Italy's Dream Of Reaching The 2022 World Cup Final Round Disappears, Mario Balloteli's Name Is Involved

The Italian national team was eliminated from the 2022 World Cup after losing to North Macedonia in the play-offs. (Photo: Twitter @Azzurri)

JAKARTA - The Italian national team had to bury the dream of being able to appear in the 2022 World Cup. They lost 0-1 to North Macedonia in the European zone play-off round, Friday, March 25, early morning of Indonesian Western Time (WIB).

Whereas in the match at the Renzo Barbera Stadium, Roberto Mancini's team appeared dominant. From the available data, Gli Azzurri appeared to be pressing by throwing 30 shots. But of the many efforts, none of which bear fruit.

On the other hand, luck was on the side of the Macedonian who only occasionally attacked. They actually managed to score the winning goal in the second half of injury time through Aleksandar Trajkovski's hard shot.

Italy's failure has clearly become a hot topic on social media. Netizens mentioned the reason behind this defeat. In fact, there are those who carry the name Mario Balotelli.

"If Super Mario (Balotelli) plays today, he will turn this into a loss for the opposing team," said the account @sheyi_************

"Who told Mancini not to invite Balotelli to his squad, Italy lost," tweeted the account @andag****

"Italy got karma for not respecting Balotelli. So you can't expect good luck," said @_king_****

There was information that Mario Balotelli had the opportunity to defend Italy again. However, when the name of the player called Mancini was announced, there was no Balotelli name.

Mancini instead called the Cagliari player who was 30 years old, Joao Pedro. Many criticized Pedro's summons because it was considered not worthy of defending Gli Azzurri.