It was the winter of 1981 and Italy were preparing for a World Cup qualifier against Greece in Turin. Training was taken at Juventus' old practice field, the Campo Combi. Once the session was concluded and all his players had left, coach Enzo Bearzot stayed behind. He lit his pipe and went over to watch Juventus' reserves play. Among them was Paolo Rossi, a protege of Bearzot's, the revelation of his squad for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.
"I hadn't seen him for a while," Bearzot recalled. "He'd put on some weight, just like they told me he had. He had been out for a year and a half."
Rossi still had another six months to serve of the ban he had received for his implication in the Totonero scandal. He could only train or play games that were organised in-house without a federal referee. Denied real competition, it was difficult for him to get back in shape.
"At first sight his repertoire appeared intact," the coach explained, "but fatally Paolo's assassin-like bursts of pace seemed like they had been put through a slow-motion replay. I went to see him afterwards. He blushed and gave a hint of a smile. I wouldn't know which of the two of us was more embarrassed."
Rossi made his comeback three games from the end of the Serie A season. He scored away at Udinese but to many observers didn't justify a place in Italy's squad for the 1982 World Cup. Not when Roberto Pruzzo was in the form of his career.
As Pruzzo was top scorer in Serie A with 15 goals, the clamor for the Roma striker to be included was understandably great. So a huge judgement call awaited Bearzot. He could have taken Pruzzo and Rossi. But he chose not to. Instead he left Pruzzo at home and selected Rossi and the unflashy Franco Selvaggi. Why? Bearzot's reasoning was exemplary of his wisdom. He knew that the moment Rossi missed a chance, the calls for Pruzzo to start in his place would grow and threaten to unsettle his striker.
Taking Rossi not only infuriated Roma supporters, it was a risk, particularly in light of his injury history. Of the four menisci one is born with in one's knee, he had torn all but one. When Italy drew 0-0 with a formidable Poland side in their opening game then against Peru 1-1, Bearzot's choice looked like the wrong one. Rossi was substituted at half-time of that match. "Just as I was about to leave the dressing room," Bearzot recollected, "I saw Paolo subdued on the bench, one boot on, the other off. 'Get ready for the next game,' I said as I closed the door."
To the papers back home, Rossi was a bird with a broken wing. He couldn't fly. But Bearzot thought otherwise. Within Rossi, he had discerned a phoenix, one that would rise from the flames of Totonero. And when he did -- oh, how he would soar. The metamorphosis came at the now demolished Estadio Sarrià in Barcelona. Out of nowhere Rossi scored a hat trick. He made all of Brazil cry. Then came a brace in Italy's win over Poland in the semifinal. He also broke the deadlock in the final against West Germany, giving his side the lead with a stooping header at the Bernabeu.
A tournament that had begun in a shower of insults ended with Italy being "covered in honey." Rossi claimed the Golden Boot and lifted the glistening, 18-carat gold World Cup. His legend was written. Four years ago, Bearzot expressed his hope that Giuseppe Rossi would follow in Paolo's footsteps. "To everyone, our Rossi became Pablito after the World Cup in Spain," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "I hope Giuseppe comes to be known as Pepito even before the World Cup in South Africa."
Indeed, 2010 was supposed to be Rossi's 1978: a breakout tournament. Alas, he was cut after a pre-tournament training camp in Sestriere. On visiting Italy's Coverciano headquarters last week, Marcello Lippi said: "I spoke with Giuseppe and told him the only decision I regret is not taking him to the World Cup in South Africa."
Will Cesare Prandelli be made to feel the same after neglecting to include Rossi in his final 23 for Brazil? Some had dreamed that 2014 would be for Giuseppe what 1982 had been for Paolo. Just like his namesake, his return after a prolonged period on the sidelines came with only three league games of the season remaining; the difference, of course, being that Pepito's layoff had been caused by the latest serious knee injury of his career -- others had ruled him out of Euro 2012 -- while Pablito's was down to a betting scandal.
Giuseppe scored twice in those three games too. Despite missing four months of the season, he ended it on 16 Serie A goals with a ratio of one every 95.2 minutes. The sense was that, in the end, Prandelli would do a Bearzot and put his faith in Rossi. The script was written. So why didn't he follow it?
Make no mistake, this is likely to have been the toughest decision Prandelli has ever had to make. Since his first day in the job four years ago, his intention has always been for Rossi to play alongside Mario Balotelli. Circumstances have intervened to prevent that from happening more than twice.
Prandelli knows how hard Rossi has worked to get himself fit again and to put himself in contention for a place. He is aware of the time, the effort, the sacrifice, and of what it means to him. But Prandelli has never hidden the fact that his No. 1 selection criteria was physical fitness. If you aren't approximating 100 percent, if you don't have 90 minutes in your legs, then you won't make it. Rossi hasn't played an entire match since mid-December. In Saturday's warm-up game against the Republic of Ireland, much was made of how he didn't muster a single shot on goal.
Some also had the impression, particularly after Riccardo Montolivo's injury, that he was pulling out of tackles to protect himself, a suggestion that brought a reaction on Twitter. He claimed, with total justification, that it was laughable. Issue was also taken with the implication that he is unfit. "Ask anyone for my test results from during the week and the game," he wrote. "You will be surprised." I'm inclined to agree here with Rossi. At least to an extent.
While his physical condition is still the most probable cause of his exclusion, Montolivo's leg break is also likely to have been a major factor. As the only player capable of interpreting the unorthodox No. 10 role in one of Prandelli's default systems, the 4-3-1-2 with a rotating midfield square, his loss essentially put that formation out of use. Wishing to have other systems at his disposal in addition to the Juventus 3-5-2, Prandelli appears to have gone about equipping himself with the necessary weapons for a 4-3-3.
In order to play that, he needed attacking width. Alessio Cerci was always going to be on the plane to Brazil, because he can play in positions other than wide right: notably just off or alongside a central striker as he has done for Torino this season. Antonio Candreva can operate on that flank too. But if 4-3-3 really were to be an operational alternative on 4-3-3 for Prandelli, he would need someone capable of playing wide left. Antonio Cassano can do it in addition to playing as a second striker and even a false nine. But more than one option was required on that side. Enter Lorenzo Insigne.
The Napoli trickster had been one of the players tipped to miss out. However, he now looks to have been the biggest benefactor of Montolivo's misfortune. Look at it this way: Prandelli now has two players for wide left (Insigne and Cassano), two for centre-forward (Mario Balotelli and Ciro Immobile) and two for wide right (Cerci and Candreva).
It's undoubtedly a shame for Rossi, not least because by the time the next World Cup comes around, he'll be 31. Instead of emulating Paolo Rossi, his story now echoes that of Roberto Baggio in 2002 who, despite making a miraculous 77-day comeback from a serious knee injury to be ready in time for the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, found himself harshly omitted by Giovanni Trapattoni, who opted not to book him a ticket on the plane. Rossi showed the same sacrifice as Baggio. Unfortunately he has suffered the same end. You feel for him. You really do.