By Sahil Kohli
Fukuoka [Japan], July 20 : Punjab FC technical director Giuseppe Cristaldi opened uo on India's FIFA World Cup dream and on how his home nation, four-time champions Italy could re-emerge into global arena after a hat-trick of WC qualification misses.
Cristaldi spoke on the sidelines of the Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) exposure tour to Japan, where his side registered wins over Avispa Fukuoka and Giravanz Kitayushu but lost to FC Baleine Shimonoseski in their final game on Sunday via penalties.
It has been hard times for Indian football as despite the best efforts of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and private entities, India has never made it to FIFA World Cup. Having not qualified for the Asian Cup 2027, India is not a prominent team in the tournament, having played just five editions. Except for a runners-up position in 1964 during their debut, all of their runs at the continental tournament have been group stage exits.
Speaking on India's chances of establishing their long-lost Asian dominance, Giuseppe said that all the stakeholders will have to walk in the right direction together and focus on players development.
"For India, we hope that this moment can arrive soon. When? This is hard to say because it depends on many factors obviously," said the Italian to ANI.
"The most important thing is to work all together in the right direction, clubs, federation, in order to develop players and to reach hopefully this dream one day, which is the participation in the World Cup," he added.
On Italy missing out on WC qualification this year after losing to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Qualifiers, Giuseppe admitted that a hat-trick of WC qualification misses is an "open scar" and there is something wrong within the system.
However, he expressed hope that Italy, who last won the title in 2006, will be back to feature in the 2030 WC, marking 100 years of the tournament. Former AC Milan stalwart Paolo Maldini is currently the technical director of Italian side as it seeks a new head coach and a total rebuild after Gennaro Gattuso stepped down.
"Missing three times in a row the World Cup qualification, obviously it is an open scar for all of us, all Italians. Usually during the World Cup, that is the summer where all the people gather together, they celebrate together. We were able to celebrate this competition four times, so we have four stars on the jersey," Giuseppe said.
"So it is obviously a kind of a shame not qualifying for three times in a row, considering that prior to this, the only time that we did not qualify was in the 50s (in 1958). So that was the only time that Italy did not qualify for the World Cup and now we did not qualify for three times in a row. So this means that there is something wrong in the system."
"Yes, there has been a victory in the Euros 2020. But again, this is not enough to justify the absence of a football giant like Italy. Now we hope that with Paolo Maldini in charge as a technical director, things can change, we can restart and restructure from grassroots all our system."
"And hopefully we can be there for the next World Cup, which will be in 2030. So it will be the 100th anniversary of the World Cup. So it will be an important one and definitely we cannot miss that one," he continued.
Meanwhile on Spain's second FIFA World Cup title win with a 1-0 win over Lionel Messi-led Argentina courtesy a 106th minute winner from Ferran Torres, Giuseppe said that Spain were deserving winners, having conceded just one goal in their entire run, calling their match against the defending champions a "one way game".
"Spain has surely deserved to win this World Cup. They only conceded one goal in eight matches. They displayed dominance performances from the beginning till the end.
It was an absolutely one-way game against Argentina, the world champion and the double Copa America champion," he said.
"They (Spain) defeated France in the semi-final, before that Belgium and Portugal. So even the path that they had was very difficult. So they absolutely and truly deserved the final success," he signed off.
Spain's win marks their second WC title win after the 2010 edition win and continues their unbeaten streak in international football to 38 matches. With a Euro 2024 title, a UEFA Nations League title in 2022-23 and now a World Cup, Spain seems to be going through another golden phase of their rich football history.