Italy misses the World Cup, history repeats itself. Macedonia goes to the final next Tuesday in Portugal, while the Azzurri go from triumph to failure in the space of 8 months, finding themselves licking their wounds just like that evening in November 2017, when Ventura failed to qualify against Sweden. This time however the disaster, because this is what it is about, is even more inexplicable, because finding yourself in the stable after dominating the stars is truly absurd. Now unthinkable scenarios are opening up until recently: a failure of this kind, in fact, risks causing a real earthquake in the Italian football institutions, starting with coach Roberto Mancini.
Mancini: “My future? I don't know, now the disappointment is too big"
A few hours after the clamorous defeat against Macedonia, gained with a goal by the former Palermitan (ironically) Trajkovski in the 92nd minute, one wonders about the future of this national team, first of all its coach. In fact, the Wembley hero is now in the dock for failing to bring Italy to the World Cup in Qatar, especially since he himself may no longer have the stimuli to react to such a beating. “It's my biggest disappointment on a professional level, just like the European Championship was the best moment – explained the blue coach without too many words -. Incredible things happen in football, some matches are like this, it's difficult to talk about it and analyze this one. The victory of the European Championship was deserved, but then the luck that, in part, had accompanied us, turned into bad luck. We dominated the group, there were two situations that usually don't happen (any reference to Jorginho's missed penalties against Switzerland is not purely coincidental, ed). My future? I don't know, now the disappointment is too big to talk about it…”.
Gravina: "I hope to continue with him, but our football needs to be redone"
Words full of sadness, just like those expressed shortly after by the president of the FIGC Gabriele Gravina, almost incredulous in the face of what happened. “It is the law of football and the verdict must be accepted, I am embittered, sorry for all the fans even if last summer's great joy remains – he underlined with a darker face than ever -. Tonight's defeat makes us understand that there is something to do in our football and I'm not just referring to reforms. The Federation has a lot of respect for the national team, we have to understand why so many young people aren't used, it's our responsibility, us managers, we have to ask ourselves this problem and move forward. Left-handed? I hope he continues, that he disposes of the waste from this elimination in a very short time and regains his energy because he has a commitment with us ”.
Italy has deflated: from Jorginho ("I'll think about those missed penalties all my life") to Donnarumma, passing through Insigne and Immobile, no one is saved
As easy as it is to point the finger at the technical commissioner, it is fair to say that the faults lie above all with the players. Exalted as phenomena in July, the European champions (because, despite everything, we are) were unable to sober up, ending up paying the price in a group that seemed like the ideal springboard towards Qatar and which instead qualified Switzerland. In fact, our troubles began much earlier than yesterday, when we lost a game conceding only one noteworthy shot on goal, and in full added time, and it is clear that everyone's mind goes back to the two games against the Swiss, especially the one From Rome. At the Olimpico a victory would have been enough to close the discussion and we had the match point, and how if we had it: in that skyrocketing penalty by Jorginho there is all the blue failure, which arrived without signs of any kind, and that's why it's even more painful.
The European Championship hid our limits, then the problems arrived: our Championship is no longer up to the situation
Although it is evident that those mistakes have changed the history of the Azzurri, an all-round analysis needs to be done on the problems of our football and of a national team full of good players, but without phenomena capable of guiding others in difficult moments. We arrived at the European Championships as outsiders and this, most likely, allowed us to play with a clear mind and light shoulders, from the first match against Turkey to the very final at Wembley, where the pressure, for obvious reasons, was all on the 'England landlord and dry of trophies since 1966. From September onwards, however, things have changed, because being on the roof of Europe also involves burdens, starting with the way others deal with you. Bulgaria, Switzerland (twice), Spain, Northern Ireland, Macedonia - no one felt the slightest awe towards us. After all, with the exception of the multi-titled Chiellini and Bonucci, no member of this squad has ever won anything apart from the European Championship, which had a considerable weight. And then it must be said that Mancini was also unlucky and not just for the episodes mentioned above. Reaching the play-offs without Chiesa (perhaps the team's only true champion), with Chiellini and Bonucci half-injured, with Donnarumma in crisis (this was also seen on Trajkovski's goal, on which he could have done better) and so on was not certainly the best viaticum towards Qatar. The truth is a mix of all these things, with only one great certainty: our league is no longer coaching at an international level, as indeed can be seen from the progress of the clubs in the cups, limited only to Atalanta and Rome, moreover in Europe and Conference League, certainly not in the Champions League. The result is that whoever seems to be a great player in Italy (see Berardi), clamorously melts away as soon as the stage gets wider. And this, regardless of how things go, only increases the respect for those who, not later than eight months ago, led us to the roof of Europe.
