Another painful chapter for Italy

Gennaro Gattuso has declined to say whether he will remain in charge of Italy after the Azzurri suffered their third consecutive failure to qualify for a World Cup.

Italy, four-time world champions, are once again left watching from the outside after a 4-1 defeat on penalties in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It means the Euro 2020 winners will miss the tournament just as they did in 2018 and 2022. Because apparently one World Cup absence was not enough for a team with that kind of history.

Gattuso, the former AC Milan midfielder who was part of Italy’s last side to win the trophy in 2006, took over as national coach last June after Luciano Spalletti.

Speaking after Tuesday’s loss in Zenica, he described the result as “a heavy blow” on a personal level and made it clear that talk of his job security was not high on his list of priorities.

“I have no interest whatsoever to talk about my future.

We should be talking about Italy, about the blue shirt and that it is another setback which we didn't deserve.

I apologise to all Italians. It hurts so much. I can only thank them (the players), as it had been years since I’d seen the Nazionale play with such heart.”

How the match slipped away

Italy had started well and went ahead early through Moise Kean. The game then tilted sharply when Alessandro Bastoni was sent off shortly before half-time, leaving Italy to spend the rest of the night trying to survive rather than control the match.

Bosnia found an equaliser in the 79th minute through Haris Tabaković, forcing a shoot-out. That is where Italy’s hopes collapsed. Only Sandro Tonali scored for the Azzurri, while Pio Esposito fired over and Bryan Cristante saw his effort bounce back off the underside of the bar.

Federation meeting looms

The Italian football federation, FIGC, is due to meet next week to discuss the national team’s future. That conversation may not stop at the coach.

FIGC president Gabriele Gravina was reported to be backing both Gattuso and the national team delegation chief Gianluigi Buffon, the goalkeeper from Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning side.

“I asked him, and Buffon, to stay on as manager of this team. He’s a great manager,” Gravina said.

Gravina’s own future may also come under scrutiny, which is a neat little bonus for a federation already dealing with another very public failure.