Italy: “The Chance To Rise Again”

Are bandwagon Azzurri fans spitting the dummy prematurely?

8 min readMar 29, 2022

Awkwardly, the FIFA World Cup in Qatar won’t feature the incumbent European Champion. Firstly, it was Sweden and now North Macedonia, mannaggia.

So what’s the point in playing anymore? Should we all just throw the toys out of the pram like back in 2018 and demand the coach and players should all be sacked?

If that’s your reaction then this piece will give you acido just like Zia Giuseppina used to complain about every Sunday evening.

Roberto Mancini spoke after Italy was eliminated by North Macedonia in Palermo.

four Hail Marys

Let’s spare a moment for four players in particular — Giorgio Chiellini, Jorginho, Alessandro Florenzi and Ciro Immobile — that were out on the pitch when the final whistle was blown on both occasions in 2018 and 2022.

Breathe in the vision of them holding aloft the European Championship trophy. Now breathe out the cognitive dissonance.

è colpa sua

Blame the coach, or single out a specific player, whatever tickles your fancy. But this is the same Italy that rose to the occasion just nine months ago — defeating England on their turf — to win continental silverware.

There’s even a documovie about it, just in case that’s slipped your mind.

Yes, there were loads of scoring chances bottled against Northern Ireland and Bulgaria. Si Signorina, there were penalty misses against Switzerland in the WCQ group stage.

Nevertheless, how easily we forget that Jorginho — third place in the Ballon d’Or — sealed the deal against Spain to qualify Italy for the Euro 2020 Final and that Gigi Donnarumma thwarted England’s shootout revival. Pobody’s Nerfect.

che sarà sarà

Italy dominated North Macedonia with 64% possession, 16 corners to nil, and squandered 32 toothless attempts at goal — statistics that reinforce Italy’s impotence against Northern Ireland and Bulgaria.

Loosely translation: “Change the coach and everyone involved and start again from the drawing board”.

Hot-headed Zio Mario might be disappointed enough to demand that heads roll from the calcio guillotine, but signs of poor form had surfaced by September.

By November, the armchair allenatori at home were all out of cannoli.

Italy’s form peaked in June — at the Euros — and had since tapered off sharply, winning just two of seven matches prior to the playoff with North Macedonia, who had kept four clean sheets in seven.

credit where credit’s due

Yes, Immobile, Insigne and Berardi lacked killer instinct in Sicily but what about the centre-half pairing of Darko Velkovski and Visar Musliu for the Lynxes? It was like they’d summoned vintage Baresi-Costacurta.

And then there’s sensational Stole Dimitrievski in goal and that brilliant hit from Aleksandar Trajkovski to ensure that his side would conquer its fourth win in five to send the streets of Skopje into rapture.

folklore

In football, your anguish is someone else’s jubilation. Just ask the English. As North Macedonian coach Blagoja Milevski exclaimed post-match, “We won Italian style…I’m very happy for this victory, I’m proud for these guys”.

Meanwhile, Mancini eulogised, “This is the worst moment of my career”.

Undefeated in seven of eight games since his tenure began last June, Milevski has galvanised North Macedonia — a population of just two million — with an epic victory in Palermo that will be memorialised for generations to come.

it wasn’t in the script

Sometimes, small teams win. If we can’t handle that then we need to cease living life through the vicarious actions and outcomes of professional footballers and clubs.

Or simply resort to following a combination of Real-Paris-Juve-Barca-Bayern-City or whichever team wins on any given day. Perhaps switch on the playstation and perpetually select the strongest club and mash all the buttons?

the Euros are bringing us more joy

Akin to Al Bundy glorifying his college football years, perhaps we are clutching onto the memories of 2006? You may shake your head in denial but do read on.

Al Bundy clutching onto yesteryear. Credit: Married With Children

Over the past sixteen years, Italy’s ONLY victory at a FIFA World Cup occurred in 2014 when Claudio Marchisio and Mario Balotelli won it against *England under Cesare Prandelli, who lost 13 of his 56 games in charge for the Nazionale.

Compare that with Roberto Mancini’s 47 games, 30 wins, 13 draws and 4 losses for a win percentage of 63.8% (against Prandelli’s 41.07%). Even Marcello Lippi’s record — 7 losses in 56 matches — looks mediocre when compared to current Azzurri boss.

