All of the ones that I have watched have been awesome in my opinion, from 1994 to 2006.
2006 was my favourite, and not only because Italy won it. It was also enjoyable to watch, and there were many similarities to 1982. For example, the scandal surrounding the Italy team, was the same of that in 1982, and also when Jens Lehmann took out Simone Perrotta with some sort of a clothesline, it was similar to that of Harold Schumacher taking out Battiston back in the semi-finals then. There was also the fact that there were four European teams in the semi-finals, similar to that of 1982, where instead of Portugal, it was Poland.
The fact that we beat Germany with two goals in the last two minutes, knowing that we couldn't face them at penalties was also really nerv-wrecking and excitable at the same time. Also, the fact that we beat France on penalties, after being defeated by then in both World Cup 1998 and Euro 2000, both times when victory was stolen from beneath us, made it more enjoyable to beat them in the final. I did feel really sorry for Zidane though when he was sent off, as I am a Juventino through and through, and he was a legend for us.
The final was the most nervous I have ever been, and especially the penalty shoot-out, because Italy are joint with England for having the worst World Cup penalty shoot-out record, with 3 losses, coming in 1990, 1994 and 1998.
The newcomers also played a big part in this World Cup. I feel that for a good World Cup, there needs to be some life in the party, and this was extremely evident in 2002, when Ireland and the Koreans fans played a big part in the atmosphere. Last year however, Trinidad & Tobago, were probably the most vibrant fans at the World Cup, alongside countries such as Argentina and Germany, who played host extremely well.
The newcomers Ghana were also extremely impressive, and showed what newcomers can infact do, on the main stage at the first time of asking. In my opinion, they dominated the first half against Brazil, however, with Michael Essien being banned, and with only Stephan Appiah as the real leader in the side, they seemed awstruck and crashed out. The whole scandal surrounding Togo was also interesting, especially seeing the manager quit and return in the matter of a week, which is something I have never heard of for a World Cup.
There was also the decline of the Brazilians, and the envitable defeat of the English to Portugal. The Dutch also blew it, and Spain continued to 'flatter to deceive'. Thierry Henry was not hitting the heights of the season just gone, and was maybe still suffering from Arsenal's loss in the European Cup final, and Ronaldinho was being upstaged by Kaka. Nobody seemed to want to win the Golden Boot, however, Miroslave Klose won it with four of the goals coming in the group stage. Ronaldo got his tally up to 15 goals, and Van Nistelrooy was rejected by his boyhood hero, in place of Dirk Kuyt, who could not hit a barndoor in the match against Portugal. There was however, no rising superstar, like we are used to seeing, going back to Pele in 1958, Maradona in 1982, Bergkamp in 1994, and Henry in 1998. We saw glimpses from Messi and Tevez, however, they we forced out of the team by Saviola and Maxi Rodriguez.
The round it off, the reason why last years World Cup was so great was because of the mixed emotions that I was feeling throughout the whole month. At the beginning there was a sense with Italians that we were going to blow it again, like in 2002, and with a hard group facing us in the form of the USA, Ghana and the Czech Republic, we knew it was going to be difficult. After the draw to the USA, there was a feeling that we were going to crash out again, and after Nesta went off injured against the Czechs, I thought we were in deep trouble.
However, the rise of Materrazzi, which was unexpected, lead to us finishing the group as winners. This is when I and many Italians, including the squad began to realise that we had the easiest route to the semi-finals, only having to beat Australia, and the winners of Switzerland and Ukraine. After we dubiously beat the Aussies, and tore apart the Ukraine, the sense of nervousness again crept back into me. After all, we had to beat the Germans on their own patch, in the Dortmund stadium which they have never lost on, knowing that we couldn't let the match go to penalties, after what we had seen with the Argies.
After defeating Germany, this is when I really started to hit the fags hard with anxiousness, and alot of that went to the BBC for hyping up the final so well. I don't know if any of you remember the package, when Lineker said that good World Cups need villans, match winners, and ultimately heroes. They then showed Zinedine Zidane, with 'Zizou' chanting in the background. They then showed Fabio Grosso after his goal against Germany, when he mimicked Marco Tardelli's celebration from 1982 against the Germans. There was also the fear that the French would beat us again, as they always seem to do, and especially after Zidane's penalty, which I still feel was the wrong decision, I had doubts that we would win.
But we did, and we showed the world that in the face of adversity, the Italians always stand up and be counted for. We proved that again this year when Milan won the European Cup, amidst all the hype about their being three English teams in the semi-final. We are now the first country since West Germany in 1974 to house both the World Cup and the European Cup in the same year.
The next day however, it all came crashing down to and end, when Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio were relegated, with Juventus going with a -30 point deduction, only reduced on appeal.
That was a bit of a rant / read, but I had a lot to say.