Oh, my good Lord. The utter incompetence of Giampiero Ventura has seen Italy miss out on their first World Cup since 1958... and it's the hosts of that one that do the honours here.
Sweden were utterly magnificent across the 180 minutes and they out-Italy-ed Italy... physically bullying their way past them in the first leg and catenaccio-ing their way against them in the second.
What a strange feeling, though, to look forward to a World Cup that will not have Gigi Buffon and Italy. My, oh my.
Ventura is an utter bellend, it has to be said.
That's all from me, Anirudh Menon. Thank you for reading,
93' Everyone is forward for Italy and Chiellini is saved his blushes as Granqvist nervily clears Chiellini's horrible cross in. Jorginho sends the corner whizzing past the near post with a sublime volley.
91' OH MY LORD! ITALY HAVE A FOURTH PENALTY APPEAL TURNED DOWN AS BELOTTI'S FLICK OWN DEFLECTS OFF LINDELOF'S ARM! IMMOBILE GETS A YELLOW FOR PROTESTING TOO VOCIFEROUSLY!!
90' OH WOW! BARZAGLI TAKES OUT BERG AS THE SWEDE CHASES A BALL THAT IS ALREADY WELL COVERED BY CHIELLINI. WHY, OH WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT ANDREA? Sweden eat into the remaining seconds... FIVE MINUTES TO BE ADDED ON!
89' Immobile has been excellent this game but his colleagues haven't really done enough to help him break this yellow fortress... Leo Bonucci is now playing striker. Tony Pulis would be proud.
87' WOOF! Immobile cushioned a lovely ball into El Sharaawy who smashes a sublime volley straight at Olsen! OH MY! That was a superb shot... Candreva then chips in a lovely ball and Marco Parolo can only head it wide! WHAT A CHANCE!
86' Belotti tries an ambitious shot will on the sprint and only manages to drag it well wide of Olsen's goal. Italy are less than five minutes away from NOT MAKING THE WORLD CUP.
84' SWEDEN HAVE THE BALL IN THE NET! Fosberg plays in Berg with a magnificent through ball and the big no.9 finishes calmly, but he does so from an offside position. The San Siro breathes again. Barely
83' OH MAMMA! Florenzi plays in a lovely ball that is flicked on superbly by Parolo - Olsen can only parry it away but no matter 'cos the lurking Ciro Immobile was well offside.
80' Sweden counter, 3 v 4 and Emil Fosberg finds Berg with a lovely ball. The big man heads it down toward Thelin, but it's brilliantly defended by Barzagli and Bonucci.
79' OH MY GOOD LORD! ANOTHER PENALTY PLEA WAVED AWAY! Belotti goes down under pressure from Granqvist and that's another "get up and get on with it" from the Spanish ref.
77' Chiellini drives into space on the left - bullying past Berg- and clips a superb ball that looked like it was headed to Belotti's noggin' but Svensson does brilliantly to direct it way from him, and onto Bernadeschi who sends it to Florence
75' Florenzi pumps in a lovely little freekick into the box but the ref spots Belotti tugging on Granqvist's shirt, misses Lustig tugging on Belotti's and gives the Swedes a freekick.
72' OOOH LA LA! Magic from Candreva rips open Sweden as a nutmeg and a burst of paces sees him race into the box and lift a ball in that is somehow scrambled clear by Lindelof and Lustig. Parolo then wastes it all by taking a shot from thirty yards. Another massive sigh escapes the bowels of the great stadium
71' Florenzi's corner is a decent one, but the ref spots a bit of shoving and pushing in the box courtesy Barzagli, and it's a freekick for the Swedes. Meanwhile, Sweden make their last sub by taking of Claesson and bring on Rohden. Fresh legs et al...
70' Florenzi's shot hits a sea of yellow in the Swedish box... and suddenly the away side are able to counter... it's 4 v 4, but the Swedes have looked unusually circumspect on the ball in these dangerous areas and Italy clear without much of a fuss. Italy move forward, and win another corner.
69' Kiese Thelin introduces himself to the nose that Ola Toivonen broke in the first minute of the first leg... and that's hurt Bonuxxi. Yellow for the Swede.
68' Bonucci plays a haplessly inept ball into the middle of nowhere and Sweden have an oasis of calm after all that Italy pressure. They give the ball back immediately... so it's more mirage, less oasis.
66' It's not swung in well. Chiellini, though, works it back out to him and Florenzi tries one of those Quaresma-trivelas and it causes a measure of confusion in the Swedish box. Corner, Italy
65' Mikael Lustig absolutely smashes into Ciro Immobile and that's a yellow card for the Swedish right back. Florenzi will look to swing this one one in.
64' MADRE MIA! Belotti flicks on a lovely ball out to Candreva who finally pings it into the near post... and Ciro Immobile guides a lovely shot just wide at the near post! Much better, this, from Italy
62' Candreva sends in a ball into the far post when there are three blue shirts in and around the near post. The San Siro can't quite believe what it's seeing... as Candreva then runs into Augustinsson and gives the ball away
60' OH MY! The volume at the San Siro drops to near pin-drop silence as Kiese-Thelin runs at Leo Bonnucci and races into the box but the Milan captain does ever so well to stay with his man and stop him in his tracks. Superb defending, that.
59' Chiellini plays the ball straight to Larsson who picks out Berg with a sumptuous ball and Sweden suddenly have 3 v 3... with all the options in the world ahead of him, Berg proceeds to play the ball straight at Barzagli
58' Immobile who has been excellent tonight, screams into the box past a static Augustinsson... and pulls it back to Giorgio Chiellini - who is never going to overly trouble Olsen with his right foot from the edge of the box.
53' Sweden are getting penned in as Italy squeeze them into their own box... Darmian flings in a nice little ball that is met BY AN ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR FLYING VOLLEY FROM FLORENZI THAT WHIZZES INCHES PAST THE FAR POST! WHAT AN EFFORT!
51' Chiellini tries to curl a cross in and under no pressure at all sends it straight into Olsen's grateful gloves. That was dire, ass it has been too often for Italy
50' Immobile gets pulled up for running into Svensson, the experienced MLS man making the most of that. Sweden will take their own sweet time about this freekick in their own half
47' It wasn't just a regular ol' coming together either. Replays show that Lustig threw his knee into Darmian's knees. That's 2 penalties each... even, the ref would say.
46' OH MY! CONTROVERSY IN THE FIRST MINUTE! Candreva sends in a weirdly interesting ball into the far post that Darmian controls on his thighs... before Lustig runs into him. For some reason, the ref says freekick Sweden.
AN ABSOLUTE HELTER-SKELTER FIRST HALF THAT SHOULD HAVE SEEN THREE PENALTIES AND TWO GOALS FROM OPEN PLAY ENDS 0-0... this is already a bonafide classic
47' Bonuccis does superbly to marshall Berg away from a long punt - and start another Italian attack... that Darmian absolutely murders with a horrendous cross that sees the ball on it's way to Turin.
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