Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso and captain Gianluigi Donnarumma both attended the inauguration of the new museum of football at Coverciano on Wednesday. Gattuso was meant to donate the boots he wore in the 2006 World Cup final win over France but revealed that his mother refused to give them up.
The museum isn’t short of precious artefacts from Italy’s glorious past, though, and their current coach admitted, “It’s emotional to be here, because there are so many wonderful memories.”
Unfortunately, the silverware also served as a tangible and very painful reminder of just how far the national team has fallen in recent years. Italy may have won Euro 2020 but they’ve failed to qualify for the past two World Cups, so while Donnarumma admitted that he felt goosebumps walking around the museum, the Azzurri captain also admitted to feeling “a lot of responsibility” to ensure that the four-time champions do not miss out on a third consecutive finals.
As it stands, though, it remains a distinct possibility…
