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Here are Tonino Cagnucci’s memories of that evening.
The day afterwards, a journalist wrote:
The last half an hour was an assault on a crumbling wall. Roma were extraordinary, brilliant, violent like a summer storm. They were good enough to draw tears of joy. The Granata used up every last ounce of energy. Only God can explain they managed to keep it at 5-2 and hang on to their Coppa Italia…
- Marco Ansaldo, La Stampa
Ansaldo was a Torino fan, not a Roma supporter. No Roma fan had the words to sum up what had happened – they’d left everything at the Olimpico. Only God can explain how Torino won that cup, but we cannot. Neither can we explain what drove us to fill the Olimpico to see Roma attempt the virtually impossible feat of turning round the 3-0 loss in the first leg.
We can’t explain what it was that drove us to turn the entire stadium red and yellow, to let off dozens of fireworks when the Giallorossi took to the field, to start believing we were making history when we took the lead. And we can’t explain why, when Torino striker Andrea Silenzi equalised not once but twice, our belief only grew.
Nobody will ever be able to explain why we believed the way we did, despite having a young lad – Patrizio Fimiani – in goal, after Roma’s first two goalkeepers Giovanni Cervone and Giuseppe Zinetti had been suspended in absurd circumstances after an incident in the tunnel following the semi-final with AC Milan.
It was a tough time for the club: Dino Viola had recently passed away, his successor Giuseppe Ciarrapico had become embroiled in legal problems and the club had just been taken over by Pietro Mezzaroma and Franco Sensi.
But that was all forgotten when Sinisa Mihajlovic scored a free kick to make it 5-2. Mihajlovic had joined from reigning European champions Red Star Belgrade promising a flood of goals, but in fact he managed just two all season and that was the second. Incidentally, his first came in an away match against Brescia, which saw Francesco Totti make his Roma debut.
Nobody will ever be able to explain Giuseppe Giannini’s tears after the post conspired to stop Roma making it 6-2. Giannini scored a hat-trick that evening, all from the penalty spot. His was an immense, complete performance – perhaps the best of his entire career.
Only God can explain how that cup ended up with Torino, and in a way we can accept that. Because that evening and the day afterwards, we rallied around Roma with a sense of belonging that not even a God could explain.
Imperium Partners
Centurion Partners
