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+--- Thread: World Cup 2026 Canada/Mexico/US (/showthread.php?tid=3343)
RE: World Cup 2026 Canada/Mexico/US - reza - 03-31-2026
Italy miss third WC in a row.
RE: World Cup 2026 Canada/Mexico/US - xudong - 04-01-2026
Inter players will be well rested in the summer.
RE: World Cup 2026 Canada/Mexico/US - SkyEdge - 04-01-2026
I hope Bastoni will take the brunt of the blame for this.. severely shatter his morale and confidence.. knowing his epic and karmic f*ck up cost his country the World Cup spot.. i hope its hard for even the Interistas to stand behind him.. all bodes well for Milan considering we didnt have players in that line-up
RE: World Cup 2026 Canada/Mexico/US - Leoni9900 - 04-01-2026
(04-01-2026, 04:54 AM)SkyEdge Wrote: I hope Bastoni will take the brunt of the blame for this.. severely shatter his morale and confidence.. knowing his epic and karmic f*ck up cost his country the World Cup spot.. i hope its hard for even the Interistas to stand behind him.. all bodes well for Milan considering we didnt have players in that line-up
There was no need to go in for that challenge even. Bastoni was fast enough to catch him and just shoulder him off the ball. What a boneheaded mistake that cost Italy the WC.
RE: World Cup 2026 Canada/Mexico/US - nefremo - 04-02-2026
(04-01-2026, 12:01 PM)Leoni9900 Wrote: There was no need to go in for that challenge even. Bastoni was fast enough to catch him and just shoulder him off the ball. What a boneheaded mistake that cost Italy the WC.
Yea. Dumb as hell to make that challenge. You know it's a straight red if you miss that tackle. So just keep going and try to put pressure to force a bad shot, etc. Even if he scored, Italyvwas up 1-0 land it wpuld have been 1-1 with 50 minutes to play still. A terrible decision, really.
Still, this is not a one-off. The problem is systemic. Italy should not be having trouble to quality for World Cups. They shouldn't have to go through play-offs. That in itself is embarrassing for a 4x winner and a country with football history as rich as Italy's. So although Bastoni fuked up, Italians should look within and change the culture and mentality. So far, tgere is little sogn of that happening.
RE: World Cup 2026 Canada/Mexico/US - Aficio - 04-02-2026
Billy compared Bastoni to P. Maldini, he surely knows how to destroy a boy
RE: World Cup 2026 Canada/Mexico/US - Sleeping Giant - 04-02-2026
Italy doesn't have Talent issue, it's mostly temperament and lack of exposure or chances for young players. Depth wise Italian defence and midfield is stocked but since eternity Italian attack just sucks and will remain as such.
RE: World Cup 2026 Canada/Mexico/US - nefremo - 04-02-2026
(04-02-2026, 12:12 PM)Sleeping Giant Wrote: Italy doesn't have Talent issue, it's mostly temperament and lack of exposure or chances for young players. Depth wise Italian defence and midfield is stocked but since eternity Italian attack just sucks and will remain as such.
I don't know man. I'm interested to know why you think this? What exactly has this batch of Italian talent done? We can argue that Inter made it to 2 CL finals with an Italian core, but those players have never been able to replicate the same level at the NT. It all leads to Simone and points to the CL runs being systemic more than player quality. Either way, I guess there is little difference. But the fact is, I don't think they are stacked with talent.
Bastoni is Italy's best defender, followed by Calafiori (who runs hot and cold tbh). Those two are pretty much the only top talents in the backline. Mancini, Gatti and the rest are nothing short of average. Lots of talk about Di Marco in Italy, but every time he plays for for the Nat, he looks terrible.
Tonali is a good player and probably top in the middle. Barella follows closely but (agin) he's never been able to replicate his Inter performances for the BT. Same for Di Marco btw.
And then there is the attack...which severely lacks in talent across the board. There is no creativity and no imagination. There is not a player that will make things happen.
Where i see your point though, is that it's not like Norway or Bosnia have more talented players. But the quality displayed was similar in both encounters. Which makes you think....how the f does Italy not stand out above those two in terms of depth in quality, at the very least!? So it all leads to development and lack of talent imo. And the root cause of that is at the grassroots. At the youth programs. And that's where Italy needs to start again.
RE: World Cup 2026 Canada/Mexico/US - Sleeping Giant - 04-02-2026
Italy still has Ahanor, Scalvini, Bertesaghi, Comuzzo, Kayode playing for U21s who are in right path for breaking into first team. I probably over estimated the midfield. Italy doesn't focus on youth players, you can't just expect a seed to become tree without irrigation and fertilizer, they just plant the seeds. Even if these seeds turn into saplings these are just not enough to face the tough conditions, this is probably why Italians are again and again fails in playoffs. I read some stuff that Baggio back in 2010 tried to solve this issue but FIGC outrightly rejected his idea, focusing tradition over innovation. I don't know what lies ahead of Italy. I just couldn't watch World Cup without Italy, I loved them since I was a child and it hurts more than my own nation NT being nutcrack in Football.
RE: World Cup 2026 Canada/Mexico/US - nefremo - 04-02-2026
But to your point, that "talent" has to be allowed to shine. All countries have talented players these days. Look at Bosnia. Two wingers under 20 that tore Italy's wings to shreds. Do you see Italy giving a chance to 19 and 20 year olds? The whole system is outdated my friend. They need to re-configure the entire system from the grassroots up.
Italian youth teams do well. They consistently make it to finals/semi-finals of international competitions across the youth levels. But the buck stops there. There is a CLEAR problem of integration between youth level and Sr level. They need to believe in youth. But the dinosaurs in charge over there don't get it. They are so focused on tactics and experience and blah blah....so much so that they've missed an entire generation. It's sad, and it continues to happen.