Italy, the European champions, have not been able to pursue the European Championship title as of 2021. In Germany, they have already been stopped in the first knockout round against Switzerland.
The Italians went narrowly ahead in second place in their group when Mattia Zaccagni hit the crossbar eight minutes into extra time against Croatia.
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But in the round of 16 against Switzerland, the Italians had no chance and lost 2-0. It was a real failure.
Naturally, there was a big reaction in the football-mad country. Former national team player Antonio Cassano, 41, was not happy with what he saw of his country's performance.
– We suck. That's the reality and the facts. We sucked during the European Commission. We showed no character, no quality, no ideas. We had no balls, nothing, he says on the FIFA El Futbol podcast, according to the Italian The Fat Quotidiano.
The 41-year-old made his debut for Italy in November 2003 and has scored 10 goals in 39 appearances. He made his last international appearance when he was substituted against Uruguay during the 2014 World Cup.
Star duel: Antonio Cassano here in a duel with former Manchester City player Yaya Toure in a training match in 2010. Photo: Greig Cowie/REX/Shutterstock/NTB
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Cassano, who won La Liga with Real Madrid and Serie A with Milan, says he has warned national team coach Luciano Spalletti when it comes to the national team job.
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– I told him that the national team was bad and that it was difficult to break, but I always supported him. He is a genius. People in Italy speculate a lot, but the truth is that we have a genius on the bench, reveals the former striker, quoted by a Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.
Italy and Switzerland will meet England in the quarter-finals on Saturday at 21:00.
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