A "National Shame": Italy Fails to Qualify For World Cup

By virtue of a scoreless draw with Sweden Monday, Italy failed to qualify for the world Cup for the first time since the Eisenhower administration.  Jason Horowitz described it in a well-written piece in today's New York Times:

"ROME — Many tragedies have befallen Italy in the last 60 years. Dozens of governments have collapsed. Earthquakes and terrorism have shaken cities. The French started adding cream to carbonara.

But the failure of the national soccer team on Monday night to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958 seems to be taking a place in the pantheon of Italian disasters."

And speaking of soccer disasters, Iceland is in and we're not!