If we had gone out against Portugal in the final of the playoffs at least it would have been honorable, but not so, so it is a defeat. Italy lost 1-0 to North Macedonia in Palermo and are out of the 2022 World Cup without even getting to play the second game of the play-offs who will be among Cristiano Ronaldo’s Lusitanians, who beat Turkey 3 to 1, and the Macedonians. The Azzurri are again out of the World Cup, four years after the defeat with Sweden that left them at home from Russia 2018. However, Sweden is a traditional team, this North Macedonia is 67th in the Fifa ranking, Italy sixth. Never in the history of our football had the national team missed two consecutive editions of the World Cup.
What little he has built, Italy’s Roberto Mancini, he wasted it at the Barbera in Palermo and in the last 20 minutes he lost even more of his clarity. The best opportunities are Berardi’s, all wasted or saved. The Macedonian goal, a national that never reached the World Cup and played his first European last year, reaches the 92nd: Trajkovski’s left stabs Donnarumma and freezes the stadium.
The first to speak is the captain, Giorgio Chiellini: «There is a great disappointment, we played a good match where we certainly missed the goal. We weren’t presumptuous, but something was missing. We have made mistakes from September until today and we have paid for them, but I am proud of my teammates. We are disappointed, we are destroyed, we do not find the adjectives ». Still speaking to Rai, he added: «We have to start again, now it’s hard to even comment. A big void will remain, I hope that for the future we can start again as happened with the victory of the European Championship. Let’s hope again together with the coach, Mancini is essential for this national team ».
Chiellini is certainly right about one thing. It was not supposed to come this evening. Mistakes have been before. The cardinal sin was not qualifying in a group which, before September, seemed to have been won and which was sensationally lost after winning the European Championship. There were no conclusions, penalties were wrong. Italy was not up to par. This evening showed that Mancini’s Italy no longer exists: European goals have given way to a vain and disordered siege in which Bastoni, Verratti and a few others are saved.
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Difficult to say even if it will start again from Mancini. The coach struggled to find words after the match: «Last July I experienced the most beautiful joy of my career at the European Championship. Now I have experienced the greatest disappointment. Football is this, incredible things happen. We did everything to win, then we conceded goals in the ninetieth. It seemed made on purpose, it seemed written. We didn’t have to go this far, but I love my players more than the European Championship. My future? I don’t know, now the disappointment is too great ».
Yes, this last sentence is indisputable. The disappointment is too great.
Source: Vanity Fair
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