Italian Star Vilified by Own Fans After World Cup Heartbreak: 'Get Out of Our Country'

Italy narrowly scraped into the World Cup play-off final after a tight victory over Northern Ireland. A clash with Bosnia and Herzegovina followed, but things quickly went awry. In a bleak Zenica, at the iconic Bilino Polje stadium, Italy initially took the lead, but Alessandro Bastoni received a red card in the 41st minute. From that moment on, Italy struggled. After a grueling 90 minutes plus extra time, the match went to penalties, where Italy ultimately lost.

The nation has been in deep mourning ever since, and the players are certainly feeling the heat. Bastoni and his girlfriend, in particular, have been subjected to a torrent of abuse. Under almost every photo of Bastoni, hateful comments can be found following his red card. He has truly become Italy's scapegoat. "Shame on you," reads one comment. Others include "get out of our country" and "you're a jerk." But it doesn't stop there.

Ugly messages are also being posted under photos of his girlfriend. "Tell your husband to flee Italy," one reads. Another states, "your son will be an idiot like his father," or "because of your boyfriend, I'll never see a World Cup." These are just a few examples from the storm of reactions.

Both have since taken action, limiting comments to only those they know. Bastoni also felt compelled to delete his most recent post. While several players are receiving a barrage of comments, Bastoni is bearing the brunt of it.

It's a painful wound for the Italians that won't heal anytime soon. For the third consecutive time, the football-mad nation will miss out on a World Cup. While they won the European Championship in 2021, their last World Cup appearance was 12 years ago. An entire generation in Italy has never witnessed their country play in a World Cup. This is seen as an immense insult to the footballing powerhouse that is Italy.

The national coach, Gennaro Gattuso, was part of the team when Italy won the World Cup against France in 2006. Even he couldn't get his country back "where it belongs." Afterwards, he was visibly emotional. "We are not going to the World Cup for the third time, and I personally apologize for not being able to achieve this. Talking about my future is not important now; what was important today was to guide Italy to the World Cup. We are devastated."