Italy have a huge following in India, particularly amongst those who were in their teens or youth in the 1980s.

The affair started with Paolo Rossi’s hat-trick against Brazil in the 1982 World Cup. Rossi was a hero in India as Italy went on to win the World Cup, defeating West Germany 3-1. Then there was a lull of 24 years even though Italy played a semi-final (1990) and a final (1994) in between.

The 2006 triumph once again catapulted the Italian footballers to stardom in India, a nation which loves to follow international football and gives a cold shoulder to its own national team.

“It’s a pity that the World Cup will once again be without Italy,” Ratan Chowdhury, who works in a city-based export firm, said. “We fell for Italy from the days of Rossi. Then came Baggio with magical skills. Now it hurts to see Italy struggle,” Chowdhury rued.

“That’s the way it is,” Real Kashmir FC coach and former footballer Ishfaq Ahmed said. “I started watching Italy from the 1994 World Cup, which was also hosted by the US. Baggio is the player we all tried to copy in Srinagar,” he said.

“A very sad day for Italy fans. Hopefully, they will regroup and qualify for the 2030 World Cup finals,” said former India striker Dipendu Biswas.

“That’s the team we all followed from our days in the Tata Football Academy,” Biswas added.

Such was Biswas’s madness for Italy that he started supporting Chelsea after
Italian attacker Gianfranco Zola moved to the Premier League club.

“They have very good players like Sandro Tonali (Newcastle United), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan), but struggling as a team,” Biswas said.

“Italy will be missed. That’s for sure. They have a rich history, but now fallen on hard times. I remember watching Italia 90 during my Tata Football Academy days.

“From those days Italy is part of my system,” Kalyan Chaubey, former goalkeeper and present president of the All India Football Federation said.