing the same down the left. Charges from full-backs Wim Suurbier and Ruud Krol added further options in an attack that seemed to swell and recede at will, while Cruyff was given licence to roam the pitch looking for ways to unlock opposing teams. The key to Michels' concept was intelligent movement, understanding and fitness.
Coaching career
National team
1974: Netherlands
1984-1986: Netherlands (Technical Director)
1986-1988: Netherlands
1990-1992: Netherlands
International achievements
1974 FIFA World Cup TM runner-up
1988 UEFA European Championship
Clubs
1965-1971: Ajax
1971-1975: Barcelona
1975-1976 Ajax (Technical Director)
1976-1978: Barcelona
1978-1980 Los Angeles Aztecs
1980-1983: FC Cologne
1988-1989: Bayer Leverkusen
Club achievements
1966, 1967, 1968, 1970 Dutch league championship
1967, 1970, 1971 Dutch Cup
1969 European Cup runner-up
1971 European Cup
1974 Spanish league championship
1978 Spanish Cup
1983 German Cup
Playing career
5 full international caps
Clubs
1946-1958: Ajax
Club achievements
1947, 1957 Dutch league championship
269 matches and 121 goals for Ajax
Name: Enzo Bearzot
Date of birth: 26 September 1927
Enzo Bearzot, who remains Italy's most beloved coach, led the Azzurri to a third FIFA World Cup title in 1982 playing an attacking brand of football with the accent on technique and individual expression.
The scene unfolds aboard the President of Italy's private jet. It is 12 July 1982, and we have just taken off from Madrid heading for Rome. Around a table at the front of the cabin, four men are playing cards. Just to one side, the FIFA World Cup stands like a glorious elephant atop a small table. Crowned champions of the world the previous night, Dino Zoff and Franco Causio are coming off worst - since the President of the Republic, Sandro Pertini, and the national team boss Enzo Bearzot, trademark pipe dangling from his mouth, are no mugs when it comes to scopone.
The scene nicely illustrates the savoir-faire personality of Bearzot, who easily remains Italy's most beloved coach. Endearingly human and still very close to his players, Bearzot has always favoured the celebratory side of life, without ever allowing himself to be swayed by the size of the stakes in what, for him, was only ever a game of enjoyment.
A coach with flair
A native of the Udine region, Bearzot enjoyed an honest if unromantic professional footballing career, playing at the highest level for over 15 years and earning a solitary cap in 1955. A defensive midfielder, he spent the majority of his playing days with Inter Milan and Torino, after making his league debut in 1946 for Serie B side Pro Gorizia.
He hung up his boots in 1964 to fill a goalkeeping coach vacancy at his club, before soon becoming assistant coach. After a brief spell at the helm of Prato (Serie C), he was then appointed coach of the Italian youth team (under 23 at that time). Continuing his rapid ascension, he was soon the right hand man of national team coach Ferrucio Valcareggi, whom he assisted at 1970 and 1974 FIFA World Cups TM in Mexico and Germany respectively.
After Italy's demoralizing group stage exit in Germany, and after the brief reign of caretaker coach Fulvio Bernardini, Bearzot himself took charge of Italy's national team in 1975, a post he occupied until 1986. In that time, he obtained 51 wins, 28 draws and 25 defeats in 104 matches at the vanguard of the Squadra Azzurra.
Keeping faith
Looking to lay the foundations of a new squad, the coach quite naturally turned to a phalanx of players from Juventus, as the Turin outfit were dominant in Serie A at the time. At Argentina 78, the world saw another side to Italy, who displayed a much more attractive style due to the influence of promising young talents such as Paolo Rossi and Antonio Cabrini.
Bearzot built his side with meticulous patience, indifferent to the critics who had railed against him for the Squadra's dismal showing at the 1980 European Championships on home soil. Despite disappointing results in their warm-up games, Bearzot ignored their cries for major changes, standing by his players and refusing to bring in media darlings such as Inter Milan's attacking midfielder Evaristo Beccalossi or Roma striker Roberto Pruzzo.
The pressure on Bearzot grew further when he again showed his apparent blind faith in his side by reintroducing Paolo Rossi to top-level football only two months after the player had served a two-year suspension for his involvement in an infamous match betting scandal.
The brickbats intensified after the opening round of Spain 82 when Italy scraped through to the last 16 after a trio of boring draws against Poland, Peru and Cameroon, and only by dint of having superior goal difference to the Africans. The press were baying for blood, especially since Rossi was yet to tally once. At their Vigo hideaway, the Azzurri dodged further debate by refusing to talk to the media (FIFA regulations still allowed this at the time), taking advantage of the three-day break to bond his squad still tighter and work hard on their mind-set.
