Two key figures from the Italia ‘90 World Cup celebrate their birthdays today, Giuseppe Giannini and Riccardo Ferri.

Giuseppe Giannini was born on 20 August 1964 in Rome. A product of the Roma youth set-up, ‘Il Principe’, as he was nicknamed by teammate Odoacre Chierico, first represented the Giallorossi in 1982. A classic regista who played in front of the defence, he also had a great goalscoring touch as was shown in the 1987/88 season when his eleven goals saw him finish third in the scoring charts. Named captain of the club from the capital, he made a total of 318 appearances for Roma, scoring 49 goals. In his 15 years at the club, Roma won the Coppa Italia three times and made the final of the 1990/91 UEFA Cup, losing to Riccardo Ferri’s Inter. He was a key player for Azeglio Vicini’s Under-21 side that finished as European Championship runners-up in 1986 after losing the second leg of the final to Spain. Despite that, Giannini kept going and was called up to the senior side after Vicini was appointed as Head Coach. He featured at the 1988 European Championship in West Germany that saw Italy go out in the semi-finals to the Soviet Union. At the 1990 World Cup, only a penalty shootout with Argentina prevented the Azzurri from making the final in Rome. On 12 October 1991, he made his 47th and final appearance for Italy in a EURO ’92 qualifier against the USSR, having scored six goals over the course of his international career.

Born in Crema on 20 August 1963, Riccardo Ferri started out in the Inter academy. At 18, he made his Serie A debut for the Nerazzurri and would go on to spend 13 seasons at the club. He was part of the side that won the record-breaking Scudetto of 1988/89. He also won the Italian Super Cup once and the UEFA Cup twice in the 1990/91 and 1993/94 seasons. After making 418 Inter appearances and scoring eight goals, he moved to Sampdoria and retired as a player after two seasons there. Ferri was part of the Italy Under-21 side that finished as runners-up under Azeglio Vicini and the 1986 European Championship, losing to Spain in the final. It was Vicini who gave him his senior call-up, and Ferri played at both the 1988 European Championship and 1990 World Cup where the Azzurri finished third. After making 45 international appearances, his final match came on 6 January 1992 in the third match of the USA Cup against the hosts the United States.