(ESP-ENG) La tragedia de los repechajes [Opinión]

Hello friends, good vibes to all.

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On Tuesday, the matches to determine the final World Cup spots took place. It was an interesting playoff because several teams with similar interests were vying for their place in North America. I think we should start with what was the biggest tragedy, misstep, disappointment, and sadness: Italy's elimination from the World Cup for the third consecutive time. The Azzurri are four-time champions, tied with Germany for the most World Cup titles, second only to Brazil with five. As a fan of this sport, I struggle to understand how a country with such a strong footballing culture, something that runs in their blood, couldn't beat Bosnia. They beat Sweden to qualify for Russia, North Macedonia for Qatar, and now Bosnia. None of those teams are considered major powers.

In Italy, there's already talk of a complete overhaul of football. The Minister of Sport has summoned all stakeholders from every level—players and coaches—to start from scratch and let go of whoever needs to be let go. The crisis in Italian football is massive; it's not just at the national team level. The clubs aren't what they used to be; they no longer have that strength in Europe. There's a huge institutional crisis that needs to be resolved by 2030. But to understand this mess, it's best to look at the numbers. Italy's last World Cup victory was in 2006, meaning they haven't qualified in 20 years. And that's because they were eliminated in the first round of both South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014. I repeat, it's tragic.

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But what could be the reason for this? - In my opinion, there are several. The first is the lack of development in Italian football. These numbers are taken from the last matches of each club. Juventus, 3 Italian starters. AC Milan, 1 Italian. Inter Milan, 3 Italians. Napoli, 2 Italians. And Roma, 4 Italians. As you can see, there are very few players born in the country. In 2023, there was the Under-20 World Cup where Italy finished as runner-up. That group of players was very good and promising. Where did those players go? - Exactly, they weren't used to their full potential. These statistics weren't seen 20-25 years ago. And the second cause is something that may be more political than anything else; I'm referring to the opening of borders. The clearest example of this is France. The French national team has players with roots in other countries. This doesn't happen in Italy, and although many will agree that it shouldn't, I believe it's a significant reason for the low competitiveness.

In the end, it all boils down to terrible management at every level of Italian football; nothing can be spared. Legends like Nesta, Del Piero, and even Roberto Baggio have already spoken about the situation, and the word that sums up their words is dismay. And going back to Tuesday's match, Italy lacks two things it was once known for: defense and a prolific striker. That characteristic defensive wall that won them the 2006 World Cup is gone; that philosophy stopped working years ago. And don't even get me started on the goals. Italy's top 10 goalscorers in history are all retired or deceased. The most recent is Del Piero, followed by Inzaghi and Vieri. Your "goalscorers" can't be Kean (Fiorentina), who had clear-cut chances that could have changed history, and Retegui, a player from the Saudi Arabian league. It's not about belittling them; it's a lack of quality, plain and simple.

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The truth is that many of us, like myself, wanted to see Italy at the World Cup. We miss seeing the Azzurri compete. I say this because I grew up watching that team, watching them play a leading role in USA '94, France, and Korea-Japan, where they were eliminated in the final stages, and then becoming champions in Germany 2006. It's truly a shame for me, but if this is what had to happen for Italian football to revive and return to its former glory, then so be it.

Let's quickly talk about other matches and mention that Bolivia was eliminated by Iraq. This was surprising because thinking about Iraqi football is almost like thinking about nothing, but this shows that Bolivians can't achieve anything unless they play at 4,000 meters of altitude. Sweden, with a great performance from Gyökeres, eliminated Poland, whose Lewandowski seems to be nearing retirement from the national team. I'm very happy about Turkey's qualification; I think they deserved to return to the World Cup after more than 20 years. And there were some very beautiful images when the Democratic Republic of Congo qualified, knocking out Jamaica. All the World Cup groups are now set, but we'll talk about that another time.

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Well folks, that's all for today. I hope you enjoyed it.
¡Hugs to everyone, see you next time!