{"id":6392,"date":"2026-04-13T09:19:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T09:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/6392\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T09:19:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T09:19:02","slug":"frustrated-former-figc-president-slams-inter-milan-starlet-after-decisive-italy-penalty-miss-maybe-i-should-be-a-better-footballer-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/6392\/","title":{"rendered":"Frustrated Former FIGC President Slams Inter Milan Starlet After Decisive Italy Penalty Miss: \u2018Maybe I Should Be A Better Footballer\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Gabriele Gravina resigned as FIGC president following Italy\u2019s third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup \u2013 but has now taken a pointed and sarcastic dig at Inter Milan\u2019s Francesco Pio Esposito and Roma\u2019s Bryan Cristante over their decisive penalty misses against Bosnia.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Corriere della Sera about stepping down, Gravina was unable to resist a barb directed at the players who blazed over from the spot in the shootout.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPerhaps I should have been a better footballer,\u201d he said sarcastically, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcinternews.it\/in-primo-piano\/gravina-frecciata-a-esposito-e-non-solo-ho-tirato-un-rigore-alto-e-uno-sulla-traversa-mi-dovevo-allenare-di-piu-1006746\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:via FCInterNews;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;via FCInterNews&quot;}\" class=\"link \">via FCInterNews<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI missed two penalties against Switzerland and three goal-scoring chances against Bosnia, and then from the spot I hit one over the bar and another onto the crossbar. Perhaps I should have trained more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ex FIGC Chief Gravina Admits He Had Considered Resigning Before The Play-Offs &amp; Aims Dig At Inter Starlet Pio Esposito<\/p>\n<p>On his decision to step down, <a href=\"https:\/\/sempreinter.com\/2026\/02\/17\/figc-president-gravina-push-referees-reform-serie-a\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Gravina;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Gravina&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Gravina<\/a> was reflective and dignified.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI take my responsibilities. I did not keep the promise I made to Italian fans, I had said we would go to the World Cup even by swimming. The resignation is a final act of love for football. And I could not allow the attacks on me to penalise the Federation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also revealed the resignation had been building for some time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven before the play-offs I had thought about standing aside, not because I did not feel up to the task, but because of the constraints, ties and impediments that hold back the growth and development of the movement. And all of that, allow me to say, is frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sempreinter.com\/2019\/11\/19\/gabriele-gravina-have-always-sided-with-our-excellent-referees\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Gravina;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Gravina&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Gravina<\/a> painted a grim picture of his daily existence since the elimination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am almost living as a recluse, between home and the Federation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the wider societal context, he was equally troubled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFootball is the litmus test of our society, and in certain moments it becomes a place of ferocious frustration and blind judgement. I had hoped we would emerge better from Covid, instead, certain instincts have actually worsened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On his successor, he was careful not to play kingmaker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will not be the director of the future or back anyone. The components will show responsibility and identify a candidate capable of attracting the broadest possible consensus.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gabriele Gravina resigned as FIGC president following Italy\u2019s third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup \u2013&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1528,2595,1779,693,1637,44,5,4815,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-6392","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-italy","8":"tag-bryan-cristante","9":"tag-corriere-della-sera","10":"tag-figc","11":"tag-francesco-pio-esposito","12":"tag-gabriele-gravina","13":"tag-inter","14":"tag-italy","15":"tag-milan-starlet","16":"tag-switzerland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}