After Bruno Guimaraes and Brazil played out a 0-0 draw on Thursday night, things got worse for Newcastle United's high-profile internationals as Italy were hammered by Norway on Friday.
Italy took on Norway in Oslo in a World Cup Qualifier, where the hosts put three goals past a despondent Italy side.
How the mighty have fallen. When I were a lad, Brazil and Italy were the teams to beat, now, beating both seems fairly simple.
While it was Italy's first game in the qualifiers, it doesn't bode well when you're only above Moldova on goal difference - Moldova have played two games.
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Sandro Tonali had a nightmare against Norway
Italy's players, including Sandro Tonali, received some harsh criticism from the media
Newcastle United's Sandro Tonali played the full game for Italy last night, but he couldn't carry over his amazing club form to the international stage, with two different outlets noting that Tonali looked 'confused'.
Sky Sports Italia gave the Newcastle midfield maestro a score of 4.5/10, noting that he failed to contribute anything of worth.
“He starts with his usual grit, but then he too falls into the pit of general confusion. He runs as usual. But he adds neither geometry nor cleanliness. Technically imprecise and lacking the usual substance.”
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Luciano Spalletti clearly struggled to get his tactics across to the team
Football Italia weren't any less scathing, giving Tonali the same score of 4.5/10 and also noticing the confusion.
“Not sure if he should have played as a playmaker or box-to-box midfielder. The Newcastle star looked confused, but surely wasn’t the only one.”
It sounds like it wasn't so much the players, but the manager who failed last night. Luciano Spalletti’s tactics obviously weren't clear if everyone was noticing that Sandro Tonali didn't know where he was meant to be, and he wasn't the only player to receive such a pasting by the media.
Spalletti's got some work to do it seems.