Italy reacts with disbelief at shock exit

“The streets of Rome were silent, the faces in the bars stony, reports Richard Owen, Times correspondent in Rome. “These were not the lions who won us the World Cup” said my neighbour, shaking his head. In fact there were some of the “lions” on the field Cannavaro, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, and Gianluca Zambrotta, who earlier said the possibility of being knocked out “has not even entered our heads”.

“There was the smell of defeat even before the kickoff. “This is the day of great fear for the Azzurris” said Corriere dell Sera this morning. “The day of judgement” said La Repubblica. “It’s now or never”. It turned out to be never.”

The wires are reporting that France and Italy’s elimination from the World Cup is the first time the winners and runners-up from the previous tournament have been knocked out at the group stage.

The online edition of Corriere della Sera, Italy’s largest newspaper, say: “Azzurri, Farewell to the World Cup.” Repubblica wrote that “it’s worse than with Korea,” recalling the shock exit at the hands of North Korea in 1966.