On Thursday we will know our playoff rivals, but none of the possible contenders are big names: failure would only be our fault
Against Sweden it took us a while to recover from the terrifying blow. We didn’t expect it: the World Cup was a regular event, sometimes disappointing, but always in the final, not watching the others on TV. After Macedonia it was almost worse, more anger and frustration: why does it always happen to us while the big ones are all at the World Cup? Have we become scarce? These were the thoughts that crowded in confusion, unable to explain how the European champions had ended up on the ground against the most modest of the former Yugoslavia. After the last defeat against Norway, keeping in mind that nothing is lost, resignation took over: we are these, we are in the second tier, the World Cup is not a divine right and in March the third “apocalypse” in a row cannot be ruled out.