WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : NOW COMPARE THAT TO THE MOOD IN ITALY : Spotlight

Silence reigned over Italian cities Tuesday night. Police reinforcements waiting for what was expected to be a rowdy night of hooting cars, flag-waving fans and crowds of generally jubilant Italians celebrating a second soccer victory, were hanging around traffic barriers on empty streets with nothing to do after the 1-1 tie with Mexico.

Television sports show defenders of the team’s poor performance unconvincingly noted the pressures of the Italian soccer season, the hot, damp weather, the debate over Roberto Baggio in the last few days, the various injuries of the Italian players. The realists, such as former national team Coach Azeglio Vicini, said: “The truth is that we have a technically valid group; they just can’t seem to show their worth on the field.”

“Forward without glory” was the main headline of the Milan daily Corriere della Sera. The front page editorial was headlined “The Missing Man,” in clear reference to Baggio. “All the times he had the chance of scoring a goal, he gave out tired little kicks, he couldn’t even take advantage of the pastry hands of Campos, the fluorescent (Mexican) goalkeeper. No burst of genius, no successful dribbling, no outstanding shots. Nothing. What a disappointment.”

“Saved by Russia” said the Rome daily La Repubblica, and more heavy criticism of Baggio’s performance: “The little prince picked out as one of the great protagonists of the World Cup stayed in the little mode: little game, little heart . . . at this point, waiting for the real Baggio is as trying as waiting for Godot.”