There’s something so satisfying about Italy being knocked out of the World Cup before the main event begins. It feels like sweet karma has taken its course following the Euros final last year. July 11th, the day England’s hunt for a trophy ended as Italy beat them on penalties.
It was so painful to come so close yet fall short. Jorginho and Emerson now know how that feels, and whilst I feel like justice has been served, I do sympathise with our Chelsea cult hero.
Jorginho hasn’t had the easiest path to success in Europe. His luck turned in 2021 when Thomas Tuchel arrived, and Roberto Mancini turned Italy’s destiny around. His harsh criticism of himself is quite heartbreaking.
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Italy will not be participating in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and for some players, including Jorginho, it was possibly their last shot to attend another World Cup. North Macedonia's Aleksandar Trajkovski got the better of the Italians in stoppage time.
The goal came at the 91st minute, and all the Italian internationals could do was watch. Jorginho's desperate attempt to stop Trajkovski failed as the 29-year-old was just too quick and powerful.
The utter disbelief on the faces of the Italians bought a smile to many, but as the camera panned in on Chelsea's vice-captain, reality had sunk in. It's never nice to see one of your own so close to tears, no matter the country they play for. England fans felt that some sort of payback was needed, but Chelsea fans sympathised with their unsung hero of the 2020/21 club campaign.
Having missed two penalties in their group qualifying matches against Switzerland, both home and away, it's no wonder that Jorginho was harsh upon self-reflection. He spoke with Rai Sport following their exit,
"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. 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."
How do you uplift a man who weighs his teams' shortcomings on his shoulders? It'll be a difficult job for Tuchel when he returns back to the team after the break. Knowing that he could have done more to avoid the exit will play on his mind.
Who knows what effect this can have on him mentally. I think back to Ben Chilwell, whose mentality took a knock following his lack of appearances in the European Championships. Tuchel managed that situation incredibly, so I hope it will be the same.
The Italians had 30 shots on goal in total but were unable to beat the North Macedonian keeper and were eventually punished for it. It is harder to accept the loss when chances have not been taken, especially as European Champions.
"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." Jorginho via Football Italia.
Chelsea has been in similar situations already this season. Creating enough chances but not being able to finish them. I hope that we can bring some joy and trophies back to Jorginho this season.
We still have the FA Cup and Champions League to play for. It will be hard to pick up our 3rd place Balon d'Or nominee. Hopefully, we can avoid an exit in any competitions going forward. I may be asking for too much, but a player like Jorginho can learn from his past mistakes and make a difference going forward.
