Heartbreak for Italy as Sweden head to Russia

The Azzurri were beaten 1-0 in Stockholm in the first leg, and were unable to overturn that deficit as Sweden frustrated them at the San Siro and held them to a goalless draw to book their place in Russia.

There was an electric atmosphere at the San Siro before the game and the players didn’t disappoint with both sides giving as good as they got in a physical start to the game.

During the opening period both sides were denied penalty claims as the referee waved away Italy claims when Marco Parolo was tripped inside the area. The away side were then denied their own penalty when the ball appeared to strike the hand of Andrea Barzagli, and it certainly looked like the wrong decision from the officials.

Ciro Immobile had the first chance of the encounter as he was threaded through by Jorginho down the right, but he took the ball slightly too far and shot into the side netting from a very tight angle.

Gianluigi Buffon was called into action for the first time on his 175th Italy cap after 22 minutes, when he got down to save Viktor Claesson’s low effort.

Antonio Candreva made a number of runs down the right flank but failed to find his team-mates with some wayward crosses, but he did go close himself when he fired just over the bar after Immobile’s cut-back.

Sweden were playing very deep which allowed Italy to have a lot of possession, and although the hosts were struggling to create guilt-edged chances, it meant that most of the action was happening in the Sweden half.

Ventura’s side enjoyed a period of sustained pressure towards the end of the opening 45 minutes and Immobile almost opened the scoring after shooting under the onrushing Robin Olsen, but Andreas Granqvist recovered to clear the goalbound effort right in front of the line.

Alessandro Florenzi then showed great skill down the left before firing a shot low at Olsen, but the goalkeeper stood firm to deny Italy’s opener. The home side enjoyed the better of the first half chances, while Sweden should have had a penalty, but the sides went in level at the break with Sweden heading to Russia if the score stayed the same.

Following the break it was more of the same as the visitors continued to sit deep and Italy had the lion’s share of possession.

Florenzi came close with a spectacular effort after Darmian’s cross in from the left, but his acrobatic volley from inside the area just drifted wide.

The midfielder then went one closer and hit the woodwork when Lustig tried to head his corner behind but ended up hitting the top of the crossbar.

It was attack after Italy attack but a firm Sweden defence were limiting the home side to crosses and free-kicks from distance which they weren’t capitalising on.

A rare attack from Sweden saw Forsberg cross in for Marcus Berg, but the striker’s first effort was block and he skied his second.

Andrea Belotti, Stephan El Shaarawy and Federico Bernardeschi came on over the course of the second half but none of them had the desired effect for Ventura’s side.

Olsen made a great save from close range to keep out El Shaarawy’s volley in the final stages but that was the closest the Italians came.

Two corners in the additional time prompted Buffon to make his way up the pitch, but there was no dream ending for the goalkeeper and Sweden cleared both set pieces before the referee brought an end to the game in Milan.

The final whistle prompted jubilous scenes for the away side as they secured a historic result and qualified for their first World Cup since 2006.

Contrastly, it was heartbreak for Italy and it looks like Gian Piero Ventura’s unsuccessful spell as coach will come to an end.

A World Cup without the Azzurri is an unfamiliar sight for many football fans, and it’s especially gutting for Gianluigi Buffon, whose incredible international career ends on a negative note.