Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorginho admits he only watched World Cup games in the final stages: ‘I was not interested, I didn’t even know the kick-off times.’
The former Napoli and Hellas Verona star won the Euros with the Azzurri last year, but after barely nine months, Italy failed to qualify for Qatar 2022, losing in the qualification play-off semis to North Macedonia this past March.
Italy had finished runners-up to Switzerland in the qualification group, with Jorginho missing two penalties in two games against the Helvetic.
Perhaps, also, for this reason, he was not interested in watching World Cup games.
“It was very hard, especially at the beginning. It was very hard. I didn’t want to watch games,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
“I went on a trip with my family. I only watched a couple of games of friends who were playing, but I didn’t even know the kick-off time.
“I didn’t want to watch, I was not interested. Towards the end, the Jorginho lover of football was back and started watching something.”
Jorginho joined Chelsea from Napoli in a €57m deal in 2018 and has won the Europa League and the Champions League with the Blues.
The Azzurri star turns 31 today. He made his Italy debut in March 2016 and has gone on to score five games in 46 international appearances.
The full interview will be aired today.