Don't cry for the Italians!

The Italian Illusion

There is a special statistic drawn after Italy's defeat to Switzerland: from 2016 to now, the defending champions have always stopped at the round of 16. That is the defeat of Spain (champion in 2012) against Italy at EURO 2016, of Portugal (champion in 2016) against Belgium at EURO 2020 and now Italy (champion in 2020) lost to Switzerland.

Whether it's called a "curse" or not depends on your point of view. But there is one opinion that experts and fans agree on after last night's match: Italy was eliminated because they were poor, not because of any curse.

The sadness of the Italian team

The picture of Italian football over the past 20 years is encapsulated in the statement of defender Massimo Oddo (who used to play for AC Milan) that "the worst thing for Italian football was the 2006 World Cup championship, because it gave Italians the illusion that they had strong football".

Indeed, after the 2006 World Cup, the Italian team was eliminated in the group stage of the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, and then did not participate in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. The glorious victory in Berlin that year was like a stone thrown into a lake, sinking, with the stains only lasting for a few seconds.

Sadly for the Italian team, the EURO 2020 championship may be the same. It has no value other than to appease a team, or a football that is no longer worth mentioning.

Did Italy deserve to win EURO 2020? Of course they did. The team in blue won from the opening match to the championship, playing both attractive attacking football and being brave and tough. However, the toughness disappeared when the old guard duo Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini left the team. And the beauty was gone after the injury of Federico Chiesa, Italy's brightest star in that year's tournament.

The Italian team is a disjointed and weak collective.

The Italian team reached the top of Europe thanks to a squad of potential players who reached their peak form at the same time. However, the championship did not help the team in blue shirts to have a boost, because Italian football inherently lacked talent, with only a generation of players who had won the EURO that year.

Proof of this is that right after EURO 2020, Italy was "kicked out" in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers by... North Macedonia. Just like the 2006 World Cup, a trophy is not enough for Italian football to come back from the abyss.

Coach Spalletti must take responsibility

In the past, the Italian team made an impression with their heroic national anthem. However, ironically for Italy, after the defeat against Switzerland, this detail was used to... make fun of. "The Italian team is only good for singing the national anthem", is a viewpoint that has spread with hundreds of thousands of interactions on social networks.

Coach Luciano Spalletti may blame football for being too cruel, but he also has himself to blame. La Republica criticized the Italian team as "one of the ugliest teams in many years". It's not just about the strength, but also Spalletti's way of using people and commanding troops.

Coach Spalletti is not 'innocent'

How can Mateo Darmian, who missed a penalty in Italy's quarter-final defeat to Germany in EURO 2016, still be at EURO 2024? The defender failed at Manchester United and has no talent, but Spalletti still has to use him.

Gianluca Scamacca, a player who could not even stay at West Ham despite his high transfer fee, was chosen by Spalletti to lead the attack of the Italian national team. Stephan El-Shaarawy, a name that has not been at the top of Europe for many years, is still trusted by Italy.

Italian football is sorely lacking in quality players, as Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho have commented. However, with the former Napoli coach's use of players, perhaps no amount of them will be enough. The Italian team played disorganized and disjointedly against Switzerland, but this style of play was evident in the group stage. The only difference is that Italy still advanced because their opponents made more mistakes.

But coach Spalletti did not learn his lesson. He could do nothing to "breathe life" into the weak army, except for empty statements.

The Italian team lost because... there was nothing to win. There were no tears shed for Italy after the defeat. Coach Spalletti and his team did not deserve it.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/dung-khoc-cho-nguoi-y-185240630140757557.htm