The Italians, who are quite devoted to pathos, can also be brutal in judgment. Especially in football, and especially when they feel cheated in their love and their expectations. “We were ugly, dirty and not intensive enough,” he wrote Corriere dello Sport in his comment after the 1-1 draw against Switzerland, and of course a lot comes together. The tie in the Roman showdown, which should have driven away the evil spirits, sends the Azzurri into the “darkness of the playoff” La Repubblica already ominous and culturally pessimistic beforehand. Nothing has happened yet, but the darkness has become the leitmotif. Everything gone, all the glamor from the magical summer.
Now it can happen that a team that was the best in Europe less than half a year ago gets lost. As is well known, titles loosen the tension, applause is the harbinger of complacency. But just like that? The Italians played slowly and imprecisely, especially the midfield: completely overpowered by the Swiss counterparts, who each took on an Italian. Manuel Locatelli, hero of the 3-0 win against Switzerland at the EM in June, same place, same stage? Wasn’t even a shadow of himself. Nicolò Barella? Went into the game battered, you saw that in every action. And then there was Jorginho, whom they called Maestro until recently, as if he were a descendant of Andrea Pirlo, and who is still a bit traded as a possible winner of the Ballon d’Or for the world’s best player – he is getting a lot now.
Jorginho is a balance player, one who can shift and adjust the balance of a game in the center with a few fine turns of the adjusting screws. Mostly horizontal, rarely vertical. The Italians like such players, they calm the mind. Jorginho never shoots on goal, literally: never. Except when the ball is still on the chalk point eleven meters in front of the box. He is what Italians get rigorista name, from “rigore”, Italian for penalty kick: a set penalty taker.
Jorginho was white in the face, Altobelli thinks. Then his ball floated away into the damp Roman night sky
Until the European Championship final against England at Wembley Stadium, the naturalized Brazilian had converted all of his penalties in the Italian national team, six in a row, always with a teasing interlude halfway. And since then? Three awarded, one on penalties in the final of the European Championships with intervening, then two without, one in Basel against Switzerland and now another against Switzerland in Rome – and what a match point in the 90th minute. Of the Corriere dello Sport describes the referee’s decision as follows: “Luck fell from heaven, it tried to help us.” As random as it was, as controversial as it was despite video evidence, it was a gift in every respect.
A doubt shimmered on Jorginho’s face as he took the ball, that fear of a negative series. He was “white”, says Alessandro Altobelli, an old striker legend, world champion 1982. The ball floated away into the damp Roman night sky, the rigorista looked for the blame in the lawn, was it a scar? Then he ducked his head. You’d have to be crazy to hold onto him. Maybe two missed penalties one after the other could have changed the coach’s mind. Should. Have to. But Roberto Mancini later said: “Jorginho is ours rigorista“He dared to do it, and that’s why it was right that he shot him.” Everybody spank one time? Two times, three times.
Mancini, the half-saint, is also getting his fat off now. He has stuck to loyal followers, even though they were clearly out of shape, some not for a long time, it is now said. In any case, the substitutes Sandro Tonali and Domenico Berardi were far superior to their comrades.
The old Belfast pictures are black and white, but their effect is very glaring
Now Belfast has to decide, the last Group C matchday on Monday evening, the encounter against Northern Ireland. And “Belfast” is a place of reminder in the history of Italian football. Italy has not participated in a World Cup three times: in 1934 they did not want to go to Uruguay, it was voluntary. They missed the 2018 tournament in Russia because they failed in the playoff against Sweden. And then there was 1958, the World Cup in Sweden. A draw with Northern Ireland would have been enough to qualify, a formality. The team went to Belfast – and lost 2-1. The newspapers show pictures from that time, all in black and white, but the effect is very bright.
In order to get around the dark playoffs, Italy has to win this time, as high as possible, against a tough defense – and hope that the Swiss with the same number of points will not win their home game against Bulgaria very, very well. The Azzurri goal difference is slightly better than that of the Swiss: plus two. But what does that mean? There are elaborate explanations in the Italian media about who is qualified in which case, calculated for Monday evening. In some constellations, the small print of the regulations will be decisive. If in the end both rivals win their games and Switzerland exactly make up for their deficit in goal difference, then the goal that Silvan Widmer from FSV Mainz 05 scored in the eleventh minute for Switzerland at the Olimpico would be decisive – massive, from full Run.
Mancini says he is optimistic. In the summer that would have been enough to straighten and infect the country. The happy optimism of the “Mancio” was something like the wingbeat of the bird of luck. Now that is gone too.
Mario Sconcerti, the chief commentator of the Corriere della Sera, writes it like this: “If you play normally, you are a normal opponent. Then you have nothing more than Switzerland. You saw it: two autumn games, both ended in a draw. And you can’t even say that you were unlucky . ” A sentence like a final balance sheet: If the Italians had lost twice, it would not have been undeserved. They have become so normal in the autumn after the beautiful summer. “Italia al buio” is the headline La Stampa. Italy in the dark.