Milan: For the first time in 60 years, four-time champions Italy will not be playing in the World Cup finals. The Azzurri failed to qualify for Russia 2018, a goal-less draw with unfancied Sweden here on Monday failing to overturn a 0-1 first-leg deficit, plunging a country that sees a World Cup spot as a birthright into depression. "Italy, this is the apocalypse," said sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport. "The World Cup can't exist without Italy; it just can't exist," lamented a fan, Francesco Macella. A tearful Gianluigi Buffon, the 39-year-old Italy captain and arguably the greatest goalkeeper in history, called time on his 20-year international career.

Source: The Telegraph November 14, 2017 21:56 UTC