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[Apocalypse Now] Italy is out of next year's World Cup

Rogue Trader

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Apocalypse: How the world reacted to Italy missing out on World Cup finals
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Gigi Buffon heads into international retirement after Italy failed to make the World Cup finals for the first time since 1958 CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
14 NOVEMBER 2017 • 8:45AM


To many people, the a World Cup without Italy is unthinkable. On Monday evening it became reality as a 0-0 draw sent Gian Piero Ventura's team tumbling out of the competition before even reaching the first hurdle.

A dreadful performance by the Azzurri, devoid of inspiration, creativity or organisation ended with their exit from the World Cup at the play-off stages. Everything about it was just so terribly un-Italy.

One man's hell is another man's heaven and those clad in yellow shirts cared not for the tears shed by the four-time world champions, though may have felt a slight pain in the heart when seeing Gianluigi Buffon's giant, sad face in the aftermath of defeat.

Before kick-off he had applauded the Swedish national anthem while the Italian crowd jeered.

Time for attack
With the scores level, Italy lucky not to concede several penalties and resorting to long ball tactics, things weren't going very well for the home side. Daniele De Rossi was incensed by the management's decision to make him warm up instead of the attack-minded Lorenzo Insigne.

Rough translation, while pointing to Insigne: "Why the f--- should I warm up? We need to win, not draw!"

https://twitter.com/footballitalia/status/930198145883164672
footballitalia @footballitalia

De Rossi asked to warm up: "Why the hell should I go on? We don't need to draw here, we need to win!" Points towards Insigne. #ITASWE #ItalySweden https://twitter.com/ValerioCurcio/status/930195584539078657 …

06:18 - 14 Nov 2017
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The End
The front page of La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy's leading sports daily newspaper, lead with the headline Fine or The End as the Azzurri missed out World Cup qualification for the first time in over 60 years.

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Italy's media react to the shock of failure CREDIT: GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT
La Gazzetta dello Sport blamed "opportunities missed" in an article titled: "Italy, this is the apocalypse." "We will not be with you and you will not be with us," read an editorial.


"A love so great must be reserved for other things. Italy will not participate at the World Cup. "There will be inevitable consequences, but let's just see if they stop with Ventura or go further."

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La Stampa said their goodbyes to the World Cup with the headline "Apocalisse azzurra, Mondiali addio", while Corriere della Sera, also featuring a picture of captain Gianluigi Buffon, called the failure to qualify "La disfatta", meaning utter defeat.

Corriere Dello Sport led with "Everybody Out!" - with the sport daily calling for Azzurri boss Gian Piero Ventura to step down.

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Gian Piero Ventura apologised for Italy's failure after the match CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
Ventura did not say whether he would resign following the result but did issue a public apology.

"I feel I have to apologise to Italians for the result," he said.

"I'm not resigning because I haven't spoken with the (federation) president," he added.

"We need to evaluate things. We'll see. I'll talk with the federation and confront the problem."

At the final whistle a jubilant Sweden team stormed and destroyed the desk of a Swedish national broadcaster:

Magiska scener. pic.twitter.com/GJLs0BL7re

— sebastianlaneby (@sebastianlaneby) November 13, 2017
A heart-breaking post-match interview with Gigi Buffon
And this was almost too upsetting for words.




françois pinet

✔@francoispinet


#Buffon
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"Je suis désolé pour tout le monde... Le temps passe et je suis désolé que mon dernier match avec l’équipe nationale soit cet échec."#ITASUE

06:23 - 14 Nov 2017


Has there ever been a more universally admired footballer than Buffon?

https://twitter.com/GaryLineker/status/930195194963775489
Gary Lineker

✔@GaryLineker


It appears Gianluigi Buffon has played his final game for Italy. He will be much missed. A mountain of a man. A Giant of a goalkeeper. A credit to his sport.

6:06 AM - Nov 14, 2017



View image on Twitter
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https://twitter.com/juventusfcen/status/930194693257908224
JuventusFC

✔@juventusfcen


All Bianconeri are by your side @gianluigibuffon. You're the pride of our nation and the best goalkeeper in the world.
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6:04 AM - Nov 14, 2017
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Now Gigi knows how mortals feel
https://twitter.com/davidpreece12/status/930198870679793667
David Preece

✔@davidpreece12


For once in my life I have something in common with Gigi Buffon. I’m not going to Russia next year either

6:21 AM - Nov 14, 2017
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And does a worse fate await?


Oh no!
https://twitter.com/JonnyGabriel/status/930193746288955392
Jonny Sharples

✔@JonnyGabriel


I'm already thrilled to watch Gianluigi Buffon force himself to laugh at Mark Lawrenson's jokes as they cover the nil-nil draw between Peru and Tunisia next summer.

6:00 AM - Nov 14, 2017
 

glockman

Old Fart
Asset
yeah i have been a fan of the US football (soccer) team since they hosted it in 94.

was hoping MLS would become as popular as NFL, baseball or WWE one day
The MLS (even with big international signings) will never be as popular as the NFL. It will always play second fiddle, because in their minds, the football has to be oval and players need to be dressed like gladiators.
 

