Leonardo Bonucci has no doubt Italy will recover from their World Cup qualifying humiliation to be a significant power once again, pointing out they produced a similar response not so long ago.
Italy was incredibly defeated 1-0 by North Macedonia in Thursday’s Qatar 2022 qualifying play-off semi-final.
When Aleksandar Trajkovski’s stoppage-time winner stunning world football at Renzo Barbera.
Roberto Mancini’s men had dominated the match, but Trajkovski’s speculative long-range effort left Azzurri players and coaching staff looking dismayed.
It marked a monumental change in fortunes from last year when a largely unfancied Italy side won Euro 2020.
As such, this will be the first time in World Cup history Italy have missed consecutive tournaments, with their failure to reach the 2018 edition instigating something of a rebuild of the senior set-up.
Leonardo Bonucci appears to be confident Italy will respond swiftly and efficiently.
Leonardo Bonucci, who missed Thursday’s defeat due to injury, wrote on Instagram:
“The two emotions are at opposite ends. The great euphoria and joy of the summer [at Euro 2020] are contrasted with the disappointment and bitterness of this exclusion, exacerbated even more by not being able to help my teammates for those 90 minutes.
“Now is the time to look ahead. Last summer, we took the credit and praise for doing something unique.
“Today, we must take responsibility for not having earned the passage for our demerits, more than for the merits of others.
“It is time for concrete and in-depth analysis to start over, to give Italy and the Italians what they deserve.
“We have done this before. And the climb has already begun, for me, for us.
“It will be hard to get back to the top, but we have already shown that we know how to get there. The future is now!”
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