After losing at home to North Macedonia, Italy missed the World Cup in advance, missing the World Cup twice in a row for the first time in team history. So who is Italy's sinner out of the game again?
15 years have never faced the problem squarely
After Czechoslovakia, Denmark and Greece, Italy became the fourth European Cup winner to fail to qualify for the World Cup. Unlike the previous three teams, Italy has won the World Cup four times.
However, since winning the World Cup in 2006, Italy has never been in the World Cup knockout rounds. In addition to missing the World Cup in two consecutive world cups, Italy's performance in the previous two World Cups has also been quite sluggish, and the 2010 and 2014 World Cups have stopped in the group stage.
"Winning the European Championship is just an exception, for 15 years there have been problems with Italian football and, most importantly, the gap between our league and the top flight is getting wider and wider, almost like the Dutch League." We say we want to change everything, but nothing has changed. ”
Proud Mancini
After missing out on the 2018 World Cup, the Italian media collectively aimed their guns at Ventura. In contrast, Mancini was confronted with much less critical voices. However, after winning the European Championship, Mancini was not aware of the team's problems and could not solve the problem of scoring difficulties, after the European Championship, Italy won only 2 of the 8 games.
Against North Macedonia, he didn't even add Skamaka, Zaniolo and Belotti to the tournament roster. Sky Sports reporter Karesa said, "He coached this team, but he failed. He should resign! ”
Jorginho, who conceded two penalties
Needless to say, if Jorginho had scored two penalties in the group stage two legs against Switzerland, Italy would have already had a World Cup ticket. After leaving, Jorginho admitted, "When I think about the two penalties I lost, I am still very miserable, which will be a regret for my life. ”
Not only that, but in the battle against North Macedonia, it was Jorginho's failure to keep an eye on his opponent, giving Trajkovski the opportunity to shoot from a distance.
Constantly shooting berardi
Against North Macedonia, Italy had 32 shots on goal, but only five on target. Among them, Berardi alone had 8 shots on goal, constantly choosing long-range shots in front of the penalty area, making Italy's attack thunder and rain. While the Italian media was relieved that Berardi had finally matured, Sassuolo wingers handed over such an answer in the crucial battle.
Of course, Berardi is just a microcosm of the weakness of the Italian front. Inmobile has not scored a goal since the Europa League group stage, and the players who have scored for Italy are Pellegrini, Barrera, Berardi (penalty) and Di Lorenzo. Slow Motion notes that Mancini did not test or adjust the front in advance, which laid the foundation for the tragedy.
Who will score for Italy, and that will be a problem that Mancini or the next manager will have to solve.