Italy fail to qualify for the World Cup yet again
The Azzurri national team were defeated by Bosnia in a penalty shootout to deny their hopes on qualifying for the World Cup. It’s for the third time in a row that Italy have failed to qualify for the World Cup. Which means the four-time champions will have to settle to watch from home yet again. From the remarkable 2020 European Championship victory to heartbreak again in Bosnia on Tuesday evening, the once dominant legacy of Italian football seems to be losing its identity. Speaking after the match, Gennaro Gattuso said: “The lads didn’t deserve to take a beating like that. “We needed this [World Cup qualification]. For ourselves, for Italy, for our sport. A blow like this is hard to take. “Personally, I apologise for not making it to the World Cup.” A massive upset for the Italian nation, and one that’s becoming a familiar feeling for the Italian fans. Sweden and North Macedonia have both denied Italy spots into the World Cup in recent years, marking a minimum 16 year wait for Italy if they can progress into the 2030 World Cup tournament when it arrives.
“If We Don’t Get The Result, We Just Get Booed” – Scotland Skipper on Tartan Booing Brigade
Scotland captain Andrew Robertson believes only a ‘minority’ of Scottish fans voiced their displeasure as the national side were booed off after a 1-0 defeat to Ivory Coast at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool. Steve Clarke’s team were also subject to booing after a home 1-0 defeat to Japan in their last game, with the Scotland manager labelling the noise as ‘disappointing’. And his skipper Robertson, who became Scotland’s second most capped player ever last night, agrees that the crowd reaction isn’t justified. He said: “I think it’s now just set, if we don’t get the result then we just get booed. “What I will say is 95% of the fans drowned it out very quickly, so it’s a small minority. It was a small minority at Hampden on Saturday and it was a small minority today. “Everyone behind that goal that were clapping were fans that were appreciative of what they’ve seen, appreciative of the team that have took them to a World Cup, and the reception at the end was unbelievable. So it’s only a few people. “For me, that’s not a booing performance. Okay, we got beat, and I hate getting beat, but it was a lot of positives to take. It wasn’t from a want or trying, we played some really good stuff, especially in the second half.” And the 32-year-old was quick to point out the level of opposition that Scotland had tested themselves out against in these two friendlies. “I think Japan have just beat England 1-0 today as well. Let’s be real, we go beat off Japan 1-0 and it was a 0-0 game, we just probably made a mistake and they’ve went and beat England. “Ivory Coast won 4-0 on Saturday and I think for large parts, we were the better team.” Scotlands next confirmed fixture is at home to Curacao on May 30th, as they have one final send off before their first World Cup in 28 years.
