Source: Team_Talk
Tacconi to attend Heysel mass
Juventus will hold a mass on Saturday in Turin 25 years after the Heysel stadium disaster.[LNB] Stefano Tacconi, a former Italy international and Juve's goalkeeper at the time of the tragedy, said: "It has been done every year but it will be the first time I attend this mass."[LNB]Time has not healed the psychological wounds left on those who witnessed the tragedy.[LNB]Thirty nine people, 32 of them Juventus fans, lost their lives when a wall collapsed due to rioting from Liverpool supporters prior to the European Cup final in Brussels in 1985.[LNB]The oldest fatality was 58, the youngest, Andrea Casula, just 11.[LNB]"I would be a cretin if I were to forget what happened that night," Tacconi added. "One cannot forget it and I can't.[LNB]"It was dramatic and traumatic. You cannot die in a game of football.[LNB]"Those fans that died travelled many kilometres to watch their team in what should have been a special night, yet they lost their lives.[LNB]"I felt anger and there were times after that I considered retiring."[LNB]Tacconi was 27 at the time and already established as one of the top goalkeepers in the world.[LNB]"That final was the best match of my career and yet I cannot even speak about it," he said. "Everything became secondary with respect to what happened."[LNB]Tacconi believes the game should have been called off.[LNB]"The fact is we should not have played that game," he said. "I always said it and I maintain it. We knew about the tragedy but we were forced to play because it could have created more fans' unrest.[LNB]"We knew there were so many dead in sector Z. It was the fans that went down to the changing rooms to get treatment that told us."[LNB]Juve won that game 1-0 thanks to Michel Platini's penalty, but despite claiming his first and last top European title, it was of little comfort for Tacconi.[LNB]"Did I feel as a winner that night? As a goalkeeper yes, but not as a man," he added.[LNB]Tacconi does feel that lessons have been learnt since the Heysel disaster.[LNB]"I think in England it certainly changed things," said Tacconi. "It marked a turning point. Not to have barriers in stadia[LNB]is important.[LNB]"But I don't think we have learned much from it in Italy. Fans still go to stadia and hit each other and look for violence.[LNB]"What one tries to create in sport it is tarnished by a few idiots. The fact is that laws in Italy have to be tougher so that those who perpetrate violence end up in prison."
