Italy Eliminated From World Cup By North Macedonia; Twitter Reacts
Italy lost the European playoff on Thursday, in a rather dramatic 1-0 loss against the southeast European nation
After a shocking defeat to North Macedonia, Italy is officially out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The 2020 Euro champions lost the European playoff on Thursday, in a rather dramatic 1-0 loss against the southeast European nation.
This is the second time in a row that the Azzurri will miss out on competing in the world’s biggest football competition, after failing to qualify for the competition in 2018.
Roberto Mancini: “I’m more than disappointed, I’ve nothing to say. Something incredible happened tonight. We deserved to win the Euros, now we’ve been really unlucky… but that’s it, that’s the reality. I’m sorry for the players”. 🔵 #Italy
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 24, 2022
Roberto Mancini’s side had a total of 32 efforts at the goal but somehow came up short on the end result. It was Aleksandar Trajkovski’s last-minute heroics that sent the North Macedonian team into the next round, where they’ll face Portugal.
Speaking on the occasion, Italian midfielder Jorginho said, “It is a huge disappointment. It hurts, it hurts so much. We have always created and dominated matches but we have not been able to finish teams off. It is not to blame anyone in particular but it is the reality.”
Image credits – Football Italia
“I don’t know why we haven’t been able to do this, I am also involved in this, and it hurts me to think about it,” he added.
Trouble was already brewing for Italy when veteran defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini stayed out of the starting 11, due to injuries. Italy’s Ciro Immobile came close in the first half, but his effort went blazing over the bar.
Meanwhile, Roberto Mancini’s future as the head coach has also come into question after the loss.
Roberto Mancini on his future as Italy head coach: “We will see. Now I feel too disappointed to speak about my future, we will see”, he told Rai Sport. 🔵 #Italy
“I’m sure this team has a great future. I’m supporting these players now more than ever”. pic.twitter.com/bwXAC4uK2f
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 24, 2022
“Just as last July was the best thing I experienced at a professional level, this is the greatest disappointment,” said Mancini, further adding “Soccer is like that, sometimes incredible things happen.”
As expected, Italy’s defeat and subsequent elimination has sent shockwaves through the footballing world, with an avalanche of reactions pouring in from fans:
Wow! North Macedonia have scored at the death. Italy are on the brink of World Cup death….again.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) March 24, 2022
After missing on Russia 2018, Italy are out of the World Cup 2022. What an incredible disaster. 🇮🇹 #Italy
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 24, 2022
NORTH MACEDONIA KNOCKS ITALY OUT OF THE WORLD CUP PLAYOFFS pic.twitter.com/zqB3OVeEus
— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) March 24, 2022
Rickie Lambert played in the last World Cup that Italy qualified for
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) March 24, 2022
NORTH MACEDONIA IN THE 92ND MINUTE! 🇲🇰
ITALY AREN'T GOING TO THE 2022 WORLD CUP 🤯 pic.twitter.com/S0N7rsI0R4
— GOAL (@goal) March 24, 2022
When there’s no Italy to stop football from coming home this year. pic.twitter.com/XwemEgp8Sj
— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) March 24, 2022
(Featured image Credits – B/R Football )
