La Gazzetta dello Sport<\/em> described it as \u201cthe apocalypse\u201d and, in football terms, it wasn\u2019t far short. Italy, four-time champions, had failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia\u2122.<\/p>\n Staggering in itself, this outcome was made doubly unthinkable by the Netherlands \u2013 finalists and bronze-medalists at the previous two editions \u2013 also missing out. And it was Sweden \u2013\u00a0 sturdy, well-drilled but devoid of star players \u2013\u00a0who had claimed the scalps of these World Cup heavyweights.<\/p>\n For Italy, the enduring the image of their play-off defeat was an inconsolable Gianluigi Buffon leaving the field in tears<\/a>. For the Dutch, it was Dick Advocaat scoffingly dismissing as \u201cstupid\u201d the suggestion that the Swedes could put eight goals past Luxembourg \u2013 and being proved all too wrong.<\/p>\n Changes were inevitable and, for both sides, the significant alterations of recent years have had the desired effect. Now, as a new FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign beckons, the Oranje<\/em> and Azzurri<\/em> arrive as altogether more formidable prospects.<\/p>\n Roberto Mancini has spoken of facing \u201ca big problem\u201d. It is, however, the kind that every coach desires: selecting a team, and squad, from scores of players who merit inclusion.<\/p>\n “It was already going to be difficult before, but in the last few months players are coming through and have proved to be excellent,\u201d said Mancini, who blooded a number of youngsters in Italy’s triumphant 2020\/21 UEFA Nations League group campaign.<\/p>\n Marcello Lippi has lauded the former Manchester City manager for \u201crecovering the beautiful image of Italy\u2019s football\u201d, while Tite \u2013 in an interview with<\/a> FIFA.com<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 compared Mancini to Arrigo Sacchi and praised the \u201cbeautiful\u201d style he has implemented.<\/p>\n “We have tried to become more offensive with our play,\u201d explained the man himself. \u201cYou have to have the right mentality to do so and have a style of play that all the great teams have. In Italy, we never lacked the players. We just had to give them confidence and a chance to play.”<\/p>\n A 4-3-3 formation has become the norm but it\u2019s the switch to playing on the front foot, attacking and dominating the opposition, that has underpinned the Mancini revolution.<\/p>\n Federico Chiesa<\/strong> didn\u2019t have his doubters to seek when made the big move to Juventus. But this dynamic and intelligent wide man has silenced those sceptics by emerging as a star man for both club and country. Mancini, who played alongside Enrico Chiesa at Sampdoria, has praised Federico for having \u201cmore running\u201d than his father and fellow Azzurri<\/em> international.<\/p>\n While Italy\u2019s gains have all been posted under Mancini, the Dutch were revived by a coach who is no longer in the post. Ronald Koeman oversaw a spectacular transformation<\/a> in a team that had failed to qualify for each of the two most recent major tournaments, with Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay among several stars to emerge.<\/p>\n Koeman\u2019s departure for Barcelona threatened, for a time, to derail that progress. Brows certainly became furrowed when his replacement, Frank de Boer, set an unwanted new record by failing to win any of his first four games in charge.<\/p>\n But recent results \u2013 draws against Italy and Spain followed by back-to-back wins over Poland and Bosnia-Herzegovina \u2013 ensure that the Dutch head into the World Cup qualifiers with a renewed sense of self-confidence.<\/p>\n The 4-3-3 formation that was once a Dutch trademark has all but been abandoned, with De Boer \u2013 like his predecessor \u2013 favouring a 4-2-3-1 set-up and a dynamic, counter-pressing style.<\/p>\n Van Dijk, a classy, composed and commanding captain, remains sorely missed, while Frenkie de Jong has been lauded as \u201cthe engine\u201d of this Dutch team. But it is the man who paid De Jong that compliment, Memphis Depay<\/strong>, who brings this new-look Oranje<\/em> its attacking potency. Once described by De Boer as a player “who has everything\u201d, Depay dazzled in EURO 2020 qualifying, scoring six goals and creating another eight.<\/p>\n Read more at FIFA.com News<\/a> Italy and the Netherlands failed to reach Russia 2018 Both have bounced back impressively in the years since We look at what’s changed ahead of their Qatar 2022 campaigns La Gazzetta dello Sport described it as \u201cthe apocalypse\u201d and, in football terms, it wasn\u2019t far short. Italy, four-time champions, had failed to qualify for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img.fifa.com\/image\/upload\/t_l1\/v1615806433\/gzrznp842xcqakr12lpr.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[679,2481,2480,371,4369,30,4440,6699,259,120,80,188,8815],"class_list":["post-41282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world-cup","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-fifa-world-cup-2018","tag-fifa-world-cup-russia-2018","tag-football-news","tag-giants","tag-news","tag-ready","tag-revived","tag-russian","tag-south-africa-today-sport","tag-sport","tag-sport-news","tag-wrong"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img.fifa.com\/image\/upload\/t_l1\/v1615806433\/gzrznp842xcqakr12lpr.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
Italy<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Post-2018 achievements<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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What\u2019s changed<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Key player<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Upcoming qualifiers<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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The Netherlands<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Post-2018 achievements<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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What\u2019s changed<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Player to Watch<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Upcoming qualifiers<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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South Africa Today Sport \u2013 Sport News Football<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"