The President of the Italian Senate, Ignazio La Russa, speculates that Italy assistant coach Leonardo Bonucci was behind the ill-advised shootout pecking order in Bosnia.
The Italian national team has now failed to reach the World Cup for the third straight edition after falling short against their Bosnian hosts in Tuesday’s final.
The Azzurri took an early lead thanks to a clinical Moise Kean finish, but their plan faltered in the 40th minute when Alessandro Bastoni was given a straight red card for committing a foul while being the last defender.
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While the visitors tried to withstand the pressure until full-time, a controversial goal from Haris Tebakovic ended their resistance in the 79th minute.
The score remained 1-1 until the end of extra time, so the tie had to be decided by a dramatic penalty shootout.
While the hosts began on the right foot, the Italians sent 20-year-old Francesco Pio Esposito, and this decision quickly misfired, as the Inter striker sent his shot high and wide.
Sandro Tonali scored the next one for the Azzurri, but Bryan Cristante was denied by the woodwork on the third attempt, while the Bosnians were flawless from the spot, and only needed four attempts to book their place in the World Cup.
La Russa believes Leonardo Bonucci was behind Italy’s penalty debacle
Gennaro Gattuso’s men left an entire nation in mourning, as explained by the head of the Italian Senate.
“We’re not going to the World Cup. We cheered, we hoped, and we railed against a couple of questionable refereeing decisions,” said La Russa following the Italian heartbreak (via IlBianconero).
Interestingly, the politician, who is an avid Inter supporter, suspects that Gattuso’s assistant, Bonucci, was the one who encouraged Esposito to shoot first, hinting that such a wild decision aligns with the character of the former Juventus defender.
“We were even surprised that they incredibly sent the youngest player to take the FIRST penalty! Did Gattuso decide it, or perhaps a presumptuous Bonucci?
“But thinking about it carefully, in our hearts we feared it, or rather, we knew it. To repeat our views now—and not just today—would be pointless, if not ungenerous. But there’s a limit to everything.”
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Add a CommentEmotional reaction. Yes, incredibly disappointing, but we did not deserve to win that game. Even before the red we did not produce any quality chances and were not in control of the match. After the red, kean missed a very easy break away, pio blazed over from the edge of the box with n a cut back, and dimarco missed wide in the box. Each of those chances need to be taken in a match of this magnitude. Pio being the first to take was a very poor decision. Tonali should have been first to set the tone and ease the pressure. Missing the first put too much pressure on all the players and they caved to the pressure. The continued state of Italian national football is highlighting a very serious problem – a lack of quality young Italians. I think declining back replacement level birth rates can definitely be a factor to this. Long gone are the times of generational talents like del piero, totti, baggio, cannavaro, maldini, vieri. It’s sad to see. If we can’t beat mediocre teams to reach the World Cup we do not deserve to be there. The results confirm this.
lol, must be another Shinter and Bastoni supporter.
Even a peak italy was terrible at penalties.
The real reason Italy lost was nothing to do with Bonucci and everything to do with an insipid and useless Inter block. They all played poorly with Bastoni the worst one. La Russa needs a good lie down like all cartonati.