Italy not Qualified for 218

Italian football boss Carlo Tavecchio said recently that failure to qualify for the world cup would be the apocalypse and his worst fears came true on Monday as they missed out on the finals for the first time in 60 years. A desperate 0-0 draw at San Siro to a defiant belligerent and technically inferior Sweden ended the four time world champions hopes of reaching next years final in Russia and with it the international careers of several of Italy's biggest names.The Swedes whose starting line up included only four players based with teams in Europe's so called big five leagues will take their
place after qualifying for the first time since 2006. Italy's 1-0 aggregate defeat in their European playoff after Jakob Johansson's deflected strike in Stockholm, is likely to go down alongside elimination by north Korea at the 1966 world cup as one of their greatest football debacles. The Italians have only failed to qualify for the tournament once be once before missing out on the 1958 finals in Sweden after not entering the first World Cup in 1930. The players sank to their knees as the final whistle went the starkest possible contrast to the match will leave an indelible stain on their careers. Daniele De Rossi Italy's fear some bearded midfielder who was surprisingly left on the bench on Monday also announced his international retirement at 34 after 117 Appearacnces  defenders Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli are almost certain to follow suit. however Gian Piero Ventura at 69 the oldest coach Italy has ever had refused to confirm that he would step down saying he needed to talk to the federation first after a scrappy opening 20 minutes Italy took control and pressed forward in waves. They had penalty appeals turned down and were repeatedly denied by outstanding sweden goal keeper Robin Olsen but were also let down by some desperately poor finishing and final passes possibly born of desperation. as the game wore on Italy's moves became more rused and their passing increasingly sloppy and the clear cut chances dried up.