Some footballs need a name to be recognised.
Others don't.
For those of us who began watching football with real attention in the late eighties and early nineties, the sight of three lion heads inside each of those twenty black triads is enough to know exactly what we're looking at.
Italia 90.
Schillaci. Matthäus. Maradona. Baggio… Summer nights in front of the television. And a black-and-white football that still carried something of the Tango design, but already had an identity all its own.
But to limit its story to Italia 90 would be to tell only the beginning.
In the years that followed, it appeared at the Copa América, the first Women's World Cup in 1991, Euro 1992 in Sweden and the Barcelona 92 Olympic Games. It was manufactured in different countries (France, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, etc.) and appeared with different printed designs and colours (Etrusco Primo, Clasico, etc.), even lending its name to boots and accessories.
More than three decades later, it is precisely those differences that make the Etrusco Unico much more interesting to talk about than it might first seem.
Because there isn't just one story behind the Etrusco.
There are many.
A football designed for Italia 90
When adidas introduced the Etrusco Unico in 1990, it did not completely break with the past.
Its design was still familiar to anyone who had grown up watching footballs from the Tango family. The twenty black triads still defined the appearance of its 32 panels, while its synthetic material represented an improvement over its predecessor (the Azteca from Mexico 1986).
But something new had appeared inside them.
Three lion heads.
The name and decoration were inspired by Etruscan culture, one of the civilisations that inhabited the Italian peninsula before Rome. The lions were surrounded by ornamental patterns of flowing lines that transformed the Tango's geometry without losing it.
Detail of the three lions inspired by Etruscan art, incorporated into the adidas Etrusco Unico design.
The result was relatively simple.
Black. White. No need for large areas of colour.
And yet, instantly recognisable.
Those small figures were enough to link the football forever with Italia 90.
Sometimes great designs work precisely like that: they don't need to abandon everything that came before to find an identity of their own.
A Tango on the outside, a step forward on the inside
The Etrusco Unico retained the classic construction of 32 hand-stitched panels: 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons.
But it also introduced technical innovations.
One of the most important was in a place nobody could see.
adidas added an inner layer of black polyurethane foam designed to improve water resistance and the ball's response, a feature the brand itself identifies as a first for a World Cup football.
Technically, it was already moving towards another generation of footballs.
And perhaps that is part of its character: classic enough to remind us of its origins, yet different enough to hint at what was to come.
Much more than Italia 90
If we asked any football fan which tournament they associate with the Etrusco Unico, the answer would probably be obvious.
Italia 1990.
Understandably so.
It was created for that World Cup, and its image became inseparable from the tournament.
But its international journey went much further.
In just three years, it appeared at some of the biggest events in early-nineties football:
Italia 1990 · Copa América 1991 · Women's World Cup 1991 · Euro 1992 · Barcelona 1992.
And each of those tournaments added another chapter to its story.
From Italy to Chile
In 1991, the Etrusco travelled to South America for the Copa América in Chile.
Argentina went on to win the tournament, claiming their first continental title in more than three decades.
The football designed around Italy's identity was already beginning to move beyond the World Cup and become something broader: a family of products that could accompany entirely different competitions.
But another stage was still waiting for it that same year.
And it is probably one of the least remembered chapters of its history.
China 1991: the Etrusco was there for the first Women's World Cup too
In November 1991, China hosted the first FIFA Women's World Cup.
Twelve national teams took part in that inaugural tournament.
And the football was the Etrusco Unico.
I find that detail particularly interesting because it shows just how much the ball's wider story has been overshadowed by Italia 90.
When we think of this football, we almost automatically go back to the men's World Cup.
Yet the same design also belongs to the very beginning of Women's World Cup history.
The United States won that first edition.
The Etrusco was there.
And a year later it would return at two major European sporting events.
Sweden and Barcelona: 1992, the Etrusco's last big year
In 1992, the football was used at the European Championship in Sweden.
That tournament would produce one of European football's most unexpected stories: Denmark, who had not originally qualified, ended up as champions.
But for collectors, there is another particularly interesting detail.
The examples associated with Euro 92 have features specific to that competition (with a different leather from the 1990 Etrusco Unico, while the German brand extended its guarantee on stitching and materials to two years).
Detail of the inscriptions on the Etrusco Unico referring to the 1990 World Cup in Italy and the 1992 European Championship in Sweden.
This brings us to something fundamental when studying the Etrusco Unico today:
not all Etrusco footballs are the same.
That same summer brought another excellent example.
The Barcelona 92 Games.
A version with a distinctive graphic identity appeared for the Olympic Games, incorporating their emblem into a design that was still instantly recognisable.
Italy, Chile, China, Sweden and Barcelona.
Few footballs of that generation were associated with so many major international events in such a short time.
When one Etrusco Unico isn't quite the same as another
This is where the story becomes especially interesting for collectors.
At first glance, we may be looking at two virtually identical footballs.
The same lions.
The same triads.
The same name.
The same construction.
But look closely at the printed details and you begin to discover that they may be telling completely different stories.
Etrusco Unico production was not confined to one location.
There are examples marked Made in France, Made in Spain, Industria Argentina and Made in Brazil, as well as versions linked to different competitions and markets. There are also models intended for Japanese football and examples associated with the four Intercontinental Cups played in Tokyo between 1990 and 1993.
In Spain, for example, there were official versions used in the First Division, produced with Made in Spain markings or without a country of manufacture shown beneath the adidas logo. Those footballs carry the LFP (Liga de Fútbol Profesional) logo and were used from the 1990/91 season through to 1993/94.
