The early to mid 1990s were something of a wild era in football history. The sport was trying to crack the lucrative American market via the ‘94 World Cup, but American television networks were terrified of a sport with 45 minutes of uninterrupted play and absolutely zero commercial breaks.
FIFA were also panicking after Italia '90, which remains one of the lowest-scoring, most defensively cynical World Cups in history, averaging a measly 2.21 goals per game and featuring a dreadful, foul-heavy final.