Believing in miracles
Yet, brave was the Italian that gave the side any hope, particularly as, to go all the way, the team were going to have to knock out Argentina, the reigning champions now reinforced by a young sensation named Maradona, and Brazil, who at the time were fielding one of their strongest sides of all time -- featuring such legends as Zico, Falcao, Socrates, Cerezo, Junior and Eder.
But reinvigorated to perfection by their wily coach, the Italians were about to rediscover their lost touch in style. With the safeguard of the seemingly unbeatable Dino Zoff in goal, the Azzurri set about exploiting the slightest space as they launched deadly counter-attacks to stun an Argentine side guilty of over-confidence (2-1). Still no goals from Paolo Rossi, but little matter. Bearzot stuck to his guns, giving one last chance to the striker with no lead in his pencil.
And on 5th July, in what many regarded as the real final in Barcelona's Sarria Stadium, the tifosi suddenly began to believe in miracles. That because no less than three times, 'Saint' Paolo Rossi scored against Brazil (3-2), totally vindicating his coach, who had never ceased to back him in the face of a torrent of criticism. The goal machine had been activated and nobody could find the off switch.
Rossi netted twice more in the semi-final against Poland (2-0), and on 11th July in the final, he set Italy on the path to victory with the opener in an easy win (3-1) over a Germany side jaded after their thrilling semi-final win over France.
When the final whistle sounded in the final, Bearzot was borne aloft in triumph by the entire team, in scenes reminiscent of Vittorio Pozzo 44 years earlier.
Italy's long-awaited third FIFA World Cup
The 1982 championship crowned seven years of tactical planning, and it is Italy's only FIFA World Cup crown in over six decades. Bearzot deployed every ounce of his charisma and committed himself unstintingly to build a team with two interchangeable players in each position. In 11 years at the helm of the Squadra Azzurra, he left a profound mark which has served as the working basis for generations of coaches, not merely his successor, Azeglio Vicini.
After a second round exit at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, Bearzot opted to make way for a new man. "For me, coaching Italy was a vocation which, as the years have passed, has become a profession. The game's values have changed since my day. Due to the development of football and the arrival of powerful sponsors, it seems as if money has moved all the goalposts.
"The player profile has also changed, especially regarding loyalty to clubs, which have themselves become profit-making businesses. What's more, football has now become a science, if not always exact, but for me, it's still first and foremost a game."
Bearzot left the football scene to concentrate on his beloved collection of classic literature. But on 22 January 2002, at the age of 75, 16 years after retiring, he agreed to take charge of the technical section of the Italian Football Federation.
"Bearzot was a great - Italy's best-ever coach after Vittorio Pozzo. I am happy that's he back in the fold, as he and football should not be parted," declared Claudio Gentile. Bearzot finally stepped down in 2005.
Tactics
While not ignoring football's practical side, Enzo Bearzot always placed an accent on fantasy and technique. "For me, football should be played with two wingers, a centre forward and a playmaker. That's the way I see the game. I select my players and then I let them play the game, without trying to impose tactical plans on them. You can't tell Maradona, 'Play the way I tell you.' You have to leave him free to express himself. The rest will take care of itself," Bearzot explained commendably.
At the 1982 FIFA World Cup Italy generally played a 4-3-3 formation with Zoff in goal; Gentile, Collovati, Scirea (allowed a great deal of freedom for an Italian libero) and Cabrini at the back; Antognoni, Tardelli, and Oriali in the middle; with Conti, Rossi and Graziani up front. Cesare Maldini, Dino Zoff, a fellow native of Frioul, Marco Tardelli and Claudio Gentile have been amongst the ones to claim significant influence from his ideals.
Coaching career
National team
1969-1975: Italy U-23
1970: Italy (assistant to Ferrucio Valcareggi at the FIFA World Cup)
1974: Italy (assistant to Ferrucio Valcareggi at the FIFA World Cup)
1975-1977: Italy (Responsible for coaching alongside Fulvio Bernardini)
1977-1986: Italy
International achievements
FIFA World Cup winner at Spain 1982
Clubs
1964-1967: Torino (youth team)
1967-1968: Torino
1968-1969: Pro Prato A.C.
Playing career
One full cap for Italian national team
Clubs
1946-1948: Pro Gorizia (Serie B)
1948-1951: Inter Milan
1951-1954: Catania
1954-1956: Torino
1956-1957: Inter Milan
1957-1964: Torino
