Gigio Donnarumma on Italy’s WC failure: “Pain is still too great”

Italy take on Belgium for their opening UEFA Nations League game tomorrow in the capital city of Rome. It will be the first time the Azzurri will be featuring in a competitive game since their painful penalty shootout loss to Bosnia in the FIFA World Cup playoff final some months ago.

The reaction to that disaster was chaotic and in a way, it needed to be too. Roberto Mancini is back at the helm and Gianluigi Donnarumma has now spoken to the media and as it would be, he was asked about the World Cup disasters.

The Manchester City man revealed the pain is still felt.

He said – via Di Marzio: “The pain is still too great to reopen the discussion. It’s important to move forward and build a great national team. Coach Mancini will also give us a big hand.”

He also opened up about how difficult the last few months have been for everyone involved.

“These have been very long months. I struggle to describe them; it’s been a strange summer. A new era begins, and tomorrow we have a great match. The fans will be disappointed too, and it’s up to us to give them the energy to fall in love with the Azzurri.”

Sounding more hopeful, Donnarumma believes players like Alessandro Romano will be the future of the country.

“They all impressed me; they’re all strong. Romano impressed me, but they’re all young and eager. I’m sure they’ll be the future of this new era.”

Italy take on Belgium tomorrow but after that, they will face a stiff test against Turkey, followed by an even more difficult challenge against France.

Kaustubh Pandey – GIFN