Italy’s World Cup curse continues
ITALY will not be in the 2022 World Cup. This will mark the second consecutive time that the four-time World Champions miss the showpiece event after they also failed to make the cut for the 2018 event in Russia.
While this fact indicates that the Italians are in a crisis, that’s not really the case.
They are still capable of beating any side in the world and also winning major tournaments as they did the European Championships last year. It is quite a strange time in their history.
Roberto Mancini’s team’s elimination from World Cup qualifying came last Thursday when they were humbled 1-0 by North Macedonia. Having watched the game, it would have been heart-breaking for Italians but it was also a bit funny and a case of fortune favouring the brave.
Macedonia had realistic expectations as their tactics showed that they expected Italy to be the stronger team. The vast majority of their team dropped back when Italy attacked to defend their goal with one or two players waiting to pounce on loose balls for a breakaway to score an upset goal.
One of those players was Aleksandar Trajkovski who slotted home in second half stoppage time to punish the Italians.
North Macedonia did not dominate the game but they benefited by using realistic tactics and in that way outsmarted Mancini’s side.
The Azzurri miss the World Cup just eight months after having lifted the European Championships. The years since 2010 have been strange ones for them.
They entered the 2010 World Cup as defending Champions but suffered the champion curse as they placed last in a group which was favourable to them as it contained Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand.
Just two years later, Italy reached the final of Euro 2012 where they lost against a Spain side which was simply a cut above the rest at the time.
After another poor group stage exit at the 2014 World Cup, they eliminated Spain in the round of 16 at Euro 2016 before losing to Germany in the quarter-finals.
Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup before recovering well by winning Euro 2020. Now, it’s all back to square one for them as they have to rebuild their team yet again.
While Italian hearts are broken, Canada are celebrating a return to the World Cup after 36 years.
Canada have been one of the most improved football nations in recent years, going from minnows to having a respectable team.
With talented players like Jonathan David, Alphonso Davies and forward Cyle Larin in their team, they can even potentially advance beyond their group if they get a favourable draw for the group stage at the World Cup in Qatar later this year.