Yup, missing Spinazzola and Chiesa is no excuse. It's was not a vintage side by any stretch but they should still have had enough to put these teams away. Euro winners, beat Belgium to clinch third spot in the Nations League with a 37 game unbeaten run thrown in for good measure, and then falter against the likes of Northern Ireland (not Brazil) and North Macedonia...? With all due respect to the opposition, Italy need to have a look at themselves. Ravanelli says clear the squad out and keep Mancini. He's right enough however Mancini shouldn't automatically get a pass either--he called up those players and set them up!
I was gloatingly texted at full-time last night with the info that the last time Italy won a knockout round match at a World Cup was the final in '06. Zidane put the hoodoo on them.
It's not like the Qatar World Cup isn't tarnished beyond repair anyway, so when the dust settles on Italy's failure, it'll be nice to have one less reason to tune in.