Things can change. In the 37 years that I have been living in Italy, I have watched nine World Cup tournaments. The Italian team was always there. In 1982 and 2006 it won. In 1994, in the United States, it lost the final on penalties to Brazil. In 1990, as host, it crashed out in the semifinals to Argentina. True, on other occasions it failed abjectly in the group stages. True, some years it left qualification for the competition to the very last game. But no one doubted it would win that game. No one doubted that a country that invests so much money and emotional energy in soccer, a country with so much flair, talent and sheer devilish cunning, would come good when it counts.…  Seguir leyendo »