Italy suffered a 1-0 loss against North Macedonia last night, facing elimination from the World Cup play-offs for the second time in a row. Italian media picked Gigio Donnarumma, Lorenzo Insigne, Ciro Immobile and Jorginho as the worst players on the pitch.
There was little to save from the Azzurri’s defeat at the Stadio Renzo Barbera last night. Despite dominating the match and creating 32 goal-scoring opportunities, Italy’s opponents North Macedonia managed to qualify for the Final, scoring one goal from two shots on target. But it’s not Lady Luck that Italy must blame if they have failed to qualify for the World Cup for the second successive time.
Too many players failed to show up when it mattered the most. Ciro Immobile is arguably the symbol of La Nazionale’s struggles up front. The most prolific Serie A striker over the last six years has been unable to replicate his Lazio form with the Azzurri. He had another disappointing night at the Stadio Barbera yesterday and was rated 4/10 by La Gazzetta dello Sport that called him ‘confused and inaccurate’, adding that the match against North Macedonia could be his last with Italy. Gianluca Mancini and Lorenzo Insigne got the same rating, but many Azzurri failed to impress last night.
Gigio Donnarumma, Emerson, Jorginho were rated 4.5. Only Marco Verratti, Alessandro Bastoni and Giacomo Raspadori got a passing grade (6/10), with the PSG midfielder named Italy’s MVP by each Italian sports paper.
Donnarumma is partially blamed for Aleksandar Trajkovski’s late goal. ‘The feeling is that he could have done something more,’ wrote Il Corriere dello Sport, while La Gazzetta dello Sport was even more straightforward, saying that ‘he could not concede a goal like that.’
Jorginho is also at fault for the goal and according to Tuttosport, he was Italy’s worst player on the pitch (4/10). ‘He lost time protesting for a handball, rather than defending,’ wrote the Turin-based paper. The Chelsea playmaker had missed two penalty kicks in two games against Switzerland during the qualification group and said last night that those two errors will haunt him for the rest of his life.