Another World Cup will take place without the four-time world champion Italy. Italy’s football world is desperate – fans and even politicians are demanding a real new beginning.
Rome, it is the day after the decisive game against Bosnia-Herzegovina. The mood in the King Bar in the north of the city is depressed. It was a disappointment, says Salvatore, who is drinking his coffee. They all hoped to finally be back at the World Cup this time. And for Lorenzo the game was just a nightmare.
The major Italian newspapers see it similarly: The “Gazzetta dello Sport” speaks of a nightmare that continues, of the third apocalypse being the worst – it is the third time in a row that Italy has not qualified for the World Cup. For the “Messaggero” it is a new brutal humiliation and the “Corriere della Sera” analyzes: This time there is no more anger or surprise, like the last time – this time there is only resignation and sadness.
Stunning after the penalty shootout
The night before, immediately after the penalty shootout, many fans were mostly angry about their team’s performance, about defender Alessandro Bastoni’s emergency stop, for which he received a red card at the end of the first half – Italy had to continue playing while outnumbered. The team deserved to lose, said fan Alessandro, for example – accompanied by a few Italian curses that are better left untranslated.
The team and the coach seemed stunned and deeply disappointed after losing the penalty shootout. Leonardo Spinazzola was the first to dare to stand in front of the microphones of the journalists from the Italian television station Rai. He particularly felt sorry for the Italian children – because they will not see a World Cup with Italian participation again.
Rino Gattuso fights back tears
Coach Rino Gattuso visibly fought back tears and publicly apologized for the elimination after the game. Gattuso’s stated mission was to lead Italy to the World Cup; he has only been in office since June of last year. He has so far left it open as to whether he will now stop as national coach after missing qualification. He said immediately after the game that his future didn’t matter, the defeat just hurt.
The Italian Football Association has thrown its support behind Gattuso, with president Gabriele Gravina saying he had asked the coach to stay. For many fans, the coach is not the problem – instead, they are calling for the resignation of association president Gravina and want a completely new beginning in sport. With better youth work that can get young people excited about football. So that children and young people don’t switch to other sports – Italian tennis stars like Jannik Sinner have led to a real tennis boom in Italy. Criticism even comes from politics: the ruling Lega party has already publicly called for Gravina’s resignation.
Demand for a new beginning
Salvatore and Lorenzo from the Roman King Bar are of the opinion that something really needs to change in Italian football now. Lorenzo thinks that we should now finally take the Serie A football clubs to task. The players only think about league football, he says. The national team must again become more important in Italy than Serie A. At the same time, Lorenzo says: He is also primarily a fan of his club, Lazio Rome – he only watches the national team’s games at major events. Perhaps this very club-centric fan culture is part of the major crisis that Italian football is currently experiencing.
