The past and present of goalkeeping, symbol of two generations. Pagliuca remembers the decade:'Those blasted penalty kicks at the World Cup”. Bologna's goalkeeper remembers the triumps and disappointmentes, from the Samp championship to the two World Cups with the national team.

Gazzetta dello Sport, Andrea Tosi, December 30, 1999.

CASTELDEBOLE - The numbers give Gianluca Pagliuca third place on the podium of great Serie A goalkeepers of the nineties. Seba Rossi (5 championships) and Angelo Peruzzi (3 championships) are ahead of him, but looking at the rest it is hard to find a goalkeeper whose saves and misses characterize the decade better than Pagliuca's. Pagliuca has shared the triumps and the bitter losses with 4 teams, standing in goal for the Samp of the championship win (1991), after having won the Cup Winners Cup with them (9 May 1990); starting for the national team in two World Cups (1994 and 1998); for Inter, winning the UEFA Cup (1998) and lately for Bologna, returning home after 13 seasons of loyal service in Genoa and Milan. He is just starting a three-year term with Bologna. Here is a review of the last decade, as told by the man himself.
SAMP GOLD -'At the end of the eighties we won two Italian Cups, but no one thought us mature enough for the big conquest. Then the Cupwinners Cup came, and that final at Goteborg, cursed at first but then turning to magic. We had dominated Anderlecht in every way during regulation time, but we did not score. In overtime the joke could have been on us, but instead Vialli scored a champion's double. That success, en route to which we eliminated the Borussia of Andy Moeller, the Monaco of Weah and Ramon Diaz, paved the way to next year's championship win. We were a solid and harmonious group, but still we started as an outsider. We gained confidence beating Milan at the San Siro (0-1) and continuing at Napoli, beating the previous year's champions on their home field (1-4). But the turning point came during a team dinner that turned into a confessional. We were playing badly, just coming out of a loss at Lecce and an ugly home draw against Lazio, and that night we told all kinds of things to each other. Then there was a burst of victories, right until the decisive win, again in Milan, 0-2 against Inter, which was three points behind us. This was four rounds before the end, and, by stopping a penalty kick by Matthaeus, I put my mark on the championship. This was the most decisive save of my career: Lothar shot so hard that the ball broke the chain on my neck. My masterpiece in an extraordinary line of achievement: I have never let in a goal in a direct encounter in an away match. In 1991 we went from the great joy to the great disappointment of the Champions Cup final lost to Barcelona on a free kick by Ronald Koeman in overtime.”
NATIONAL TEAM SILVER -'I have started in goal in two World Cups, which were a fantastic experience, even if they did end with those blasted penalty kicks against Brazil and France. In the US, we got to the final without stopping to think about it, I remember in the quarterfinals against Spain I made a great save, preserving the result. Then in France, the same ending. Both times I was on cloud nine and then fell. Stopping a penalty kick, I could have become a hero, but it was not written so. The national team also gave me the most bitter disappointment of all, I'm referring to the exclusion from Zoff's team, without even the briefest phonecall. I think that at this level playing in three World Cups in a row (in 1990 I was the third goalkeeper) is something very few people could have done, only Zoff had played in four. Maybe the coach left me out so that I would not reach his record...”
INTER BRONZE -'This is the biggest stone to carry, next to the knockouts from Barcelona and Brazil: five seasons with Inter without a championship. I have given so much, getting little in return, and even last year, which was absolutely disgraceful, I was doing well, having played the best first round in my career. In the second round we were so destroyed that not even Jesus Christ in goal could have saved us. The joy of winning the UEFA cup at Lazio's expense will always remain, as will the anger at Juve's championship of two years ago, which could have been ours. Leaving Milan after what has happened was painful, but I don't have anything to reproach myself for.”
BOLOGNA STEEL -'At Bologna, I don't have titles to reclaim, but hopes and goals to pursue. We must fight for a place in the UEFA cup, even if we have to play the Intertoto Cup. We are used to playing often, the will is not lacking. And for the future, I would like to finish my term here in 2002 at least with an Italian Cup. It would be a beautiful achievement for the city and the club. The next great save? Maybe with Cagliari, to start the new millennium right.”

Translated by Julia Tarasova.