The Italian national team fell against North Macedonia 1-0 this Thursday in the semi-finals of the repechage and stayed out of the 2022 World Cup, after an agonizing goal by the visitors in extra time in a match played in Palermo. The European champion could not meet the goal and will see - again - the competition on television.
“There is a great disappointment, we played a good game where we certainly missed the goal. Something was missing. We made mistakes from September until today and have paid for them, but I am proud of my teammates. We're disappointed, we're shattered, we can't find the adjectives,” said Giorgio Chiellini, team captain to the Rai microphones. “We have to start over, now it's hard to even comment. There will be a big gap, I hope that in the future we can start over as happened with the victory of the Euro Cup.”
Another great figure in the team is Marco Verratti, who also did not hide his pain for the elimination: “It went wrong, and it's hard to accept it. We have gone from the greatest joy of a few months ago with the victory of the Euro Cup to the present day. But I'm always proud of my teammates. Everyone knows they gave everything, tonight wasn't enough. Questions need to be asked, of course. We were stronger than Macedonia, we had to score and also immediately. Then the final goal was a nightmare, a madness.”
Italy played better than its rival on Thursday and generated countless opportunities, so much so that it accumulated 20 shots during the 90 minutes, while Macedonia just two. But in football the one who scores the most goals wins and it was the visitor who inflated the net.
Jorginho, the candidate for the last Golden Ball, also spoke after the elimination. The Chelsea midfielder felt responsible as he missed two penalties against Italy in the group stage, one in Basel and another in Rome around the time, in two games that ended in a tie. If one of those duels had been a victory for Roberto Mancini's, they would not have played the repechage today and they would already have the ticket to Qatar.
“It is honestly difficult because we also have to look at reality, it hurts when I think about the two missed penalties, I keep thinking about it and I will think about it all my life unfortunately. Not being able to help your team twice weighs heavily on you. Now it is said that we must continue, but it hurts the same,” said the midfielder chosen as one of the best footballers of 2021.
Italy can't seem to break the curse it plunged into after winning the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Since then she was eliminated twice in the first round, 2010 and 2014, and missed the following editions, 2018 and 2022. When it seemed that after the European Championship title in 2021 Azzurri had finally abandoned its darkest stage, a new blow plunges it again.
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