MAMMA MIA! ITALY OUT OF WORLD CUP
ITALY 0 SWEDEN 0
THEY huffed and they puffed but Italy have failed to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time in 60 years.
There will be no Azzurri in Russia and no sixth finals for captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who collected his 175th and probably his last cap against the Swedes in this play-off.
There will, however, be a national inquest to find out what went wrong and manager Gian Piero Ventura, who replaced Antonio Conte after Euro 2016, is expected to shoulder most of the blame.
Having finished second in a qualifying group won by Spain, the Italians lost the first leg of their play-off in Stockholm.
They produced an improved performance last night in Milan and threw everything they had at the Swedes, but could not find a way through their organised opponents despite dominating possession.
Sweden, having helped to deny Holland a ticket to the finals, claimed another famous scalp.
Italy had not missed out on the World Cup finals since 1958 when they finished second in a threeteam qualifying group which was topped by Northern Ireland.
The Irish beat them 2-1 in the final qualifier in Belfast, a game which had been scheduled for a month earlier but could not take place because the Hungarian referee was stranded in London by fog.
The first game took place, downgraded to a friendly, descended into a riot when fans invaded the pitch and ended in a 2-2 draw which would have been enough for the Italians to qualify, had it actually counted.
This time it was Sweden causing problems for Italy with their stubborn defence and refusal to yield under pressure. Jakob Johansson’s deflected strike settled the first leg and, in Milan, the tension created by that result was clear from the start. No sooner had the national anthems been booed and belted out by the home crowd than Marco Parolo was tumbling around in the penalty box in desperate search of a penalty.
Matteo Darmian and Andrea Barzagli both escaped when handling the ball at the other end.
Emil Forsberg was so incensed when Barzagli got away with it, that the Swede looked set to grab Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz and shake him to his senses. Lahoz was active, rejecting three full-blooded penalty claims and booking two from each team inside the opening half-hour. Johansson, Sweden’s hero on Friday, was carried off after twisting his knee.
Italy dominated with Jorginho influential on his competitive debut. Ciro Immobile crashed a shot into the side-netting and Antonio Candreva fired over.
Immobile collected another pass from Jorginho and forced it past Robin Olsen but the Swedish goalkeeper managed to take pace off the shot and Andreas Granqvist recovered to clear.
Leonardo Bonucci, playing in a mask to protect a broken nose, headed over and Olsen saved from Alessandro Florenzi. The second half started with more controversy when Mikael Lustig felled Darmian at the back post but referee Lahoz gave handball against Italy’s Manchester United defender.
A volley by Florenzi faded wide and Candreva went close again as Italy became evermore frantic.
Florenzi’s deflected cross clipped the bar, Olsen made a fine reaction save to deny substitute Stephan El Shaarawy and Parolo headed wide as the clock ticked down.
Five minutes added time signalled the final push but Sweden stood firm, proving impenetrable.
Sweden boss Jan Andersson will head for the Kremlin and the draw next month as Ventura prepares for the storm. ITALY (3-5-2): Buffon 6; Barzagli 6, Bonucci 6, Chiellini 6; Candreva 6.5 (Bernardeschi 76), Florenzi 6.5, Jorginho 7, Parolo 6, Darmian 6 (El Shaarawy 64, 5); Immobile 6.5, Gabbiadini 6 (Belotti 64, 5). Subs not used: Donnarumma, Rugani, Gagliardini, Insigne, Astori, De Rossi, Eder, Zappacosta, Perin. Booked: Chiellini, Barzagli, Immobile, Bernardeschi. Manager: Gian Piero Ventura 6. SWEDEN (4-4-2): Olsen 7; Lustig 6.5, Lindelof 7, GRANQVIST 7.5, Augustinsson 6; Claesson 6 (Rohden 72, 5), Johansson 6 (Svensson 19, 6), Larsson 6, Forsberg 6.5; Toivonen 5 (Kiese Thelin 54, 6), Berg 6. Subs not used: Johnsson, Olsson, Guidetti, Helander, Krafth, Jansson, Durmaz, Sema, Nordfeldt. Booked: Johansson, Forsberg, Lustig, Kiese Thelin, Olsen. Manager: Jan Andersson 6.5. Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain) 6. Attendance: 70,000.