On December 5, 2001 there were no scheduled races that would go down in history. But there is a farewell to football Vincenzo ScifoBelgian midfielder who played for Inter and Turin in his career. “I announce my retirement from playing football. I suffer from arthrosis in my left hip, I can only play thanks to the infiltrations but the doctors advised me to stop. I’m risking too much, it’s not worth it. Too bad, without these ailments I can do it ‘I would have played my fifth World Cup in Japan. It would have been an amazing result, a fitting conclusion to a wonderful career.’
A few months later there will be the 2002 Japanese-Korean World Cup, where Scifo would be a starter. Mandatory conditional, with Belgium finishing second in their group, behind the hosts Japan. Then, in the round of 16, Brazil, impossible to overcome and then winner of the World Cup edition: 2-0 in the name of Ronaldo, like all that competition.
Scifo, however, had been a starter at the 1984 European Championship, against Yugoslavia, eighteen years earlier. Also in the group are France, who will win the tournament, and Denmark. Michel Platini considers him his heir, but a few days ago he took Belgian citizenship following Bearzot’s attempted robbery of his national team.