Gol di Grosso, Gol di Grosso. Andiamo a Berlino

Preceding that win over England, Italy’s previous win in any world cup rendezvous came against France — YES ZIDANE’S FRANCE — in the final of 2006. Materazzi and Grosso are the names we reminisce over when it comes to goals that got Italy over the line in Berlin.

In world cups since 2006, Italy has failed to progress out of the groups on two occasions, in 2010 and 2014, and now has two ill-fated attempts at qualification for 2018 and 2022.

Pop Quiz, Hotshot

If the Gods of Football offered you the ultimatum of winning in 2006 but failing to qualify for two of the next four world cups, you’d have taken it, regardless of which country you support.

If the Goddesses (being inclusive here) offered Euro 2020 glory for a failed world cup bid, most punters would snap up the offer as well.

perhaps the Euros are our thing

It’s a very different story at the Euros though. Two finals (2012 and 2020) and two quarter-final eliminations via penalties (2008 and 2016).

Leonardo Bonucci and Gianluigi Donnarumma

Back during the ECQ qualifying campaign of 2019, who would have thought that Bonucci and Donnarumma would be the goal-scorer and match-winner combination that night in London. Roberto Mancini, that’s who.

reality check

This 2020–22 crop has been the most fruitful since the glorious Coppa del Mondo triumph under Marcello Lippi. Roberto Mancini inherited a depressed and insecure squad —remember Gian Piero Ventura’s mob? — and transcended them into title-holders in just three years.

And this is why Mancini should stay on.

Taking over from the Ventura-Di Biagio era, names such as Criscito, Parolo, Gagliardini, Rugani, Darmian, Gabbiadini, Zaza and Eder were all regular components of an under-performing squad.

Apart from blistering form, sometimes winning is all about timing. For example, there are doubts that Italy would have won the Euros if it was actually contested, as scheduled, in 2020. Here’s my logic on that.

“not enough Italians playing Serie A”

Aside from a dearth of teenagers in Serie A, there’s also been the pernicious decline of Italians plying their trade in the top flight, and we could moan about how Roberto Baggio’s advice on the youth system was ignored nearly a decade ago when he was appointed as the President of the Technical Sector of the FIGC.

Let’s tackle that issue later in the week, as well as the Francesco Graziani comments on foreign player numbers in Italian football.

Support Serie B and Serie C

If you want to see Azzurrini stars performing regularly then tune in to the Italian second division, in particular Gaetano, Carnesecchi, Okoli and Fagioli at Cremonese — who is topping the table at the moment!

Italy needs a leader and stability

Mancini needs to stay on. Whether he wants to continue, after such a hysterical reaction by fans and pundits, is a different story.

Besides Vincenzo Italiano and Roberto De Zerbi — who are simply not ready for the job — who else could do a better job of developing Tonali, Ricci, Zaniolo, Bellanova or Bastoni at international level?

Gian Piero Gasperini and Carlo Ancelotti? These guys are smashing it with their clubs.

I cannot grow old in Salem’s Lot

With world cup qualification in mind, this is the perfect time to bid farewell to the veterans of this triumphant Italy squad. However, Chiellini, Bonucci, Florenzi, Insigne and Immobile — all over thirty years of age or older — still deserve their moment.

Yes, they deserve a shot at Argentina come June. After all, it’s a match between the reigning European and Coppa America champions. Chiellini was the captain of that squad at Wembley. Bonucci scored the goal, and Immobile contributed with two group-stage goals.

Just like when Italy beat England, I’ll be there to support them again.

Is this Turkey-friendly redundant?

With failure, there’s always a chance to build something new, or at least, build onto that which already exists. That is precisely why change occurs and, with such a bitter result, moving on as soon as possible is often the best solution.

June 2022: Argentina at Wembley is next and the Azzurri desperately need a rebound hookup.

Leonardo Bonucci spoke to the press before departure to Konya. “We just need to believe in the chance for redemption”, he said.

“When you hit rock bottom, you need the chance to rise again.”

Turkey vs Italy

With seven Azzurri returning to their respective clubs following the loss to North Macedonia, there’s a rare opportunity to give valuable international experience to fringe giocatori that may well play a decisive part in Italy’s next group-stage campaign which begins in March 2023.

And yes, those will be qualifiers to defend the title of EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS.

Roberto Mancini, of all Italy coaches, has the best win percentage of recent decades. www.davidferrini.com

*England: apologies to any English fans reading this. I’m not focusing on just beating the English. It just so happens that Italy’s best results come often against England. Oops, I forget to mention 1990. To be fair, you’ll probably go far in Qatar seeing that Italy wont be there

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