A quarter of a century has passed but Chris Waddle remembers it like it was yesterday. It was the night of 4 July 1990, in Turin, the night Waddle’s wayward penalty-kick sealed England’s fate in their World Cup semi-final shoot-out against West Germany.

Looking back now he recalls: “I was going to put it to the goalie’s left and then when Stuart [Pearce] missed I just thought ‘Hit it’. I thought, ‘If I hit it hard enough, he’s not going to save it.’ Unfortunately it’s the old saying in football – I did catch it too well.” The ball flew over and England’s finest campaign on foreign soil was at an end.

The indelible image of the night for 26.2 million spellbound viewers back home was of a tearful Paul Gascoigne after the extra-time booking which meant he would have missed the final had England progressed. “We all kept shouting, ‘Keep your head, we need you’,” Waddle, now 54, tells The Independent, yet it was tears all round by the end. “There were loads of tears. Everybody was crying because we’d been on a great journey and didn’t want it to end.”

It was a World Cup where England’s football suddenly blossomed. “We changed to three at the back against Belgium [in the last 16] and all of a sudden looked like a team,” he continues. “We were looking after the ball and creating chances by passing the ball through and slowing the game down when we needed to.” After “a bit of luck” against Cameroon, they delivered their “best performance” against the eventual winners at the Stadio Delle Alpi. “It was a great game to play in and could have gone either way,” Waddle adds. “We thought whoever won it would win the cup.”

England return after failed World Cup campaign Show all 8 1 /8 England return after failed World Cup campaign England return after failed World Cup campaign Touch down England's team plane touches down in Manchester, meaning the Three Lions' World Cup campaign lasted all of 25 days between leaving the UK and arriving back upon these shores Getty Images England return after failed World Cup campaign Baggage handling Goalkeeper Joe Hart walks off the plane having let in four goals in the two games against Italy and Uruguay Getty Images England return after failed World Cup campaign Captain-not-so-fantastic Steven Gerrard led England on their ill-fated World Cup campaign, but how long will the Liverpool great remain skipper of the Three Lions? Getty Images England return after failed World Cup campaign Mind the drop, Wayne A member of the flight crew keeps a close eye on Wayne Rooney as he makes his way down the stairs. Getty Images England return after failed World Cup campaign Silver lining The striker finally ended his World Cup goal drought against Uruguay, but that wasn't enough to save them Getty Images England return after failed World Cup campaign Walk of shame Arriving in Manchester, Rooney could walk home if he wished, but he won't have expected to be home from Brazil so soon Getty Images England return after failed World Cup campaign Did you remember your washing? Raheem Sterling holds up a bag that looks like he's brought his dirty laundry back from Brazil Getty Images England return after failed World Cup campaign Feeling Small Defender Chris Smalling only got a single run-out against Costa Rica in Brazil, although that represented a third of England's entire playing time at the World Cup Getty Images

In his autobiography, Gascoigne recalled playing tennis the night before with an American tourist. The Geordie man-child came of age as an international footballer in Italy – “Gascoigne has the world at his feet” was this newspaper’s back-page headline two days later – and Waddle remembers: “He was off the cuff. Before the semi, Bobby Robson said, ‘When you lose the ball, ideally you want Gazza to pick [Lothar] Matthäus up’ and Gazza went, ‘who’s he?’ I’d be sitting in my room watching a game and he’d come and in and say, ‘Oh not the football on again’.”

Waddle himself arrived in Turin with a new haircut, having had his famous mullet shorn. “The Sun offered us 10 grand and I gave it to Newcastle General Hospital cancer unit. I didn’t want to cut it because I was a bit superstitious.” Minus the mullet, his luck was out. In the first half, the then Marseille player had a brilliant 45-yard shot tipped on to the crossbar. The referee had already blown for a foul but there was no such consolation when he struck a post in extra time. “It goes across the goal and I am thinking it’s going into the bottom corner but it hits the post. Nine times out of 10, it would go in. It comes back out and David Platt and Gary Lineker are running in and miss it. That’s the luck you need.”

Paul Gascoigne endures a tearful farewell to Italia ’90 (Getty)

Instead, England – who had equalised Andreas Brehme’s deflected free-kick through Lineker in the 80th minute– suffered penalty heartache. Looking back, Waddle wishes manager Robson had replaced Peter Shilton with Dave Beasant for the shoot-out, as Louis van Gaal did with Tim Krul last summer. “I always think what a brave decision it would have been to bring Dave Beasant on. He was [considered] an expert at it. A lot of people thought that.”

The 40-year-old Shilton got nowhere near Germany’s kicks while Pearce, foiled by Bodo Illgner, and Waddle failed with theirs. “I am glad two of us missed because I would have hated for it to just be on my shoulders or Stuart’s shoulders,” he continues. “Matthäus said to me afterwards, ‘You played well, it’s a horrible way to lose’.”

England returned to the Stadio Delle Alpi – since demolished and replaced by the Juventus Stadium – in 2000 for a 1-0 friendly loss that brought David Beckham’s first game as captain. But to any England fan of a certain vintage, Turin will forever be synonymous with Italia ’90 and the national team’s finest campaign on the world stage since 1966. “It is a lot harder outside your country,” Waddle notes. “People might say we didn’t win it but we got to the semis on foreign soil and we’ll see if anybody beats that.”

Italy v England: memorable encounters

England and Italy have met 25 times before, with several matches catching the eye...

England 1-2 Italy, Manaus, 2014

England’s World Cup campaign began with defeat. Claudio Marchisio’s strike was levelled just two minutes later by Daniel Sturridge, but Mario Balotelli’s header ensured Italy prevailed.

Italy 0-0 England (Italy won 4-2 on pens) Kiev, 2012

A superior Italy outfit were forced to penalties by Roy Hodgson’s resilient side in their Euro 2012 quarter-final, but England suffered familiar woe, losing their sixth shoot-out from seven attempts.

Italy 1-0 England, Turin, 2000

Peter Taylor’s only game as England caretaker manager saw him hand David Beckham the captaincy for first time. Friendly settled by Gennaro Gattuso’s long-range strike.

England 2-0 Italy, Nantes, 1997