The Italy Under-21 squad also disappointed today, suffering a 1-1 draw with Montenegro in an Under-21 European Championship qualifier.
The Azzurrini currently sit second in Group F on 14 points, behind Sweden on goal difference but holding a game in hand. It was a frustrating U-21 Euro 2023 qualifier as Italy held the majority of possession but failed to translate that into clear-cut chances, something Roberto Mancini’s senior team suffered in their 1-0 loss to North Macedonia yesterday.
Marko Rakonjac opened the scoring for Montenegro after 37 minutes but Italy were quick to respond, with Samuele Ricci netting an equaliser only two minutes later. Despite the Azzurini’s best attempts, they couldn’t find a second and things ended all square at the Podgorica City Stadium.
Italy held 60.8% of the ball in the match, completing 75.9% of their passes and creating one clear cut chance. Only one of their shots was on target though, compared to Montenegro’s three.
Delude anche l'Italia Under 21: solo 1-1 in casa del Montenegro, ma Nicolato resta 1° https://t.co/xsAPdpEbuX pic.twitter.com/I3p0oc9W78
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) March 25, 2022
Italians across the world are devastated by this world cup exit. The motivation is dead right now in all sectors. Rest of Serie A season is just gonna be garbage.
Can only imagine how difficult it must have been for the Azzurrini to focus on a game while a nation is in mourning.
Tough for all Italians and Azzurri fans to even get out of bed, far less having to function and lace up boots to play a game of football.
Grazie for the draw Azzurrini.
Yes @Carletto that’s the reality. Long slow painful journey.
Hopefully La Dea can give us some joy in the Europa League
Yes La Dea can, but none of their key players are Italian unfortunately. Which is a roundabout way of getting back to the problem.
You want to know where all this is coming from? The misery, the failed qualification? Look at the twitter account of Carlo Gargnese who proves it with cold hard facts. Solid data and numbers. Numbers that include playing minutes, transfer money’s spent, etc. Then how it’s compared to how the other Bigs in Europe do it.
This is a sobering to see that Italian youth are being discarded. This is not something that I am inventing. The numbers don’t lie. We won Euro 2020 despite the handicaps, which I’ve written on here before.
I do not work for him or am him or am peddling his social media. Just directing fans to cold hard facts.