MILAN—While most soccer-loving fans around the globe will be glued to their TV sets next year during the World Cup, restaurants and cinemas around Italy might find themselves a little extra busy during the summer. That’s because Italy, the country that has won four World Cups and is almost always considered to be one of the favourites at major soccer events, failed to qualify for next year’s tournament and won’t be going to Russia. “I’ll still watch the World Cup when I can, but I’ll give precedence to going out for dinner, drinks, to the cinema and going to the beach and playing sports outside,” said Marco Angelelli, a 31-year-old shop assistant from Salento in southern Italy who now lives in Milan. Read more: Italy to miss first World Cup in sixty yearsSoccer, called “calcio” in Italy, is by far the most popular sport in the country. Millions of kids play for fun, while the professionals have been at the top of the game for decades.

Source: thestar November 14, 2017 15:33 UTC