Il disastro di Palermo
For those that follow Italian football, Italy’s elimination from the Qatar World Cup – beaten1-0 in March in a play-off by “minnows” North Macedonia – was just about the most inexplicable and unexpected result of modern, Italian times. La Repubblica’s senior football writer, Enrico Curro, probably got it right when he described the disaster as “certainly the worst in 112 years of Italian national team history”.
What happened? Institutional incompetence, penalties missed along the qualifying way, and tired and injured players all led to a woeful attack of the collective jitters from the same squad which only eight months earlier had played bold, brave and sparkling football on the road to winning the 2020 European Championship.
On paper, this was a complete mismatch: the FIFA-ranked No.6 side playing at home to a side ranked 67th. Italy are the reigning European champions and four-time
