It is old news that the four-time FIFA World Cup winners, Italy will again be a mute spectator as far as the 2022 Qatar World Cup is concerned. But the million-dollar question is, how will they shrug off the new embarrassment? The present wound will take some time to heal as it follows right after the one in 2017. Previously, the Italian Football Federation boss Carlo Tavecchio had dubbed the country’s disqualification from the 2018 edition as an “apocalypse”. So, going by the same remark the situation this time cannot be anything less than catastrophic or something even worse.
The Moment When The Italian Dreams Shattered Yet Again
North Macedonia happens to be a third-tier team in the UEFA Nations League and it has never been part of any world cup in the past. The only notable achievement for this team so far has been to qualify for the Euro 2021 Championship, where it finished last and were the sole team to be eliminated from the event before the knockout stage. However, if the Italians thought the qualifying game against North Macedonia is going to be a walkover, then they only had to look at the group phase of the qualifier last year when the latter shocked Germany with a 2-1 result. Following this, their triumph against Iceland, pushing them into the playoff, provided ample proof that they are no pushovers.
However, the unthinkable happened for the Azzurri in the must-win game, 1-0 defeat against N Macedonia, as the Italians failed to seize the crucial moments in the game. It is interesting to note that notwithstanding 32 total shots with 11 right on the money, Italy were unable to score even once during the game. On the contrary, North Macedonia found the net with mere five shots on target. Statistically speaking, the 2006 World Cup-winning team ended up on the losing side despite being the dominant side in the crucial tie. This is food for thought for the Italians going forward.
Injury Woes Of The Azzurri
The Azzurri have had injury problems to grapple with as well. Their most potent weapon in the Euro 2021, Federico Chiesa could not make himself available as he had badly damaged his ligament while playing for Juventus. They also sorely missed another top-notch performer Leonardo Bonucci to a calf injury. Also, the team captain Giorgio Chiellini was absent for a major part of the game against Macedonia due to an adductor problem. Unfortunately for him and Italy, Chiellini entered the field only a few moments before North Macedonia scored the decisive goal.
Where Does the Italy Team Go From Here?
This is a question that is not only tough to answer but also hard to ponder over. Missing the World Cup in quick succession is a tough one to bear and the team needs to quickly adapt to this new harsh reality. It’s easier said than done but Italy have no option but to shed this baggage of embarrassment as soon as possible. Then some tough calls need to be taken with regard to veterans like Chiellini (37), who has had fitness issues for a while, and Jorginho (30) who has only flattered to deceive for some time. Coming to the strikers’ front, Lorenzo Insigne (30) has only 10 international goals to show in 53 outings, Ciro Immobile (32) has netted merely 15 times in 54 appearances, and 28-year-old Andrea Belotti has only 12 goals in 41 appearances. None of them has performed as per their top billings of late for Italy.
Even, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has been sub-optimal this season for PSG as well as Italy and this partly explains with clarity the “Great Italian Problem”. The most important matter pertains to coach Roberto Mancini: Should he carry on or not? The last time when Italy failed to qualify, the then coach Gian Piero Ventura was sacked, however, the Italian Football Federation has this time decided not to give the walking papers to Mancini. But, the coach has an onerous task on his hands as he needs to bite some bullets if Italians harbour any chance of making it to the 2026 showpiece event. Hence, the national team of Italy finds itself in an unenviable position of having too many things inside their cup of woes. And Azzurri have no option but to take some harsh and punitive measures to turn the tide in their favour.
