Buzzin Football

One Night In Turin - 1990 World Cup - DVD

As England prepare for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, I can still remember the 1990 World Cup as if it was yesterday. It started with holders Argentina’s shock defeat to Cameroon and, for England, ended in Turin with Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne’s tears.

One Night In Turin is based on the football book, All Played Out by Pete Davies and tells the story of England’s 1990 World Cup.

Narrated by Gary Oldman One Night in Turin documents how the media slated Bobby Robson and the England team before they left Italy and how they forced Bobby Robson out of his job as England coach.

The campaign started with a very scrappy draw against Jack Charlton’s Ireland side.  The ball got toe-punted around and headless chickens were either tackled or fouled in a game worth forgetting.  But then England, and more the point Gazza began to play exciting, attacking football.

Over the course of six weeks, led by the reinvigorated Bobby Robson and the midfield wizardry of Paul Gascoigne, this England team even overcome a very good Holland team, to reach a semi-final in Turin – the home of Juventus, and the place in Europe that has the most reason to hate the English after the Heysel disaster of 1985 – where they pitched against their old enemy, Germany.

One Night in Turin is constructed from unseen archive footage and specially shot imagery by Sundance award-winning cinematographer Lol Crawley. Set to a soundtrack includes the Stone Roses, The Charlatans, Happy Mondays and Pavarotti.

Following another exit on penalties courtesy of misses by Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle, Germany went onto play Argentina in the most boring, uneventful World Cup final ever; and Bobby Robson was replaced by a turnip.  Robson managed to galvanize a strong England team and reach the semi-final of a major competition, something no other manager has achieved before or after on foreign soil. I still believe Bobby Robson was the best England, and Gazza the most natural gifted player England has ever produced; and One Night in Turin captures the dreams, the pain and the times evoked by the 1990 World Cup finals, perfectly.