Would have to think quite a bit about a long version, and may be hard to write down as this was a pretty instinctive reaction to what pipnasty wrote, but it felt extremely right!
I think mixed up in there is concepts like neolib was nothing like as entrenched as it is now, but there was a slaying of beauty here that coincides with Thatcher, Reagan, et al getting their claws into everything around this time that makes it very tempting to draw a connection and to see a symbolism in the loss which had far reaching consequences. And that Brazil team was like the last one I can recall which seemed to embody something so far beyond 'they were playing football' (sic) (high risk of 'pseuds corner')
Tbh, Italy isn't so much specifically a metaphor, IMO. It's far more about what lost rather than what won. Could've just as well been West Germany/Argentina/etc so much as the Italians.... although not sure how I would see it if that France team had been the ones to ruin everything
Thanks That's pretty much how I see it now, and hadn't quite realised that before your post!