Italy’s fading bond with the Nazionale, from faith to indifference | OneFootball

Indifference has replaced pain as Italy miss a third straight World Cup. According to L'Équipe, conversations reveal supporters switching off from the Nazionale even as Serie A still grips.

Daniele, 82, recalls chasing Italy across USA 1994, from New Jersey and Washington to Foxboro and Pasadena, before Brazil won the final on penalties. From Lucca, he says he will skip the World Cup because Italy are absent, having lost interest after 2018.

Many echo him. The shirt still bears four stars, yet Italy have not experienced the tournament since 2014. Some now turn to other sports, from Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari to Jannik Sinner, Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Berrettini.

Near Alleghe, a reporter following the Giro sees a boom in tennis and Formula 1, with Sinner at the forefront, Ferrari improving and Antonelli who could be the first Italian world champion since Alberto Ascari in the 1950s, while football, and even cycling, feel diminished.

In Lucca, children play in Juventus, Fiorentina and Inter shirts, yet the Italy jersey is rare. In Milan, Sicilian-born Johan frets about passing on passion, his 13-year-old asking why Italy are missing, and he wonders if the federation grasps the slide.

On piazza del Duomo, vendor Luigi feels clubs now outweigh the national side, international breaks leave people cold, and repeated failures breed apathy. For many the bond is family. Johan treasures 2006 and the Euro 2021 final with his father, yet he fears never feeling a World Cup again and has not watched since the Bosnia elimination.

Source: L'Équipe