Mick Channon still grimaces at the “torture” of a ruinous World Cup defeat in Rome – and 47 years later, England have yet to beat Italy away when it really matters.
Don't hang your hat on Gareth Southgate enjoying la dolce vita in Naples on Thursday night - because the Three Lions' record in competitive meetings with the Azurri on Italian soil is the tale of a spartan army.
Confused by manager Don Revie's baffling team selection and outplayed on a sultry November afternoon, England's 2-0 defeat in Rome's Olympic Stadium ultimately cost them a place at the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina. It was the beginning of the end for Revie, who fled to the Arabian desert the following summer – and Channon's last chance of playing at the World Cup had disappeared, too.
Now 74, and trainer of more than 2,500 winners on the flat in horse racing, the Southampton legend expects Southgate will find the going heavy in Italy again. He warned: “Trying to beat the Italians in their own back yard was like taking on Brazil or Argentina – they gave you nothing then, and they don't give away much now.
“That game in 1976 was torture. They murdered us, and we never got over it. Six months earlier I had been lucky enough to captain England and score twice against Italy in New York when we beat them 3-2 in the US Bicentennial Cup (from 2-0 down), but they always turned up when it mattered.
“That afternoon in Rome was a complete write-off from start to finish. It was a baking hot day for the time of year and the pitch was so hard it was like a road. In those days, when there was no VAR and you could tackle opponents from behind, they man-marked us so tight you would have found more room pinned up against a wall. They weren't afraid to get stuck in and we all got plenty.
“I was marked by the captain, (Giacinto) Facchetti, and although it was his last game for Italy, he was still ruthless. He followed me everywhere. As we came off at half-time I said to him, 'I'm going for a p*** now – I suppose you're coming, too?' But they were a good side and we couldn't get the ball off them. At 1-0 down, we were hanging on far more than we ever threatened to equalise, and (Roberto) Bettega's diving header put us out of our misery.”
Revie had made six changes from the previous game, an unconvincing 2-1 win against Finland at Wembley, and they played like strangers.
Channon admitted: “We never turned up and they ran rings round us, so we would have been up against it no matter what team Don put out. But he changed a lot of things and none of them really worked. I played 46 games and scored 21 goals for my country, but that wasn't one of my favourite games. It was a bad England performance and I'm sorry to say I was involved.
“Stan Bowles only won a handful of England caps and one of them was in that game. Fantastic player, Stan, but it was a big call to throw him in for a World Cup qualifier against Italy in Rome, just about the toughest gig of all around that time. In the end it cost us because we didn't qualify for the World Cup in Argentina on goal difference and I never got to play in one.
“The 1970 finals in Mexico came round wo or three years too early for me, then we missed out in 1974 because of that incredible game against Poland, where we played well enough to win 99 times out of 100 but that night was the one in a hundred.”
England have won only eight of their 30 international meetings with Italy, with the Euro 2020 final penalty shoot-out and Mario Balotelli's winner at the World Cup in Brazil nine years ago still prominent and poignant in the memory.
Southgate did play in the 0-0 draw in Rome which took Glenn Hoddle's side to the 1998 World Cup in France, leaving Italy to negotiate a play-off with Russia.
But Channon fears another Italian job for England will be as tough as Michael Caine's ill-starred heist in the famous film.
