Defense Giorgio Chiellini, who has already said goodbye to Juventus and the Italian national team, said on Saturday that he would like to "change" his "history with the World Cups", as it has "never" been a happy story. As we remember, the center-back could never stand out with the shirt of his national team in the World Cup.
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The end with Italy has not been entirely sweet for Chiellini, who was substituted at half-time of the 'Finalissima', a match that the Italian team lost 0-3 against Argentina, and was left out of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
However, the former Juventus player raised the trophy of champion of the 2020 Euro Cup last summer, Italy's first success since the 2006 World Cup, after 14 dark years for Italian football.
"I would have liked to try to change my history with the World Cups, which has never been happy. I tried, but I couldn't," he said in an interview with 'La Gazzetta dello Sport'.
"In 2010 we did poorly in a more than accessible group, in 2014 we started very well, but we complicated our lives by losing the top seeded position because we played in really prohibitive conditions, with crazy trips, schedules, and heat. In 2018 we didn't even qualify and I had this great burden", he explained.
The charismatic center-back, very close to signing with Los Angeles FC of the MLS, pointed out in the same interview that if they had reached Russia 2018, he probably would have left the 'Azzurra' once the tournament was over.
"I think that if we had qualified for Russia, I would have left the national team after that World Cup. And it probably would have hurt me, because those were my best years", he said. "After not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, I was so devastated that I wanted to say goodbye to the national team. Gabriele Oriali (former footballer) made me think", he added.