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*Official* Road to 2022 World Cup

Pothas

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Didn't Italy go on some ridiculous unbeaten run? Quite impressive they managed not to qualify.
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
Yup. I don't know whether they've lost or been without any key players during the qualifiers.
Italy's success was built on a rock solid defence and a squad full of very good players who all chipped in with key contributions at key times during the Euros, they don't actually have that many 'star' names.
 

Red_Ink_Squid

Global Moderator
I love Italy at World Cups though, doesn't matter if they are good or terrible.
Same, I love North Macedonia upsetting one of the much more fancied nation, I just wish it's come at someone's else's expense rather than Italy.

Ideally Portugal.
 

Uppercut

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Yeah I can't remember being so annoyed about a huge upset that didn't involve a team I supported before. Italy were the best team to watch at the Euros, as well as being the best team, and now we'll get Portugal instead.

From what I've heard they weren't even bad in qualifying, they just kept finding inexplicable ways to lose. I guess when you win a Euros with consecutive penalty shoot-outs you owe the universe some luck.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
They were unbeaten in the qualifying group, just too many draws. It was a late missed penalty against Switzerland in the qualifiers that cost them in the penultimate game.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Don't think yer Azzurri actually lost in the group games.

Drew 4/10 and Switzerland 3/10.

Norn Iron crucially held them in their final game to allow the Swiss to pip them.

As they usually take defeat about as well as Donald Trump (if memory serves the Perugia chairman sacked the South Korean player who scored their winner in the 2002 WC) I hope we can expect some very salty high class whinging in the next few days.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
I never saw England play a World Cup Finals match until I was 20. There’s going to be a generation of Italians in a similar boat.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
Don't think yer Azzurri actually lost in the group games.

Drew 4/10 and Switzerland 3/10.

Norn Iron crucially held them in their final game to allow the Swiss to pip them.

As they usually take defeat about as well as Donald Trump (if memory serves the Perugia chairman sacked the South Korean player who scored their winner in the 2002 WC) I hope we can expect some very salty high class whinging in the next few days.
Haha this was actually u-turned on pretty quickly, and they attempted to renew the bloke's contract only for him to turn around and tell them to get ****ed

edit: though having just looked this up, looks like it turned into a pretty turgid legal battle
 

Magrat Garlick

Global Moderator
the Perugia owner was also mad even by Italian standards, wasn't he both the guy who gave a contract to a Gadaffi son and to Mia Hamm
 

Magrat Garlick

Global Moderator
also it seems Qatar will be full of North African teams which I guess is kinda appropriate

(Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt all in the drivers' seats in their two-legged ties)
 

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