Chelsea star Jorginho says penalty miss will haunt him forever and Giorgio Chiellini admits Italy are ‘destroyed’ as Roberto Mancini refuses to talk about future after failing to reach World Cup

Jorginho says his penalty miss in qualifying will forever haunt him after Italy failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.

The European champions were stunned at home to minnows North Macedonia, who secured a historic 1-0 win in the play-off semi-final.

Italy dominated the match, with 32 shots to their opponents’ four, but a sucker punch from Alexandar Trajkovski in stoppage-time ensured the Azzurri will miss a second successive World Cup.

Chelsea midfielder Jorginho had the opportunity to send his nation to Qatar automatically in qualifying, but blazed a last-minute penalty against Switzerland over the bar.

“It hurts when I think about it, because I do still think about it and it will haunt me for the rest of my life,” a tearful Jorginho told RAI Sport. 

“Stepping up there twice and not being able to help your team and your country is something that I will carry with me forever, and it weighs on me.

“People say we need to lift our heads and carry on, but it’s tough.”

Meanwhile, veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini admits Italy are destroyed as a result of their shock defeat, which leaves a ‘large void’ in the nation.

“We weren’t presumptuous,” the veteran defender said.

“We made mistakes from September until today and we paid them.

“I am proud of this team, it is obvious that we are disappointed and destroyed. We have to start again. 

“A large void is now within us and we hope it can give us the strength to go forward in future. I hope it will still be with this coach, who has given so much to the Nazionale.”

Manager Roberto Mancini refused to commit his future to Italy following the failure and admitted Thursday night was the lowest moment of his career.

“We will see. Now I feel too disappointed to speak about my future, we will see,” Mancini told Rai Sport post-match.

“I’m sure this team has a great future. I’m supporting these players now more than ever.”

He added: ‘”Just as the Euros was the most wonderful experience of my life, this was the biggest disappointment.

“We can say nothing, that is football, sometimes incredible things happen and it happened.”