Tacconi to attend Heysel mass

Juventus will hold a mass on Saturday in Turin 25 years after the Heysel stadium disaster. 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."Time has not healed the psychological wounds left on those who witnessed the tragedy.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.The oldest fatality was 58, the youngest, Andrea Casula, just 11."I would be a cretin if I were to forget what happened that night," Tacconi added. "One cannot forget it and I can't."It was dramatic and traumatic. You cannot die in a game of football."Those fans that died travelled many kilometres to watch their team in what should have been a special night, yet they lost their lives."I felt anger and there were times after that I considered retiring."Tacconi was 27 at the time and already established as one of the top goalkeepers in the world."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."Tacconi believes the game should have been called off."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."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."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."Did I feel as a winner that night? As a goalkeeper yes, but not as a man," he added.Tacconi does feel that lessons have been learnt since the Heysel disaster."I think in England it certainly changed things," said Tacconi. "It marked a turning point. Not to have barriers in stadiais important."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."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."

Source: Team_Talk