With Italy missing out on the World Cup, all we have is nostalgia. In the first of a series looking back at the Azzurri’s highs and lows, Giancarlo Rinaldi recalls some infamous encounters.
Failure to reach Qatar 2022 might seem like a hammer blow too hard to bear right now but, with time, it will pass. The Azzurri may have a proud record at international football’s biggest event but things have not always gone smoothly. Here are three times when qualification was only a pathway to embarrassment in front of a much larger audience.
Chile 2-0 Italy 1962
This was the game that BBC sports reporter David Coleman introduced with what felt like a warning to those of a sensitive disposition. If you value all that is good in football, he seemed to say, please look away now. The highlights package had as much to do with martial arts as it did with the beautiful game.
The Battle of Santiago had its roots in a number of issues – one of them the Italian love of “acquiring” Oriundi, players born overseas but eligible for the Azzurri. Argentinians Humberto Maschio and Omar Sivori and Brazilians Jose Altafini and Angelo Sormani were part of their squad travelling to Chile which was always likely to raise the stakes against one of their big South American rivals. Add to that an inflammatory article in the Italian media about conditions in the host country and the blue touch paper had been lit.
Tempers flared after just a few seconds and Giorgio Ferrini was sent off after eight minutes for kicking out at an opponent and had to be escorted from the pitch by the police. English referee Ken Aston declined, however, to show red to Leonel Sanchez after he punched Italy’s Mario David in the face and the Italian later sought his own kind of justice with a flying kick at his opponent which saw Italy reduced to nine men. It inevitably left more space for the home side and they took advantage to score a couple of goals which ultimately saw them progress to the knockout stages at Italy’s expense.
Italy 0-1 North Korea 1966
If the current generation think they are having a tough time, they should spare a thought for any Italy fans who grew up in the late 1950s and 1960s. Having failed to qualify in 1958 and tumbled out in the slugfest in Santiago four years later, they came to England with hopes that the worst was behind them. They would prove to be woefully unfounded.
Having gained revenge over Chile in their opening fixture, they slumped to defeat against the Soviet Union which left their qualification in the balance. Still, with youngsters like Giacinto Facchetti, Sandro Mazzola and Gianni Rivera breaking into the squad they looked equipped to see off North Korea at Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough. Instead, the game became a byword for disaster in the glorious history of the boys in blue.
Pak Doo-Ik scored the only goal of the game in an embarrassing reverse for a side which was meant to bring back the feel-good factor of following the national team. A young Gigi Riva – kicking his heels in the stands having been brought along for experience but not part of the squad – could only watch on in frustration. A harsh welcome – and a pelting with tomatoes – awaited the squad’s return home.
Italy 0-1 Uruguay 2014
The Battle of Suarez’s Teeth – OK, I made that one up – was, quite painfully, Italy’s last appearance at a World Cup and it proved to be an excruciating one. Having won their opening game in Brazil against England, it looked as if everything was set fair for Cesare Prandelli’s men. Instead, things slowly fell apart.
Defeat by surprise packages Costa Rica meant they faced an anxious showdown with their battle-hardened South American rivals, knowing that a draw would still put them through. It was an ill-tempered affair and when Claudio Marchisio saw red near the hour mark, the Azzurri’s task got a little tougher.
Perhaps if the referee had spotted Luis Suarez’s infamous bite on Giorgio Chiellini late in the game, the outcome may have been different but there was no VAR to show him what the world had clearly seen. Instead, Diego Godin popped up to make Italian misery complete and send them home from a competition which they have not been able to qualify for since.
I find the Trappatoni team in 2010 was even worse. Loosing 2-3 to Slovakia was very painfull. And yes, finishing on the bottom of the table.
That wasn’t Trap’s team in 2010 that was Lippi second run at coach. C mon know the facts!
To many bad moments . For the players that had at their disposal over the years so many failures .
Since 2006 it has been grim. Except for the Euros, of course, where Italy have played two finals. But the WC has been a litany of failures for what will be two decades – if Italy don’t achieve something at the next WC that is. Two decades!