Dismay, disbelief as Italy miss World Cup
ITALY’S failure to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 60 years was greeted by a mixture of disbelief, dismay and resigned disappointment by fans across the country.
In Rome’s trendy San Lorenzo district, the Le Mura bar, which showed yesterday night’s playoff crunch with Sweden on a big screen, emptied at the final whistle after a goalless stalemate which condemned the Azzurri to a 1-0 aggregate defeat.
“It is really very sad because watching the World Cup was something that really brought us together as Italians,” said recent graduate Stefania Pusateri, heading for the exit.
“But what is sure is that the shock will be even worse for my father. He is 54 years old and he has never had to go through something like this.”
Sitting alongside Pusateri, friend Davide Penna concurred.
“I still can’t believe it has happened,” he said. “We have never experienced anything like this. It’s over.”
Similar sentiments were voiced by fans coming out of the San Siro stadium in Milan after yesterday’s 0-0 draw.
“I am disappointed with the whole football system in Italy,” said Mirko Palmieri.
“It is the umpteenth failure of our country. Even here (at the San Siro), we can’t get the job done.”
Back in the Rome bar, the view that Italy deserved to be on the plane to Russia was disputed by journalism student Christian Dalenz.
“The reality is they were not good enough, they haven’t earned the right to be at the World Cup. This is a very weak squad. It just does not have enough world-class players who can make the difference.”
The extent of the shock that non-qualification represents for Italian football was underlined by the pre-match confidence of most fans that Gigi Buffon and co. would pull through.
“It is not as if Sweden are that strong a team,” Fabio Votano, a Roman who was only a toddler when Italy last missed out on a World Cup finals, had told AFPTV hours before kick-off.
“Not winning is completely unthinkable, basically something that has never happened before. For Italy, getting to the World Cup finals is almost a duty.”
Rome resident Enrico Doddi summed it up best when he said: “You cannot have a good World Cup without Italy.” – AFP