Italy breathes football. If you go to the southern part where unemployment is as high as the sun, you can see that football is a way of life. Kids play the sport on the beach all day long and if you walk into a pizzeria and order food, you better not be sitting in front of the TV if any of the major teams is playing.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Every step I take<br>Every move I make<br>Every single day<br>Every time I pray<br>I'll be missing you <br>Ciao, mondiale…<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/italiafuoridaimondiali?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#italiafuoridaimondiali</a> <a href="https://t.co/xk1nMUOTO1">pic.twitter.com/xk1nMUOTO1</a></p>— Angi (@angela_vetrano) <a href="https://twitter.com/angela_vetrano/status/930488475069108225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">14 November 2017</a></blockquote>
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And just like the holiest of Catholicism and Christianity is in Rome in the form of the Vatican and the Pope, the holiest of football for Italians is there in the form of “La Squadra Azzura”, or ‘The boys in blue’.
I remember being with the missus in Italy once, on the island of Sardinia. It was on an evening that Italy was playing. In walks a beautiful young girl flanked by a boy clearly not in control of his hormones. He tried to talk to her as Italy played and she told him quite clearly to be silent during the game. That’s how much Italians love it.
So yesterday the sky fell down on the Italians, as for the first time in 60 years, their beloved team did not qualify for the world cup after a 0-0 against Sweden.
To the amazement of all football connaisseurs worldwide (and the internet meme makers), this would be a world cup next year without four-time world champions Italy.
Mr Football himself, the presenter of UK’s Match of the Day, Mr Gary Lineker, said it best: "Mamma Mia! Italy, 6 times World Cup finalists, 4 times World Cup winners, ever-present in the World Cup finals since 1958 have failed to qualify for #Russia2018. It won’t be quite the same without them. Arrivederci."
A world cup without Italy, is like a pizza without cheese.
<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Italy & Sweden fans today..⚽<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldCup2018?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldCup2018</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/noitalynoparty?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#noitalynoparty</a><a href="https://t.co/H5WMaLABBS">pic.twitter.com/H5WMaLABBS</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/italian?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#italian</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/italians?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#italians</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/swedes?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#swedes</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/swedish?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#swedish</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/zlatan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#zlatan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/derossi?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#derossi</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/buffon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#buffon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GrazieBuffon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GrazieBuffon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sopranos?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sopranos</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/muppets?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#muppets</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WCQ2018?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WCQ2018</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WCQ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WCQ</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WCQ18?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WCQ18</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/italia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#italia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldCup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FolloForFolloBack?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FolloForFolloBack</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/joe?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#joe</a></p>— ➊AlexCam ⏩ (@1alexcam) <a href="https://twitter.com/1alexcam/status/930400873678860290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">14 November 2017</a></blockquote>
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Worst of all it was for retiring goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, player of 5 world cups, an absolute record for a keeper, who had to withhold the tears in his eyes as this legendary goalkeeper kept on offering his excuse to all of the Italians who had been glued to their TV.
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Respect for Buffon. Legend !!!