July 9, 1994 – Italy 2:1 Spain, WC quarterfinals at Foxboro Stadium (Att.: 53,400).

Roberto Baggio left it late, but not as late as his 89^th-minute goal in Italy’s 2-1 extra time win over Nigeria at Foxboro Stadium on July 5, 1994. This time, Baggio scored in the 88^th minute as Italy advanced to a World Cup semifinal date with Bulgaria.

Baggio’s dramatic finish broke the deadlock after Dino Baggio (26^th minute) opened the scoring and Spain’s Jose Luis Caminero (59^th) equalized. Giuseppe Signori, who replaced Antonio Conte after halftime, set up the deciding goal, laying off for Baggio, who rounded goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta and blasted in the shot. According to my story in The Boston Globe, after Baggio’s goal: “Several Spanish players collapsed in disappointment. But Spain remained the fresher team, having had six days of rest to Italy’s three.”

The Furia Roja had been on the verge of taking the lead, as Julio Salinas went in alone of Gianluca Pagliuca in the 83^rd minute, then Pagliuca tipped a Fernando Hierro drive over the bar, and Alessandro Costacurta cleared a header by Miguel Angel Nadal (Rafael Nadal’s uncle) off the line on the resulting corner.

“I am not surprised when [Baggio] does positive things,” Pagliuca said. “Only when he does negative things.”

In “It’s a rematch (sort of) between Italy and Spain,” my Globe story noted several players from the Champions Cup final (Milan blanked Barcelona, 4-0, in Athens) would be involved in this contest. Once again, the Italians got the better of the Spaniards (Basques, Catalans, Galicians, Madrileños, etc.), but barely.

I recall Hungarian referee Sandor Puhl adding at least three minutes of injury time, during which a Mauro Tassotti elbow broke Luis Enrique’s nose. Puhl did not whistle a foul, nor did his assistants notice one, but nearly everyone soon realized Enrique was bleeding. While Puhl allowed Enrique to be treated, I recall trying to explain to Bob Ryan the concept of injury time being compounded by more injury time.

On July 13, 1994, FIFA issued Tassotti with an eight-game suspension, the first time the organization had used post-match video evidence to issue a punishment in the World Cup. According to the International Herald Tribune’s Rob Hughes, the precedent opened the way for the use of instant replay in soccer, noting “Yet new technology is neither foolproof or quick, or simple.”

Also, 54,605 attendance was announced at the match, apparently later revised to a lower figure.

TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY