It had to be Bastoni: Fans react after Italy disaster and derby debacle
It has been a horrendous few weeks for Inter and Italy defender Alessandro Bastoni, who had already cut a controversial figure after his Derby d’Italia antics in February and has since been on the receiving end of further criticism after his role in Tuesday night’s World Cup play-off final defeat against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Why is Bastoni a divisive figure in Italian football?
It all kicked off for Bastoni during the eventful Derby d’Italia between Inter and Juventus on February 14, which ended 3-2 in favour of the Nerazzurri.
Bastoni, who was on a first-half booking in the derby, dived under the challenge of Pierre Kalulu, which resulted in his opponent being incorrectly sent off for a second bookable offence. Had the reverse decision been taken, Bastoni himself should have been shown a yellow card for simulation, which would have been his second caution of the game.
However, it was Bastoni’s passionate celebration of the decision to send Kalulu off that angered fans across Italy, not just in Turin.
Since then, Bastoni has been met by a hostile reception in a variety of grounds across Italy, and there were genuine calls from large portions of the Italy fan base for him to be dropped from Gennaro Gattuso’s squad for the World Cup play-off campaign that took place over the last week.
In the end, Bastoni kept his place in the squad and lined up in the middle of Gattuso’s back three for both the semi-final victory over Northern Ireland and the play-off final against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday.
Bastoni has since been met by further criticism after his first-half red card in Tuesday night’s play-off final against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Gianluigi Donnarumma took a poor goal kick, which was headed straight back into the Italy half, and with Amar Memic running through, Bastoni, the furthest Italy defender back, lunged in from behind and was promptly shown a straight red card.
The Azzurri were 1-0 up at the time, and had looked like they were going to see the half out with a narrow advantage until the red card was brandished in the 42nd minute.
Italy held on until the 79th minute before conceding, and did well to see off the pressure during extra-time, but two early misses in the penalty shootout from Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante sent the Azzurri packing for another World Cup cycle.
How have Italy fans responded to Bastoni’s red card?
To little surprise, the responses to Bastoni’s red card in Italy’s play-off final have not been particularly positive. Many have pointed to ‘karma’ after the Derby d’Italia incident, but others have questioned the defender’s decision making, given that Memic was still not 100% guaranteed to score past Donnarumma.
“Bastoni should have had more trust in Donnarumma and let the striker through. Cost his country a huge upset,” read one tweet on X.
Similarly, another read: “He still had so much work to do to score as well. Total headloss from Bastoni.”
Many reactions have focused on the potential reception that Bastoni will now receive upon his return to Italy. The Nerazzurri centre-back has been linked with a summer move away to Barcelona, and many suggest that he would be wise to push for a move away from Italy during the upcoming transfer window.
“Honestly, if you’re Bastoni how do you even go back to Italy after this? He was already getting booed all over Serie A before this,” one tweet read.
“If the Azzurri don’t get to the World Cup, I really can’t see Bastoni staying in Italy – it would be absolutely terrible for him,” another agreed.
“Bastoni better fly straight to Spain because I don’t think he could step foot in Italy again,” read another.
Serie A commentator Patrick Kendrick commented: “I hope Italy doesn’t treat Bastoni like England treated Beckham in 1998,” and later added: “It will be interesting to see how Barella, Bastoni and Dimarco play at home to Roma on Sunday. For what it’s worth I think they’ll be some of the best players on the pitch & credit to them if they are. Ultimately, come that match, they’re damned if they do & damned if they don’t.”
Others feel that Bastoni was in the wrong for his slide tackle against Bosnia, but feel that he is not solely to blame for Italy’s shortcomings in World Cup qualification.
“Apart from Bastoni’s f***-up, unfortunately the CT got it all wrong. The call-ups, the formations, the substitutions, the favouritism towards players from so-called big clubs. He only brought in Palestra because he’s a phenomenon,” one supporter wrote.