Gennaro Gattuso, Italy head coach, apologised to the fans after Italy got eliminated from World Cup for the third time in a row, losing on penalties to Bosnia.
Gattuso, struggling not to cry, added that it was unfair, and that his players didn't deserve a blow like this. "We were left with 10 players, we had three decent chances and they barely troubled us. I'm sorry, this is football and I'm proud of my boys."
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Gattuso replaced former coach Luciano Spalleti at the beginning of the qualification campaign, after a defeat against Norway, who qualified as group leaders. Gattuso, former manager at Marseille, Valencia, Fiorentina, Napoli and AC Milan, was part of the squad that lifted World Cup in 2006. Since then, Italy has only won one World Cup match, failing to qualify in 2018 and 2022 and being eliminated from group stage in 2010 and 2014.
"It hurts, because we needed it for us, for all of Italy and for our movement. A blow that's difficult to digest. I apologise if I didn't make it, but the boys impressed me today", Gattuso insisted, adding that this was a hard blow on a personal level.