On Friday night, the Azzurri had the chance to put themselves on the cusp of qualification to Qatar 2022, but failed to do so in a spectacular manner.
Italy’s performance against Switzerland was far from exciting, nevertheless, they had the chance to win it at the death, but Jorginho once again wasted from the spot, as the match ended 1-1.
Thus, the Italians will have to earn their spot in the next World Cup when they play Northern Ireland in Belfast on Monday.
The Italian media was expectedly unpleased with the overall performance of the players, and most of them were criticized for their displays.
According to ilBianconero, Federico Chiesa’s ratings were between 5.5 and 5, with some newspapers blaming Roberto Mancini for shifting him between various roles throughout the match.
On the other hand, Manuel Locatelli’s grades varied from 6 (la Gazzetta dello Sport) to 5.5 (Tuttosport), while Corriere dello Sport handed a him a below-par rating of 4.5.
Some felt that the Juventus midfielder was poor overall, while others believed that he should have stayed on the pitch instead of Nicolò Barella who was handed more minutes.
Finally, Leonardo Bonucci was handed the best grades out of the Juventus trio. La Gazzetta rated his performance as a 7 based on his last-minute interception which could be worth a World Cup spot.
The Corriere gave the defender 6.5, while Tuttosport felt that he looked uncomfortable, and handed him a 5.5 rating.
