In the past month, Italian soccer teams have lost 3 club finals, one U20 World Cup final and one Nations League semifinal. There is no relation between these teams, different opponents, different coaches and obviously different players. However, they are united by failing to make it over the final hurdle.
Italian soccer has failed to qualify for the last two World Cups. That is 8 years, to which must be added the next 4 years of waiting. 12 years is a long time, a child has time to be born becoming a teenager without having yet seen Italy play the most important tournament in the world. It is said that soccer is the most important thing among the least important. However, one only has to remember the enthusiasm of the Neapolitans for winning the Scudetto and the Argentines for winning the last World Cup to understand that it is a generator of happiness.
If as Eduardo Galeano wrote, “Playing without fans is like dancing without music,” I wonder if in such a selfish and narcissistic age, in which every personal sigh generates a story on instagram, the footballers who played such important matches are really aware of this role of the fans and if in their souls they think they have done even a little bit more to achieve a different result.
