Four-time World Cup winner Italy to miss out in world cup 2018

July 01,2018
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jclim

The world cup is one of the most popular events with over 3.2 billion people watching the live games. Sadly, this year, Italy will miss out on the field action. The Russia 2018 playoff saw Sweden grab the chance to participate in the world cup. Italy has been in the world cup since 1958 and it, therefore, comes as a big shock that they will sit this one out.

In the playoff, Italy had good ball possession, but they lacked the cutting edge to help them score. Robin Olsen, the Sweden goalkeeper, did a great job to ensure that Italy did not score. His skills and those of his team members secured a place for Sweden which had been missing in action since Germany 2006.

The match which was played at San Siro attracted over 70,000 spectators. The atmosphere was nothing short of tense throughout the 90 minutes. The first half was action packed with Jakob Johansson, Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli all getting yellow cards.

The first real chance to score was by Antonio Candreva. However, his shot flew over the crossbar much to his disappointment. Olsen also made a huge save when he left his line to intervene a close-range shot. The crowds remained anxious throughout the game, especially in the second half. Italy did a good job at retaining the ball in their possession. However, any attempts to score were thwarted.

From an economic angle, the failure to qualify may cost the country over 1 billion euros. This is according to the national federation. The losses are attributed to missed television rights, advertising sales and sale of world cup related merchandise. Missing out on the world cup also means that other friendly matches will not generate much clout and revenue as they would have.

Italy will be missed, and we hope that they will re-strategize and make a return in the next world cup. For more latest headline news you should follow Soccertipsters news page