Italy have failed to qualify for the World Cup in Russia next year after a shock 1-0 aggregate defeat to Sweden. After two games the Azzurri failed to score a single goal and will now be at home watching the World Cup on TV.
And goalkeeping legend Gianluigi Buffon fought back the tears after admitting that the national side had not only failed themselves, but the whole country. The 39-year-old also confirmed his retirement from international football following the team’s failure at the San Siro.
Sweden celebrate after qualifying for Russia 2018
An emotional Buffon said, "I'm not sorry for myself but all of Italian football. We failed at something which also means something on a social level. There's regret at finishing like that.”
And on the social level failure will hit the Italian economy hard. World Cups, especially in football-mad countries like Italy are a way of generating not just social cohesion, but also a way to boost the coffers.
Next summer, rather than going out and spending money to watch games, Italians will just stay at home. Electronics sales will drop, as many Italians would have been buying new devices to watch the finals on. But right now, the economy is the last thing on the minds of Italians.
Buffon was visibly in tears after the final whistle
"Those who've played know how hard these matches are,” Buffon went on. “We weren't able to express ourselves at our best. We lacked the composure to score. Play-offs are decided by episodes and they went against us but you can understand that when you're at fault. We have pride, strength and we're stubborn. We know how to get back up again as we've always done.”
But Italy haven’t been this low before. Winners in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006, Italy are the third most successful nation in world football, but all that success seems long ago and distant now. Italian football has been in decline for a few years now.
Gone are the days when Serie A was the strongest in the world and could attract the best players like Diego Maradona from Barcelona, and Jurgen Klinsmann; or when every other year an Italian side was winning the Champions League.
The glory days of Italian football are long gone
Italy hasn’t produced a Champions League winner since Internazionale won it in 2010. And the decline in Italian football has been evident since. Italy even failed to qualify from their group in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, losing to Costa Rica.
Buffon, who made his Italy debut in 1997, said “I'm leaving an Italy side that will know how to speak for itself. Blame is shared equally between everyone. There can't be scapegoats. Win together, lose together."
Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi also retired from international football on Italy’s night of shame. The 34 year old amazingly acted angrily when the Azzurri boss Gian Pireo Ventura told him to warm up instead of Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne.
De Rossi amazingly protests at being asked to play
And he vented his frustration at the decision to bring him on instead of an attacking player, and speaking of the situation he said, "It was a fraught moment and I wanted them to bring on the attacking players. I thought maybe Insigne or El Shaarawy would be more effective than me."
Very honest from the midfield veteran, and obviously right. What was Ventura doing bringing on a midfielder when Italy were desperate for a goal? Only he will know. But, as a result of the disaster, his head will surely be the first on the block as the IFF have a stock clearance.
De Rossi went on, "It's a dark moment for our football. It's very bad that we've all been part of this and now we're all going to have time to think. The Federation will have to reflect on how we can put things right. Beyond everything that was wrong tactically, technically and physically, we just did not deserve to qualify. There are now 16 and 17-year-olds at Coverciano and so I think this is the last time I'll be wearing this shirt.”
There will be no football smiles in Italy for a few years
It will take time to fix things, but they have almost three years before they can even consider a World Cup qualifying campaign. Heads need to roll in the IFF and also on the pitch. A new grassroots initiative is desperately needed, and it may even take longer than the 2022 before Italy are back where they belong. But, now is the time to do this and do it proper, so a disaster like this can never happen again to not only Italy, but world football, too.
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