Forget football and watch tennis or Formula One instead, says Italy legend after World Cup failure
Former Italy coach and legendary goalkeeper Dino Zoff has advised youngsters in the country to ignore football and watch tennis or Formula One instead.
The backlash from Italy’s failure to reach the World Cup finals for a third successive time, following last night’s play-off defeat to Bosnia & Herzegovina, is underway this morning with fans, pundits and politicians all having their say.
Zoff, who won 112 caps for his country and coached Italy to a runners-up finish at Euro 2000, refused to point blame on individuals despite widespread calls for the resignations of coach Gennaro Gattuso and Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina.
Zoff told the ANSA news agency: “Italy out of the World Cup? It’s a tragedy, football-wise. Could it have been avoided? I don’t want to get into the matter. We wanted to avoid it but we didn’t succeed.
“The first one [failure to reach the World Cup] was bad luck, and perhaps the second. But the third? You can’t cling to anything.
“Unfortunately, there is a generation of young people who have never seen Italy at the World Cup. I would advise them to watch [tennis player Jannik] Sinner or Formula One with [Kimi] Antonelli.”
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Bastoni red card makes life difficult for Italy
It was a miserable night for the Azzurri in Zenica.
The Azzurri were favourites to end a 12-year absence from the finals after beating Northern Ireland in the semi-finals, and Moise Kean’s 15th-minute opener seemingly put them on course for a trip to North America this summer.
But, in truth, Italy were second-best for long periods, and their task was made even harder by Alessandro Bastoni’s red card in the 41st minute.
Bosnia took advantage when Haris Tabaković levelled 11 minutes from the end of normal time and, though Italy held on for extra time and had the better of the additional half hour, it was the hosts who held their nerve in the shootout.
Pio Esposito blazed the first penalty over and, after Bryan Cristante cracked the crossbar with Italy’s third attempt, Esmir Bajraktarevic snuck Bosnia’s fourth under Gianluigi Donnarumma to send Bosnia to their second World Cup as an independent nation.
Gravina: Don’t just blame the federation for Italy’s woes
Gravina appeared in front of the media after the game and claimed there were issues in Italian football that went well beyond the federation.
He said: “The crisis is deep, [Italian] football needs to be redesigned. The FIGC is being talked about as if it were the only player, when, in fact, the federation is the unifying force.
“There are the leagues, there are the clubs. This is why we need a broader reflection in order to change things. We know we’re in a moment of great crisis, which requires a comprehensive reflection that isn’t just the responsibility of the federation. “
Gravina’s future will be determined by a meeting of the FIGC Council next week. He has asked Gattuso to stay on as coach but the decision may be taken out of his hands.