Italy’s play-off collapse to North Macedonia has re-opened painful scars for Azzurri fans following a similar situation in 2017, when the team’s failure to beat Sweden saw them miss out on the 2018 World Cup.
The 1-0 aggregate loss to Sweden back in 2017 led to an unbelievable situation for football fans across the world as Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958. Despite a slightly rocky qualifying campaign, which included a 3-0 loss to Spain, many still felt confident with Gian Piero Ventura’s Azzurri ahead of the two-legged play-off against Sweden.
The fact that the second leg of the play-offs was a pitiful 0-0 draw at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza only made the result hurt more. The aggregate loss was an incredibly difficult pill to swallow for all Italian football fans and many felt lost watching the tournament in Russia the following summer.
Italy did bounce back last summer however, re-igniting the passion in the hearts of those in the peninsula with their Euro 2020 glory. The team under Roberto Mancini looked electric in the tournament and it seemed to herald the start of a new cycle for the Azzurri.
Clearly, this wasn’t the case. The 1-0 loss to North Macedonia in Palermo yesterday was almost unbelievable for fans once again. Whilst some anxiety was clearly present following the memories of 2017, confidence was high following the European Championship and most fans were more concerned about a resulting match against Portugal.
Really, it’s impossible to choose which play-off defeat hurts more, as both result in the same disastrous fact: Italy will not be at the next World Cup.
I woke up on that November morning in 2017 and said: “Alright, let’s get this over with”. It didn’t feel right.
I knew we were likely going to a Playoff when we fished out Spain. After the Draw in Turin I thought we were in good shape but we needed a Win on the Saturday at the Bernabeu because it was the only way we were going to overtake them as they held the GF and GD Tie Breakers. That was a walloping they gave us. Isco especially.
Here for 2022, I did not expect North Macedonia to do that. I thought it anything we were going to lose in Turkey or Portugal. We owned them but couldn’t convert. Credit to them as they blocked every shot. On the Italian telecast I watched it on, the word always used was “Murato” (walled. as in another Italy shot getting stopped by a NM player sacrificing their body). Their goal was a joke. Route 1, mental mistake by Jorginho not playing to the whistle even though VAR is in place, and Donnarumma reacting late.
Maybe the EC trophy lift has offset the bitterness and the fact that it’s a Winter World Cup (for me at least in the Northern Hemisphere).
As James Horncastle, Brit who covers calcio asked: Would you rather lift a trophy but miss the next tournament OR would you rather qualify to both knowing you won’t win either?
A trophy lift is always important. But a 1/32 Chance to add a star to your badge is something else. Poor us. We’re stuck on 4.
with this quality of sharpness upfront, even if we qualified, i believe we wouldn’t go any further than group stage. Mancio stay, change attacker. utilize abundant talent on midfield.
Ups or downs, win or lose, i’ll support italy
N Macedonia is far worse.
Going out to Sweden wasn’t a huge surprise. Sweden are usually decent and had a good WC after they qualified, reaching the QF. Add to that the weaker squad Italy had and being stuck with Ventura as manager.
This current Italy has better players, a better manager, and plays better football, but they just can’t finish teams off.
“. We’re stuck on 4.”
England stuck on one.
Losing to Sweden was almost a relief the team had played poorly the wrong players were chosen most of the time by Ventura. This time it was a disaster in that almost all the right players were chosen but they were beaten by their own timidity and lack of confidence in their abilities. Clearly we need to find confident talented young players for the future
This is worse as Strummer said. Sweden was needed to lose to enforce change and the result was a Euro win. This one doesn’t need that kind of drastic change but a change none the less. I thought we would have a closer match with Portugal or Turkey because the play would be more open and was more fearful of Macedonia. We never did well against teams who sit back.