BOOT UP: GROUP F-AIL

This tender moment is extremely in need of a pause

Italy’s performance in this year World Cup may have been the greatest disappointment in Cup history. The defending champs, after a dismal 3-2 loss to Slovakia, and two ties to New Zealand and Paraguay, exited the
tournament at the bottom of what was widely believed to be the easiest group.

The Italians have once before experienced this fate, in 1950 they were the tournament’s first returning champs to exit after round one. Brazil did it in 1966 and France in 2002, but the Italians’ performance in 2010, full of lackluster play, arrogance and more than a few cheap shots, may be the biggest fail in the history of the Cup. The shock of a team, once so strong and untied, dissolved into a shuttering shadow of their previous self will either haunt the Italians forever or inspire them never to let it happen again.

Either way we can’t help but think that karma has had something to do with this year’s tournament upsets.  The French exited among bickering and protest after keeping Ireland out of the tournament with a Henry handball in a qualifying game for the Irish.  And the Italians may be finally reaping what they sewed four years ago when dirty talk and dirty play led to the head-butt felt around the world. No one knows why team with so much expectations implode so massively, but one thing is true: the bigger they are, the harder they fail.

by Lennon Bergland