'L'Apocalisse' - Italian press mourn the national team missing out on their first World Cup in 60 years
The sport front pages were mourning the demise of their national team in Tuesday's editions
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Next summer Russia will be hosting something which hasn’t happened for 60 years – a World Cup finals without four-time winners Italy.
Trailing 1-0 on aggregate to a Jakob Johansson goal scored in Friday's first leg in Stockholm, Gian Piero Ventura's Azzurri were cheered on by almost 72,000 Italian fans in Milan.
But despite laying siege to the Scandinavian defence over 90 feverish minutes, Italy could not make the breakthrough and the goalless draw was enough for Sweden to reach Russia 2018.
Gianluigi Buffon may be hardest hit by Italy's failure to reach the summer finals. At 39, the Juventus stopper had already decided to quit international football after the tournament and his 175th cap, won on a dismal night in Milan, may be his last.
And the local newspapers did not mince their words in Tuesday’s editions as they attempted to come to terms with Italy’s failure to reach a World Cup for the first time in six decades.
“FINE” – translating to “The End” in English – was sprawled over the front page of the country’s leading sports daily paper La Gazzetta dello Sport, in giant block capitals. The paper wrote that without a World Cup to look forward to, “a love so great must be reserved for other things”.
“We will not be with you and you will not be with us. Italy will not participate at the World Cup. There will be inevitable consequences,” the paper’s editorial read.
Italy’s other major sports daily Corriere dello Sport called for “everyone out”. Their editorial read: “In only a few months’ time we will be watching the World Cup for everyone else: for the first time in 60 years we will be on the outside. It is an intolerable football shame, an indelible stain.”
Turin daily La Stampa wrote “Apocalypse Azzurra” and said “disaster for Italy, we won’t be going to the World Cup.”
Meanwhile Rome daily Il Messaggero called it “A national shame” while the online headline for La Repubblica read simply as “Goodbye Russia”.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments