The celebration of winning the European Championship trophy was followed in Italy less than nine months later by a deep footballing depression. After the 1-0 home defeat in the play-off semifinals against North Macedonia in Palermo, the World Cup train is leaving without the Squadra Azzurra for the second time in a row. “Just as the European Championship was the best experience of my life, this is the biggest disappointment,” said national coach Roberto Mancini, whose departure cannot be ruled out despite his contract running until 2026. “We’ll see. The sting is too deep to talk about the future right now. It won’t be easy in the next few days.”
The noise in the forest of papers is loud, the media landscape is outraged. “Disastro Italia”, wrote the “Gazzetta dello Sport”. For the “Corriere della Sera”, Italian football reached “its lowest level ever”.
The bottom line was 32:4 shots, 64:36 percent possession, 16:0 corner kicks. But while the Italians were careless about their chances, Aleksandar Trajkovski seized the opportunity in the 92nd minute and gave the North Macedonians a final for a World Cup ticket. In the duel with Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday (8.45 p.m.), nothing changes in the outsider role.
Meanwhile, the Italians sank into a vale of tears, and bewilderment spread. “We are disappointed, broken, devastated,” said late substitute Giorgio Chiellini. EM hero Jorginho added: “It’s hard to explain what happened. I still can’t believe it.”
Source: Nachrichten
