Roberto Mancini's mother, Marianna Puolo, has questioned her son's decision not to select Mario Balotelli as Italy saw their World Cup dreams ended.
The Azzurri claimed European glory less than 12 months ago, beating England on penalties at Wembley, but they will not be flying the flag for the continent in Qatar later this year.
North Macedonia claimed a shock win in Palermo, netting the winner in the 92nd minute. Mancini has been left to rue what might have been with his mother calling out his selection calls.
Italy began with Ciro Immobile as their central point of attack with Domenico Berardi and Lorenzo Insigne in support. Balotelli, who has over 30 caps for his country, is currently playing for Turkish side Adana Demirspor but has been backed by Mancini's mother to make a difference.
She told Radiouno: “Yesterday could’ve gone better, but this is football, sometimes things go right and sometimes things go wrong. We had the match in our hands but the attack wasn’t great. I would have called up Balotelli, because he has incredible physical strength and in front of the goal nobody can stop him.”
Puolo also took aim at Chelsea's Jorginho, who was in tears after the defeat. The midfielder claimed he will be "haunted for life" after he missed penalties in earlier qualifying games against Switzerland. She said: “Unfortunately, mistakes like Jorginho’s cost us. I don’t want to point my finger at him because he certainly didn’t do it on purpose, but if you miss three penalties…”
Italy will not be at the World Cup for the second successive tournament having missed out back in 2018. Questions are being asked of the current crop but Mancini's mother retains the faith. She added: “Macedonia only had one shot, maybe Donnarumma could’ve saved it but it’s useless to talk about it now. This squad hasn’t lost the magic of the European Championship but perhaps some were afraid of making mistakes. Yesterday, I think the ones who celebrated the most were the English.”
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Italy dominated against their opponents, enjoying 66 per cent of possession and having over 30 attempts on goals but were unable to find the net. Roberto Mancini's future is now in doubt despite his recent achievements but he refused to get drawn on his next move.
He said: “It is difficult to comment on this match, with a goal that arrived after the 90th minute without conceding anything else. T his is a group with great players and I'm sorry because we didn't deserve it. Now it is too early to talk about the future, we still have to digest this defeat.On a human level, I can say that I love these lads more tonight than after the triumph in July. The disappointment is enormous.”
