When Italy missed out on the last World Cup, it was a disaster for football in the country. Missing another? There are really no words to accurately describe it. (More Football News)
“NOOOOOOOOO!” screamed the headline on Friday in the Tuttosport newspaper, w⛎ith all nine of those Os stretching all the way acrossܫ the front page.
The Italians, who won the European Championship only eight months ago, can really only blame themselves f𒁃or missing out on this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The team f✱ailed to convert dozens of chances in the 1-0 semifinal playoff loss to North Macedonia onᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ Thursday, with Aleksandar Trajkovski scoring in injury time to secure a shocking victory for a country ranked 67th in the world.
“Into hell,” Corriere dello Sport blared on its front page. Gazzetta dello Sport called it “Out ⛦of this world.” The loss in Palermo certainly came as a surprise to♊ many, but it was also predictable for a team that has been in rapid decline since beating England on penalties to win the Euro 2020 title last July.
The tea🅠m that set records for winning last year had won only two of its eight💜 matches since, including losing its first match in more than three years to Spain in the Nations League.
“Our triumph at the Euros was fully deserꦏved. But then some of the fortune we had in the tournament trans🅠formed into total and complete bad luck,” Italy coach Roberto Mancini said. “It almost feels like conceding a last-minute goal was fitting.
“I don꧑’t know what to say. Maybe we shouldn’t even have got to this point.” Here’s a look at where it went wrong for Italy this time:
MISSED CHANCES
Italy was in total control of its Wor♛ld Cup qualifying group until after Euro 2020. That’s when the scoring touch seemed to disappear.
The Azz⛦urr𓆉i drew four of their final five matches and dropped behind Switzerland for the sole automatic qualifying position.
Missed opportunities cost them dearly in those games, especially against Bulgaria, where Italy had 27 attempts to its opponent’s four and 71% possession but neverthele🦄ss drew 1-1.
It was the same problem in the playoffs against North Macedonia. Italy had 32 shots on goal while the vꦅisitors had only four. One of those went in, allowing 🔯North Macedonia to advance to the playoff final against Portugal on Tuesday.
Italy’s lack of scoring had so concerned Mancini that he called up Mario Balotelli for🍸 a three-day training camp in January, three years after his last appearance for the Azzurri. He left out the controversial forward for the World Cup playoffs, however.
PENALTIES
Penalties saved Italy at Euro 2020. Theꦆ Italians beat Spain in the s🃏emifinals and England in the final in shootouts.
But two failed Jorginho attempts from the spot in the qualifying matches again𒁃st Switzerland ended up hurting bad. One match ended 0-0, the other⛄ 1-1.
If Italy had won either of those two matches, they would have finished ahead of Switzerland and gained automatic qualification to this year’s🌌 t💛ournament in Qatar.
“Honestly🃏, it’s difficult because we have to look at the reality, and I put 🤡myself in there, too,” Jorginho said after Thursday’s match. “It hurts when I think about the two penalties, because I do still think about them and I’ll think about them for the rest of my life, unfortunately.
“Stepping up there twice and not being able to help your te꧒am and your country is something that I will carry with me forever, and it weighs on me so much. People say n꧅ow we need to move on, but it still hurts.”
SERIE A
The Italian national team’s recent poor form has been mirrored at club level in Serie A. Juventus and Iꦰnter Milan were eliminated from the Champions League in the round of 16, while AC Milan and Atalanta didn’t even make it past the group stage.
No Italian club has won a European trophy since Inter won the C♔hampions League in 2010.
Moreover, there is a clear discord between the clubs and the national team. Serie A refused the Italian soc🌞cer federation’s request to amend its calendar and move the league matches from the weekend before the playoffs, which would have allowed Mancini more time with his players.
“It’s clear that there is always great resistance from the clubs towards the national team,” federation president Gabriele Gra🍬vina said. “The national team is seen more as an annoyance than something that unites an entire country.”
Gravina acknowledged that t💛here needs to be institutional reforms.
“The loss this evening makes us understand that something needs to be done in Italian soccer,” he said. “For exa🍌mple, let’s start by figuring out what we can do for the many youngsters who don’t get opportunities across our leagues and how we can fill this gap.”
