#1 Brazil vs Italy -1994 final
Brazil and Italy was the first ever World Cup final which was decided by a penalty shoot out. It was a clash between two of the most successful nations in the tournament’s history.
PreviousIy, the teams had met in the 1970 final and the 1994 final marked the second time that the same teams had met in two different World Cup finals. Italy gave a compact performance to deny the Brazilians a goal. The game ended 0-0 after 120 minutes had been played out.
Penalties were the need of the hour to decide who would go on to lift their fourth trophy as both sides had 3 World Cups to their names. In stepped Marcio Santos to take the first penalty for Brazil. The centre-back couldn’t keep his shot down and Brazil started on the back foot.
But things evened up when Franco Baresi missed the first spot kick for the Italians. Romario, Branco and Dunga scored the next three chances while Massaro missed under pressure.
The moment where one can be a national hero or could turn into a villain arrived as Roberto Baggio had to score to keep Italy’s hopes alive. The forward took the long walk towards the goal as he stepped up to take the most important spot kick of his entire life. He took his run up and kicked the ball over the bar post and instantly broke the hearts of the Italian supporters all over the World.
Brazil lifted their fourth World Cup while Italy had to return heart-broken as the runners up.
