Marco Tardelli tore the Italy squad to shreds, above all Marco Verratti, and warns “if they play like they did against Sweden, it’s best to avoid the World Cup.”
The Azzurri lost the first leg of their play-off 1-0 in Solna on Friday evening, decided by a deflected Jakob Johansson strike.
“Italy played well below the level needed to come home from Sweden with a positive result. I saw a team that was slow, predictable, always passing backwards,” 1982 World Cup winner Tardelli told Il Tempo newspaper.
Marco Tardelli tore the Italy squad to shreds, above all Marco Verratti, and warns “if they play like they did against Sweden, it’s best to avoid the World Cup.”
The Azzurri lost the first leg of their play-off 1-0 in Solna on Friday evening, decided by a deflected Jakob Johansson strike.
“Italy played well below the level needed to come home from Sweden with a positive result. I saw a team that was slow, predictable, always passing backwards,” 1982 World Cup winner Tardelli told Il Tempo newspaper.
“Complaints about the referee were silly, because this was for a place at the World Cup, not a charity event. It’s laughable to say Italy were frightened by the aggression of the Swedes. Are you trying to tell me that Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and Daniele De Rossi are players scared off by a shoulder barge?
“The truth is that the Swedes played with determination and grit, which was the opposite of the Italy squad.”
Verratti picked up a yellow card in Solna and will be suspended for the second leg at San Siro tomorrow evening, but Tardelli was particularly harsh on the Paris Saint-Germain star.
“I was profoundly disappointed by Verratti. He was never in the game and made only the most basic passes. I didn’t like Marco Parolo either, he just wasn’t up to the task.”
Italy can still qualify for the tournament in Russia if they win 2-0 on the night in Milan.
“If Italy play like they did against Sweden, it’s best to avoid the World Cup. It takes strength, character, concentration and above all desire.
“I’d definitely start Lorenzo Insigne and I don’t understand how the Coach managed to leave him out of the starting XI.”