Rogue Trader

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
The MLS (even with big international signings) will never be as popular as the NFL. It will always play second fiddle, because in their minds, the football has to be oval and players need to be dressed like gladiators.

Actually we can look at Australia as an example. In the 90s, soccer was non existent there. The joke was everyone in the national soccer team had surnames ending with "-vich" (Yugoslavian immigrants). At grassroots level aussie rules football was the dominant sport.

When i was back there 10 years ago, soccer was becoming very popular. I guess a couple of Aussie exports to EPL and serie A plus two successful WC campaigns really helped.

USA, like Australia, is a "sports crazy" nation. They also have great infrastructure, ready sponsors and media coverage. All they need to a great player like an American David Beckham to raise the profile of the sport.

By the way there's a son of Vietnamese refugees who is a big hit at New England Patriots. Forgot his name but his road to success in the MLS is inspiring
 

glockman

Old Fart
Asset
Actually we can look at Australia as an example. In the 90s, soccer was non existent there. The joke was everyone in the national soccer team had surnames ending with "-vich" (Yugoslavian immigrants). At grassroots level aussie rules football was the dominant sport.

When i was back there 10 years ago, soccer was becoming very popular. I guess a couple of Aussie exports to EPL and serie A plus two successful WC campaigns really helped.

USA, like Australia, is a "sports crazy" nation. They also have great infrastructure, ready sponsors and media coverage. All they need to a great player like an American David Beckham to raise the profile of the sport.

By the way there's a son of Vietnamese refugees who is a big hit at New England Patriots. Forgot his name but his road to success in the MLS is inspiring
Oh yes, that is a good comparison. MLS and aussie rules. Although football (soccer) is gaining popularity, I think it will always be second fiddle to their own football. Those folks are really passionate about their own brand of football, which is a good thing. Speaking of aussie rules, I remember a good family friend who was a life member of the Mayne Tigers in Brisbane. He has since passed away. I went to a few game matches with him, but could never quite understand or appreciated the game. We were weaned on EPL, hence football is more exciting and not so complicated.
 

JohnTan

Alfrescian (InfP)
Generous Asset
Italy's woes would be over if they hired one of our ex-generals to head their football associations. Our generals have the best academic credentials! Punching above our weight!
 

halsey02

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Never liked the Italian team, they played boring defensive football, from the days they have players like Paolo Rossi, Zola, Dino & others..boring.

Kojak....will tell the Italian Football Team, " Whoo Miss You Baby"...FINE!
 

eatshitndie

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
yeah i have been a fan of the US football (soccer) team since they hosted it in 94.

was hoping MLS would become as popular as NFL, baseball or WWE one day
if fifa and mls were to change some time management and substitution rules, mls could take off on tv and becum a more popular sport for commercials and corporate sponsorship. afterall big money and big tv can turn any small time sports into a commercial powerhouse. in u.s. it’s all about commercial success although a large fanbase can help. soccer in the u.s. actually has a large fanbase, but corporate and media support are negligible because the rules are too tight for commercials and airtime. in the nfl, each game is 1 hour long but can last 3 to 4 hours on tv due to commercial breaks, team timeouts, quarter recess, halftime, injury timeouts, out-of-bound timeouts, turnover timeouts, action replays, red flag challenges (2 per team), 2-minute timeouts per half, referee reviews of plays within the 2-minute warning, unlimited substitutions, etc. almost the same with the nba, but last few seconds in the nba can delay game for minutes with intentional foul and free throw plays. an hour’s game can stretch to 4 hours. in baseball or mlb, a game can go for more than 6.9 hours with extra innings and long breaks. all these breaks are great for commercials and corporate sponsorships. players’ payout in these games are high because of corporate sponsorships. in mls, corporate sponsors balk as 1-half is continuous ball movement for 45 minutes with little to no breaks and all commercials have to cram for limited spots during half time.
 

Narong Wongwan

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
I am not sure if our generation can mentally handle a World Cup without the Dutch and the Italians.

The Dutch are perennial underachievers.....just like England.
Many English fans still hoping for them to win the World Cup.
I remembered the outcry when England failed to qualify for the World Cup in 94 and more recently at the euros. But the competition got underway and everyone soon forgot and no one mourn their absence after awhile.
Same will happen for Italy this time round
 

halsey02

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
I am not sure if our generation can mentally handle a World Cup without the Dutch and the Italians.
The Dutch are perennial underachievers.....just like England.
Many English fans still hoping for them to win the World Cup.
I remembered the outcry when England failed to qualify for the World Cup in 94 and more recently at the euros. But the competition got underway and everyone soon forgot and no one mourn their absence after awhile.
Same will happen for Italy this time round

I can...I don't see the Italians, I am happy, the Dutch, yesteryear , that is another matter..today..." who miss you baby"..England, another " who cares baby"...their only glory was when Bobby Charlton won the world cup with the team..& that was...51 years ago!!
 
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