Luciano Spalletti leads Italy into a symbolic debut on Saturday as the Azzurri travel to North Macedonia in Euro 2024 qualifying, a chance to exorcise the ghosts of World Cup disaster.
Italy has been going through something of an identity crisis for nearly two decades, unsure of its position in the global game and no longer feared as in decades past.
It was Group C opponents North Macedonia who sparked the most recent bout of self-reflection by dumping Italy out of the last World Cup in last year’s qualifying play-offs.
That single-goal disaster in Palermo didn’t just leave Italy out of a second straight World Cup, it also wiped out the enormous amount of good will earned from triumph at the last Euro which made national heroes of the team and Spalletti’s predecessor Roberto Mancini.
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