‘It will haunt me for the rest of my life’ – Jorginho reflects on penalty misses as Italy eliminated from 2022 World Cup

ByJames Hilsum

Updated 25/03/2022 at 15:59 GMT

Thursday’s defeat to North Macedonia means four-time winners Italy will miss out on a second consecutive World Cup finals. Italy will now be absent from two consecutive World Cups, and have added their name to an unwanted record. They join Czechoslovakia (1978), Denmark (1994) and Greece (2006) as reigning European champions that have failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Jorginho says that two penalty misses ‘will haunt me for the rest of my life’ after Italy’s hopes of reaching the World Cup were ended following a shock 1-0 defeat to North Macedonia.

Aleksandar Trajkovski’s stoppage-time strike on Thursday night ultimately led to Italian tears, but the Chelsea midfielder explains that the two missed spot-kicks in the crucial qualifier against Switzerland still play on his mind.

The 30-year-old missed a penalty both home and away against the Swiss, as Roberto Mancini’s side drew 1-1 and 0-0 against the ‘Rossocrociati,’ who ultimately secured top spot in Group C and automatic qualification for this year’s tournament.

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“It hurts when I think about it, because I do still think about it, and it will haunt me for the rest of my life,” he told broadcaster RAI Sport.

“Stepping up there twice and not being able to help your team and your country is something that I will carry with me forever, and it weighs on me.

“People say we need to lift our heads and carry on, but it’s tough.”

Giorgio Chiellini and Jorginho of Italy reacts at the end of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier knockout round play-off match between Italy and North Macedonia at Stadio Comunale Renzo Barbera

Image credit: Getty Images

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Thursday’s defeat to North Macedonia means four-time winners Italy will miss out on a second consecutive World Cup finals.

Italy have added their name to an unwanted record. They join Czechoslovakia (1978), Denmark (1994) and Greece (2006) as reigning European champions that have failed to qualify for the World Cup.

“It is difficult to explain what happened,” Jorginho added.

“It hurts so much. I’ll be honest, I am still incredulous. I don’t think we lacked creativity, as we always dominated matches and created so many chances. Unfortunately, we were unable to finish them off.

“We played good football, we won the European Championship last summer, but unfortunately in the last few games we made small errors and were unable to recover from them. They made the difference.”

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