Roberto Mancini had a mission. "I have a dream, to win as national coach what I couldn't win as a player — a World Cup,” he said before he was even appointed Italy manager. An unused player in the 1990 World Cup, he fell out with Arrigo Sacchi before the 1994 tournament. Management afforded him a redemptive arc.
Four years later, Mancini remained as ambitious. “Our aim is to win the World Cup,” he said. Then Italy faced North Macedonia, a shot count of 32-4 counting for little in a shock, and they had not even qualified for the World Cup. It might be seen as the hubristic humbling of Mancini, a man who overlooked the footballing cliché of taking each game as it comes. The next game was North Macedonia in a play-off, not Brazil in a World Cup final. Italy lost.
