Legendary Italy star Rivera lashes out at ‘tragic’ Bastoni errors

Gianni Rivera lashed out at the Nazionale after their 4-1 defeat to Norway. ‘It was humiliating and strange. Alessandro Bastoni is considered exceptional at Inter, but makes tragic errors for Italy.’

The Azzurri legend scored 14 goals in 60 senior caps for his country, winning the Ballon d’Or in 1969 and part of the squad that lifted the 1968 European Championship trophy, as well as reaching the 1970 World Cup Final.

It is safe to say that he is unimpressed with the current crop of players, who were beaten 4-1 at home by Norway and risk missing out on their third consecutive World Cup.

“I was surprised to see such a huge difference, in the second half it was like watching Brazil play against nobody,” Rivera told La Repubblica newspaper via Tuttomercatoweb.

“It’s our fault, because Norway might be a good team, but they are certainly not Brazil. It was humiliating and strange. We were totally at sea, this cannot be the Italy squad.”

Although the Nazionale won the EURO 2020 trophy, the fact remains they failed to reach the 2018 or 2022 editions of the World Cup, and made little impact at EURO 2024 either.

“We don’t have champions anymore, but there are many problems for this Nazionale, not just those who step onto the field,” added Rivera.

“We have many issues that have still not been faced by the Federation, so it’s too easy to put all the blame on the players.

“Just look at Bastoni, who Inter consider to be an exceptional defender, but makes tragic errors for Italy. Evidently, he doesn’t have the same confidence playing for the Azzurri.”

Luciano Spalletti was sacked after the 3-0 defeat to Norway in Oslo, then Gennaro Gattuso won his first five games in charge, but is he the right man to lead them to the World Cup?

“I don’t know Rino well enough as a coach to say. I did read that other coaches had been contacted before him, and turned down the job, so if that’s true then that needs to be considered,” added Rivera.

“Watching Sunday’s game, it really doesn’t look as if Gattuso managed to get into the players’ heads, but this negative trend has been going for 15 years now, so it’s not all him.

“I feel that the power of agents really damaged the whole football system, as now families pay agents to get their kids to have time on the field. If they aren’t rich, talented players can fall through the cracks and have no real chance of emerging.

“I tried to tell the FIGC President Gabriele Gravina that I was ready to provide advice, but he never called me. He doesn’t think someone like me can be of use to the Italian football movement.”