Again, Italy will not be seen at the World Cup in football. The fall of the reigning European Championship winner to northern Macedonia came as a giant surprise.
Marco Verratti could not believe the loss. AOP
Watch the sensational paint of Northern Macedonia in the video. Viaplay and Viasat show the World Cup qualifiers.
Ferrari’s double victory in the opening race of the F1 season in Bahrain is now a skinny consolation for Italian sports fans.
Perhaps the biggest pride of Italian sports, the national football team, failed in a gruesome way. The entire Renzo Barbera stadium in Palermo fell silent for 90 + 2 minutes, with the exception of the northern Macedonian fans.
Azzurri defeated goal-scoring attempts against Northern Macedonia 32-4. Northern Macedonia won the most important statistic, the goals 1-0.
The tiny debutant at last summer’s European Championships defeated the European champions and advanced to Portugal in Tuesday’s qualifying final, which will determine who will advance to the World Cup finals in Qatar.
Disaster
Italy was also incredibly out of the last World Cup in 2018. Thus, there will be a break from the World Cup level for at least 12 years, as Italy will play in the World Cup next time at the earliest in 2026. The previous visit was in 2014.
In Italy, of course, such a bad egg could not be understood. The headlines tore at a loss.
– An incredible disaster again, the title of Corriere dello Sport shouted translated into Finnish.
– Italy in disaster, Macedonia humiliated, Gazzetta dello Sport headed.
– Azzurri mumbled again, Football-Italia wrote.
“Impossible to explain”
The champion coach has already been raised on the Football-Italy website Roberto Mancinin graduate as pilot of the Italian national team. Should Mancin be fired now less than a year after European Championship gold?
Portugal, which defeated Turkey, will now be met in the World Cup qualifiers in Northern Macedonia. Cristiano Ronaldo and the partners could hardly wait for this.
The Portuguese media could not expect that either. A Bola, for example, described the Italian result as a “scandal”.
Aleksandar Trajkovski was the hero of the North Macedon with a victory in the second minute of overtime.
Northern Macedonia is emerging as a true giant dump. Many remember the European Championship qualifying sensation when the team unexpectedly defeated Germany.
Italian player Marco Verratti could not comprehend the outcome.
– Should have scored goals early and packed the game quickly, we were so superior. In football, you have to be rude and use places, Verratti repeated.
– It’s just impossible to explain. This is a nightmare, Verratti continued.
Will Mancini continue?
Roberto Mancini stared at the emptiness after the goal of Northern Macedonia. AOP
Head coach Mancin was asked how he now perceives his job security.
– If the European Championship victory was my greatest moment, this was my most disappointing. We should not have ended up qualifying from the start. Amazing things are happening in football.
– This is a great team. I feel sad for all the players. However, now is not the time to talk about my future plans, Mancini said.
In addition to northern Macedonia and Portugal, Sweden, which overthrew the Czech Republic, and Wales, which overthrew Austria, advanced to the qualifying final.
Poland, which has advanced directly due to the closure of Russia, will face Sweden in the qualifying final. Wales expects the Scotland-Ukraine winner to play in the summer.