In 2018, people often joked that the Italian team "gives the opportunity to other teams to win the World Cup" because they had too many titles.
But now, when Italy cannot win a ticket to the World Cup three times in a row - unprecedented - there is nothing left to justify or joke about, especially in the context that the tournament has expanded to 48 teams.
The penalty shootout defeat against Bosnia Herzegovina is not a story that requires lengthy analysis. This is not a problem of Serie A, nor is it because Italy lacks spirit or effort. Those things still exist, and Bosnia even shows more.
Explainances such as bad luck or missed opportunities are also meaningless. Yes, if Moise Kean had taken advantage of counter-attack opportunities well, if Federico Dimarco had finished more accurately, or if Francesco Pio Esposito had scored, the situation might have been different. But Bosnia also created up to 30 shots and forced goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to continuously save.
The truth is that Italy is still of sufficient quality to pass the qualifiers. They are not much weaker than the top European teams. But they pushed themselves into a difficult position from the beginning, especially the early defeat to Norway made the road thorny and forced them to enter a risky play-off round.
In a knockout match, every mistake has a price to pay. Alessandro Bastoni's red card in the 41st minute was the turning point. When there were still enough players, Italy could control the game with the advantage of leading. But when there were only 10 players left, the entire plan collapsed.
Under Gennaro Gattuso, Italy chose a simple approach: solid defense, taking advantage of experience and waiting for opportunities. But when losing a player, they are forced to retreat deep and under constant pressure. The match turned into a prolonged nightmare, where Bosnia completely controlled the game.
It is also necessary to recognize that Gattuso does not have much working time - less than 15 training sessions in nearly a year. But even so, his approach is still controversial. When possessing a more quality squad, Italy should have proactively imposed the game, instead of playing too cautiously.
Of course, Italian football still has systemic problems: youth training is more tactical than technical, clubs do not prioritize "homegrown" players, and lack support for the national team. But all of those are not the direct reasons for their absence from the World Cup.
The reason lies in themselves: wrong decisions, unstable performances and pushing themselves into a risky situation. The rest is completed by Bosnia's fighting spirit, along with a bit of coldness in the penalty shootout.
That does not ease the pain. Conversely, for a team that has won the World Cup 4 times, this shock is much heavier.
