Azzurri on the brink: will Mancini rescue Italian football?

Serie A giants have once again fallen short in Europe and Roberto Mancini’s men have the task to rescue Italian football in the World Cup play-offs, writes Giancarlo Rinaldi.

It is no use crying over missed Jorginho penalties. Italy’s failure to emerge top of what looked like a perfectly winnable World Cup qualifying group for the European champions has left them in a sticky situation. It is up to the players to extricate themselves from a predicament that even an expert escapologist might struggle with.

It is a curious fact that – despite their Wembley heroics – there are still many question marks over this squad. They gelled perfectly for a month last summer but appear to have suffered one hell of a hangover since. They need to prove that their continental triumph was no fluke or face the unthinkable – a second consecutive edition of the globe’s biggest competition without the Azzurri.

The signals from the club game have not been all that reassuring either. No Champions League quarter-finalist and just Atalanta in the Europa League and Roma in the new Conference League suggest that Serie A is not flying particularly high. The excitement of a good Scudetto race is of little consolation if it is, ultimately, an inferior product to much of the rest of Europe. The starring roles being played by a number of Portuguese players – potential obstacles to Italy – has only increased the gloom.

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In fairness, although the teams may be struggling, some stars appear in decent form. Domenico Berardi has probably never been playing better, Nicolò Barella looks to be heading back to his best and Lorenzo Pellegrini scored an absolute belter at the weekend. Some key men hitting their stride at the right moment will be vital to trying to ensure the next few days do not undo some of Roberto Mancini’s great work so far. Just nobody mention Federico Chiesa or Leonardo Spinazzola, please.

Many eyes have been drawn to a potential showdown with Portugal but if sport has taught us anything it is surely that presumption often comes before a fall. Turkey will have something to say about whether or not Cristiano Ronaldo and his companions make it to the final knockout qualification tie. And, more importantly for Azzurri fans, North Macedonia are unlikely to rock up to the Renzo Barbera on Thursday night simply to make up the numbers.

This is a free hit game for Italy’s opponents as few people expect them to progress to the next round. However, they have already shown that they can cause headaches for nations with a far greater reputation. A group stage victory over Germany was fundamental in ensuring they finished in second place – albeit quite a distant one. And the last time the two nations met was hardly an emphatic triumph for La Nazionale.

Those with a memory longer than their last social media post will recall that those clashes were part of ill-fated efforts to get to Russia in 2018. In Skopje, an Andrea Belotti opener in the first half should have made the match straightforward but Ilija Nestorovski and Ferhan Hasani hit back in the second period to turn the game around. It would require a very late double from Ciro Immobile to spare their blushes. The knives were already being sharpened for Gian Piero Ventura.

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If anything, things went worse when they met in Turin. Giorgio Chiellini gave the home side the lead but it was not a platform they proved capable of building on. Aleksandar Trajkovski levelled the tie which effectively sent Italy packing to the play-offs, where they landed Sweden. We all know how that one ended.

This Azzurri vintage has shown itself more memorable than that one, but nonetheless, it would be a grave error to take their opening game opponents lightly. They may not be a European giant, but North Macedonia have shown themselves more than capable of giving the big boys a bloody nose. It will be up to Mancini to keep his guard up for 90 minutes or more to avoid that eventuality.

Calculations over who they might meet in the final showdown can wait. If Italy fail to approach the game in Palermo with the attitude they showed at Euro 2020, they could easily slip up. This is a team that has shown it needs to tackle every tie with 100% intensity in order to get the best results. Anything less than total commitment is like no commitment at all.

That’s not to say the team should play scared, of course. As European champions, they should have some swagger going into the tie and believe they have the arms at their disposal to triumph. Goalscoring has become an issue of late but there have been signs from Serie A that some key players are returning to form. They definitely need all their stars at their very best if they hope to progress. And, for supporters, keep a stiff drink near at hand in case a penalty kick is required to make it through.

@Ginkers