Roberto Mancini has suggested that ‘football can be a merciless metaphor for life’ following Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.
The Azzurri suffered a shock 1-0 loss to North Macedonia in Palermo on Thursday evening, breaking hearts up and down the Italian peninsula as Italy failed to qualify for their second consecutive World Cup. North Macedonia will now face Portugal in a final qualification play-off.
Writing on his Instagram page, Mancini discussed the defeat to North Macedonia and resulting failure to qualify for the tournament in Qatar.
“Football can sometimes be a merciless metaphor for life.
“Last summer we were on the top of Europe after completing one of the most beautiful feats in the history of the national team. A few hours ago we woke up at one of the most dramatic points.
“We went from total joy to frustrating disappointment.
“It’s really hard to accept, but accepting defeats in life is part of a healthy path of human and sporting growth.
“Let’s take some time to reflect and understand clearly. The only right move now is to raise our heads and work for the future.
“Thanks to the Palermo crowd for their warmth and thanks to all the fans who have always given us enthusiasm and affection.”
The Azzurri will play in a relatively meaningless friendly match against Turkey on Tuesday next week before they’ll be allowed to lick their wounds in peace. The next major tournament which could feature Italy is now Euro 2024 in Germany, a long wait for both the players and the fans.
It is still unclear whether or not Mancini will resign from his role following the disaster, although reports suggest that there is no internal pressure to do so.
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This excuse of a coach is the reason Italy missed out on world cup now I have to hide my face for another 4 years because it’s already hard as it is living here as an italian g*y man in the 🇬🇧
You are the best Roberto You will make us strong again. You will do well against Argentina and then in Nations league, Euros only 2,years away. WC 2026 is only 4 years if not earlier if FIFA change so stay on. I believe and most of the nation does as well.
I wish he would just admit he chose the the wrong players like Immobile, Insigna, Barrella, Florenzi jorginho
I would have more respect instead making stupid excuses
He should have played Scamacca, Lucatelli, Raspedori, Tonali more often
I believe in Mancini – please stay! You are still the right man for the job and anyone who think he could complete a revolution in just four years is delusional. It takes time and he’s the right person.
His team created over 30 chances and couldn’t finish. He put the team in a position to win and the players couldn’t do it. The players took credit for winning the Euros and now they must take responsibility for not making the World Cup. It would be a bigger loss to Italy if Mancini leaves. There is no real shame in not playing in this next WC which is a corrupt farce and a disgrace for obvious reasons.
Even though he made some bad calls keeping with the same guys he really should
Stay who else is going to come in Canavarro with his side kick LIppi? No thanks . Stick with Mancini and bring in new players start again win back to back euros
Really, sempre?
– Barella shouldn’t have been called? He was nothing special but his callup was the correct one.
– They didn’t lose because of Florenzi.
– Locatelli had the virus.
– Scamacca had an injured thigh.
The non-selection of Calabria by Manicini was a bad error. Calabria should have been the clear 1st choice at right back, he could have provided more creativity going forward as a deeper threat. The type of deep lying threat that Italy lack since losing Spinazolla. Lazari would be better 2nd option at right back. Florenzi and Di lorenzo are inferior to to Calabri and Lazari. Di Marco and Biraghi are better options at left back compared to the limited Emerson. Mancini made errors in selection on both full backs choosing on loyalty rather than merit. Mancini also lacked tactical imagination and had no plan B formation to the 4-3-3. The 4-3-3 has been worked out by opposition team and clearly was not working in the few games after Euro 2020. He lacked the courage and flexibility to find a different formation to trial with for example 3-5-2 or 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 against teams that defend deep. Perhaps the congested fixture schedule did not allow him to make a plan B and trial different formations. Mancini deserves to continue despite the selection errors and his reluctance to evolve from past winning formula that clearly stopped working or did not work as well following the absence of Spinazolla . He needs to however learn from his mistakes and be more tactically flexible, innovative and evolve when the paradigm shifts. He also needs to be sharper in selection and promote better players like Calabria in to the team rather than relying on loyalty and sticking to average players like Di Lorenzo, Emerson, Florenzi just because they did a job in the past. It remains to be seen whether he will be able to do this to keep Italy relevant in the world stage but he deserves a chance after the Euro 2020 success.