What felt like just a bad dream became reality once the World Cup started last week, the Italian national team isn’t participating in the tournament in Russia. Former Azzurri manager Giampiero Ventura understands the anger and disappointment, he discussed the events that led to the shocking elimination against Sweden in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport:”The project was going well, I was making the squad younger after inheriting the oldest national team in fifty years. I gave fourteen players their debut, I was inserting young players to bring to the World Cup 2018 which would have been the jump off point for Euro 2020 where we would’ve been amongst the favorites”
Ventura can pinpoint the moment things went south:”Before the loss to Spain in Madrid we were coming off seven wins and two draws, the fans were behind us. But after Madrid I was deligitimazed in a way I had never seen, after that I was identified as the only one responsible. I went from being Italy’s manager to a punching ball. I should have resigned, but I stayed because I was attached to national team and I felt we could make it”
