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Don’t look for Italy at the World Cup in Qatar in November. The European champion did not get past football dwarf North Macedonia in the European play-offs in March and saw a World Cup ticket slip through his fingers for the second time in a row. That elimination still resonates in many football-loving Italian hearts, including former Golden Ball winner Roberto Baggio.
Vincent Van GenechtenBron: BELGIAN
Yesterday at 5:49 PM
He found it difficult to bear the defeat and finds it “repulsive” that Italy, as the winner of the European Championship, is not automatically qualified for the world championship.
“It is a shame that Italy cannot go to the World Cup in Qatar after the victory at the European Championship,” said the Italian football legend on Thursday, the day after Italy’s defeat in the Finalissima against Argentina. “It’s really outrageous. I even find it repulsive. Didn’t those guys deserve a reward? I don’t know how I would have reacted if it had happened to me.”
“I find it hard to accept it. Because of one small mistake in such a match (against North Macedonia), in which anything can happen, you have to go home?”, said Baggio.
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Italy won the European championship in the summer of 2021, after eliminating the Red Devils in the quarterfinals, among other things. Since then, it has only gone downhill for Mancini’s troops. On Wednesday, it also lost the Finalissima, a game between the European and Latin American champions, 0-3 to Argentina. “Argentina has great players, but the Azzurri are still mentally not recovered from the World Cup elimination. The peace of mind between the two teams was simply incomparable,” the Italian concluded.
Italy will play against Germany in group 3 of the A-division of the Nations League on Friday. After that, it will play duels against Hungary (June 7), England (June 11) and again Germany (June 14).
