A generation of Italians have never seen their team at a World Cup after a third consecutive qualification failure, prompting calls for a total footballing overhaul.
A generation of Italian children are set to come of age without ever seeing their national team play at a World Cup after the Azzurri’s latest qualification disaster.
Italy’s penalty shoot-out defeat to Bosnia and Hercegovina in Tuesday’s play-off final means the nation will spend at least 16 years without a World Cup match, assuming qualification for the 2030 edition.
“For the first time in our history, Italian children will come of age without ever having seen Italy take part in a World Cup,” lamented Wednesday’s edition of the Gazzetta Dello Sport.
The pink sports daily dedicated eight pages to what it termed “Italian football’s ongoing nightmare”, with Italy becoming the first ever World Cup winner to miss three consecutive finals.
Fans expressed deep disappointment over what the Gazzetta called a “third apocalypse” for the national team.
“I haven’t seen (Italy at) a World Cup since I was 11. It’s been 12 years now, I think. There’s so much bitterness and disappointment,” 23-year-old office worker Cristian Gobbi told AFP in Milan.
Teacher Emanuele Perrone, 38, added, “It’s really disappointing. But at the end of the day, if any team deserved to qualify, it certainly wasn’t us.”
In a scathing editorial, the Gazzetta insisted Italian football needs “total change” and criticised both coach Gennaro Gattuso and defender Alessandro Bastoni, whose first-half red card changed the match’s complexion.
The newspaper reserved special criticism for Gabriele Gravina, the football federation president during two of the three qualification failures.
“We need to realise that we are no longer in the elite of world football. This isn’t just one episode, nor is it an accident,” said the Gazzetta.
“If Gravina manages to keep his place in charge even in the face of the disappointment of millions of Italian fans, he will become a record-breaker for World Cup failure and clinging on (to his position).”
The editorial concluded that the system needs immediate rebuilding through extraordinary measures, declaring Italian football to be in a state of emergency.
