“We are destroyed”

Luciano Spalletti celebrated a Scudetto with Naples a year ago. A title that the Neapolitan team had not won since the time of Maradona. So long awaited that the coach’s name is already history in a city that only lives and breathes for football. Barely 12 months later he leaves a stadium with a lost look and the responsibility of an entire country on his back. Italy leaves the Euro with the feeling that the future is darker than the present.

He took on a project that was running out in the hands of Roberto ManciniEuropean champion (2021) and out of the 2022 World Cup, eliminated in the play-offs by North Macedonia, a real blow for a nation that was not used to this type of surprises, although its absence also in 2018 It pointed out that the path to success was running out, that it was necessary to look the other way.

“There is the possibility of building something, but takes a little more time. I haven’t had much, if you look at my predecessors, almost all of them have had more games than me,” said Spalletti after the elimination against Switzerland. The coach’s sights are set on the World Cup, although first he will have to speak with the Italian Federation, in a wave of criticism towards his figure after the role played in Germany “They have always behaved like serious professionals with me and we will see what we have to say. The responsibility always lies with the coach.”Spalletti admitted that he knows he is in the eye of the hurricane.

“We are destroyed”

Gianluigi Donnarummagoalkeeper and captain of the Italian team, qualified as “terrible”, the performance against Switzerland of his team that led to the elimination of the Euro Cup and commented that, both he and his teammates, are “destroyed” by defeat. The transalpine goalkeeper acknowledged that he really had a hard time “finding the words for tonight” because they had played “a very bad game.”

He did not want to find guilty, “elimination is everyone’s business” and admitted that the team’s overall performance throughout the tournament has not been adequate for the Italian team.

Acting as captain, he addressed the fans to apologize for the poor results. “It is right to apologize to all the people who came here, but you have to reset and move forward with the knowledge that we can do much better.”

Right now everything looks very dark in Italian football, The 2026 World Cup on the horizon will be a new challenge to return the ‘azzurra’ to the place where it has historically always been, playing the final stages and being a very difficult team to beat. We’ll see if he does it or not with Spalletti leading the team.