Last summer they were on the roof of Europe, now they are at the bottom - Italian footballers will not play in the World Cup for the second time in a row, after they shockingly lost to Macedonia 1:0 in Palermo in the semi-final play-off match for the World Cup.
"Azura" was not even in Russia 2018, and previously at the championships in Brazil 2014 and South Africa 2010, they were eliminated in the group stage.
It can be like this - they played their last match on the biggest world stage on June 15, 2014 against England 2.839 days ago, and their last match in the elimination phase was the 2006 final and victory over France 5.737 days ago.
What a blow it is for such a football nation, which just a few months ago was in EURO euphoria, what a slap in the face for Roberto Mancini, who said before the play-offs that the goal was not to qualify for the World Cup, but to win it.
"It's an understatement to say that I'm disappointed, this is the biggest disappointment of my career. I don't know what to say. Something incredible happened. We deserved to be European champions, tonight was unlucky. That's how it is. I feel sorry for the players," Mancini commented briefly.
The logical question was whether he would remain as a coach.
"It's not time to talk about my future. We'll see everything. I'm sure this team has a great future. I support these guys more than ever," Mancini said.
"This is painful, we were unlucky, but it's clear that something was missing. We made mistakes in the group, we paid for everything tonight. We have to move on, I hope this will give us the energy to start again. We have to think about qualification for the European Championship," said Djordjo Chiellini.
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