256 days after the European Championship triumph in London, Italy has lost the World Cup participation – for defensive icon Giorgio Chiellini this is the result of months of failure.
“We’ve made mistakes since September and we’ve paid for that now,” said the 37-year-old after the embarrassing 0-1 (0-0) win in the World Cup playoff against North Macedonia: “We’re devastated.”
Italy won the European Championship in July last year. “Last summer I had the best experience with the team, today it’s the biggest disappointment for me,” said coach Roberto Mancini, whose future is uncertain.
“I have nothing to say. Something unbelievable happened tonight. We deserved to win the Euros, now we were really unlucky. But that’s it, that’s the reality. I feel sorry for the players.” like Mancini.
In qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar (November 21 to December 18), however, the Squadra Azzurra had to take a detour – and failed there, as they did before the 2018 finals.
In 2014 and 2010, the Italians were also eliminated in the preliminary round, the last knockout game at a World Cup they played in 2006 in Germany. They won the final against France back then.
The Italian press reacted violently
the Reactions from the Italian press were sometimes severe. “Disaster for Italy, Macedonia scorn in the 92nd minute. Goodbye world, goodbye Europeans, goodbye everything. The adventure is over, Italy no longer exists. We are back in the apocalypse,” wrote the Gazzetta dello Sport.
La Republica said: “Two World Cups missed in a row is tantamount to a meltdown from which our football will struggle to recover. Italy have been eliminated from the World Cup for the second year in a row.”
Italy’s association wants to keep coach Mancini
Italy ran against North Macedonia for 90 minutes, the defeat was then curious in several respects. Aleksandar Trajkovski (90+2), who had played for US Palermo for a long time in Sicily, made the decision in Palermo.
And for Italy it was the first defeat in the 60th home game of a World Cup qualifier. “It’s hard to explain,” Chiellini said RAI“a huge disappointment. We played well, but we didn’t score.”
Nevertheless, the head of the association, Gabriele Gravina, wants to continue working with Mancini. “I would like Mancini to stay with us. We have committed to a project,” he told RAI: “I’m bitter and I feel sorry for the fans. This end, which was really unpredictable in this form, hurts. We need energy to get going again and I’m ready to provide it.”
Chiellini is also hoping that Mancini will stay. On Thursday evening, he did not want to say whether the 37-year-old defensive veteran would continue in the national team himself.
North Macedonia, on the other hand, hopes for their first World Cup ticket a year after their European Championship debut. On Tuesday (8.45 p.m. / DAZN) Portugal will be waiting in the final round, which won 3-1 (2-0) against Turkey and national coach Stefan Kuntz.
World Cup Playoffs: The games on Thursday
| team 1 | team 2 | date |
| Wales | Austria | 2:1 (1:0) |
| Portugal | Turkey | 3:1 (2:0) |
| Sweden | Czech Republic | LIVE |
| Italy | North Macedonia | 0:1 (0:0) |
| Russia | Poland | canceled |
| Scotland | Ukraine | postponed |