On This Day at the World Cup – June 14: Rome Salutes the Prince

Before the King of Rome, came the Prince. Before Francesco Totti, there was Giuseppe Giannini. The Roma No 10 was the toast of the Eternal City when he scored the winner against the USA on this day 36 years ago in Italy’s second group game of the 1990 World Cup.

Buoyed by a late, if uninspiring, 1-0 victory in their opening fixture against Austria, the Azzurri secured their place in the last 16 on a hot summer night at the Stadio Olimpico.

While the hosts had waited 78 minutes for Salvatore Schillaci to break the deadlock in their first game, it took Giannini just 11 to fire them in front against the USA, as he burst into the box following a clever dummy by Gianluca Vialli before slamming the ball past Tony Meola.

It was a special moment for Rome born-and-bred Giannini, who spent 15 seasons with Roma and was the their biggest icon before the emergence of a certain young prospect, who would go on to be the club’s all-time record goalscorer and play a record 786 games for them.

Like Totti, Giannini, who later played for Napoli and Lecce, seemed to effortlessly glide across the pitch, so much so he earned the nickname Il Principe – The Prince – for his elegance and poise with the ball at his feet.

Giannini played every game as Italy finished third at Italia 90 in what was his only World Cup. The Stadio Olimpico still adores him and you can get a feel of the love for Il Principe at every Roma home game.