And here it is worth recalling something we discussed when looking at how to value football memorabilia:
two pieces that look alike are not necessarily the same from a collector's point of view.
With an Etrusco, where it was made matters a great deal.
The year of manufacture matters.
The competition matters (a lot).
The context in which it was produced and used matters too.
These are not simply words printed on a panel.
They are part of its identity.
Made in France, Made in Spain… ™ or ®: why do these details matter?
For someone who simply wants to remember the football from Italia 90, perhaps they don't matter all that much.
For someone trying to identify a particular example correctly, they do.
An inscription showing where a ball was made can help place it within a particular production run, market or period.
The same goes for the printed details and the competition weight. The footballs used at the 1990 World Cup in Italy and Euro 92 were Made in France, with a small ® symbol on their panels.
An Etrusco linked to Italia 90, one used in Spanish football, a Euro 92 version or a ball prepared for Barcelona 92 can share the same visual design while belonging to entirely different contexts.
That is precisely why I don't like studying these footballs solely by their overall appearance.
You have to get closer.
Read, analyse and study every detail.
Compare the piece with others.
Look at the languages printed around the valve, where it was made and which characteristics belong to that version.
Sometimes the most interesting information on a football lies in details that are easy to overlook: the adidas all-weather symbol, the stitching, the ball's weight.
Barcelona 92: when a variation tells another story
The official Etrusco football from the Barcelona 92 Olympic Games is probably one of the best examples of this.
We are talking about the most exclusive Etrusco Unico of them all, as it was not sold commercially and was intended for Olympic competition. Very few examples survive today.
The ball retains the Etrusco identity, but incorporates the Barcelona 92 emblem.
We are no longer looking at just 'another Etrusco'.
Initially, a model was presented for the competition with a large adidas trefoil logo and the inscription 'Made in Spain'.
After reviewing the matches played at the Barcelona Games, the model used in competition was the 1992 version bearing the adidas name (without the trefoil) and without 'Made in' beneath adidas…
This is a version associated with a specific competition and one of the most important sporting events ever held in Spain.
At Footballs Legacy, we have an Etrusco Unico from Barcelona 92 whose known history allows us to go a little further.
The example comes from footballs left over at the Valencia Olympic venue and was kept for more than thirty years by someone connected to the organisation.
And this brings together two aspects that, to me, are inseparable in collecting.
The characteristics of the piece and the history of that particular piece.
We can identify an official football as belonging to the Barcelona 92 competition by its characteristics.
But knowing the provenance of the individual example in front of us gives us another layer of information.
It is the difference between knowing the model and knowing the object.
The Etrusco Unico went beyond the football itself
The identity created for Italia 90 did not stay solely on the pitch.
adidas also carried the Etrusco's visual design into footwear and clothing.
The boots incorporated recognisable elements from the football's design and formed part of a wider product family created around that World Cup. adidas itself has described the Etrusco as the first World Cup football to be accompanied by a dedicated range of footwear and clothing.
Today, there is something particularly interesting about seeing an original football, a pair of boots and a bag from that collection together (adidas even released a special presentation box for the 1990 World Cup football).
On their own, they are different objects.
Together, they recreate something bigger.
A style.
A period of change from the eighties.
A way of thinking about football products in 1990.
At Footballs Legacy, we also have a pair of adidas Etrusco Unico boots, Made in France in 1990, showing how the same visual details carried over from the football to the footwear.
For a collector, finding different items from the same family makes it possible to reconstruct not just a tournament, but a small part of the material culture surrounding it.
Why is the Etrusco Unico still collectible?
More than three decades have passed, and its market value continues to rise.
Since then, footballs have changed radically.
The concept and country of manufacture have changed.
The technology has changed.
The design has changed.
Even the way adidas uses a football to build the visual identity of each major competition has changed.
And yet, the Etrusco remains instantly recognisable today.
Part of that interest comes from Italia 90.
But not all of it… it was the model many people played with and grew up with.
There is also its design, the international journey it made between 1990 and 1992, the different versions it left behind and an entire generation of fans who saw it roll through some of their earliest great football memories.
For those born in the late seventies or during the eighties, there is something particularly familiar about it.
The 1990 World Cup in Italy (René Higuita, Roger Milla's Cameroon, Argentina versus Brazil, the rematch of the 1986 World Cup final…).
The classic-cut shirts that came before the explosion of colour at USA 94.
The different adidas boots (Etrusco Unico, World Cup) and those from other brands (Puma King, Borussia, Mizuno Brazil Pro, Diadora, Lotto…).
Collecting and swapping football stickers.
The first World Cups and European Championships we really started following.
Perhaps that is why it still means something beyond the object itself.
A football that brings back an era
Collecting an Etrusco Unico today can mean many different things.
It may mean looking for the exact football we remember from the World Cup.
It may mean trying to bring together different versions that were also official.
Comparing factories.
Distinguishing production details.
Finding an official Barcelona 92 football.
The Euro 92 version.
A Made in France football.
One marked Made in Spain with the LFP logo.
Or simply having in front of us again a design we have associated with certain memories for thirty years.
That is precisely what makes some sporting objects so interesting.
At first, we see an old football.
Then we start to discover its history.
We find out where it has been, how many versions existed, what makes them different and why certain examples are particularly difficult to find.
And then we stop looking at just a football.
We begin to see a small piece of football history.
Some objects remind us of a match.
The Etrusco Unico brings back an era.