The Italian football association president Giancarlo Abete has called for serious analysis of what he called a "structural crisis" that led to the defending champions' dismal first-round elimination from the World Cup.
Italy's 3-2 loss to Slovakia yesterday marked the first time the Azzurri had exited the World Cup without winning a game, and the 2006 champions have not won at all in 2010.
"We all know the importance of football in our country and we've disappointed tens of millions of fans," Abete said today. "We have to be realists. These are the facts. We need to reflect on the structural crisis of Italian football."
Abete said he would introduce the new coach Cesare Prandelli on 1 July, and confirmed that the former Fiorentina manager would lead the team through to the 2014 World Cup. "We've got to develop a strategy to start over. This problem didn't begin yesterday," Abete added. "It's been going on for a while. We have the duty to start over."
Nine players in Italy's squad were aged 30 or older, led by the 36-year-old captain Fabio Cannavaro, and Prandelli will be expected to complete a major overhaul of the squad.
"Prandelli was chosen for his skills at working with younger players," Abete said. "And it is noteworthy that we're signing him to a four-year deal. We're looking ahead long term."
Abete lamented the large number of foreign players in Italy's Serie A, referring to how Internazionale won this year's Champions League without an Italian player in their starting line-up. "These problems don't involve just Italian football, it's a Europe-wide problem," Abete said. "We don't have enough players with international experience."
The reaction to Italy's exit back home was even more damning. La Vergogna, the shame, was how most newspapers summed up their side's performance. "The aircraft called shame is ready to leave," La Stampa said. "Italy, the world champions, leave South Africa to return home covered in sporting dishonour," it added.
"Going home in shame," Gazzetta dello Sport said. "Shameful Italy," said La Repubblica, while Corriere della Sera opted for "Ugly Italy", adding: "One of our ugliest national teams ever, actually, the ugliest ever."
Abete said he would prioritise developing younger players and improving relationships with the country's clubs, coaches and youth programmes. "The European Union and Uefa have got to realise what the problem is, because if we can't develop this sport better, the risks won't affect just one or two federations but all the European teams," he said. "We've already seen how much the European powers have struggled at this World Cup and how well the South Americans are doing."
Italy's retiring captain Cannavaro linked the problems on the pitch to the violence in the stands that often mars games in Italy's dilapidated stadiums. "Something has to change. Just look at our stadiums and the way people behave at games," Cannavaro said. "We've got to invest in younger players and learn from this loss, otherwise it's going to take another 27 years before we win the World Cup again – and that's not possible for a country that loves football as much as Italy does."
Perhaps the most talented young player in Italy is the 19-year-old Internazionale forward Mario Balotelli, who often struggles with his temper and was left out of the World Cup squad. Prandelli is likely to call up Balotelli as well as another talented but temperamental forward, the Sampdoria playmaker Antonio Cassano.
"Prandelli is very good but Italy doesn't have much material to offer," Cannavaro said. "He's going to have to rebuild with all young players like Spain did. I played two European Championships with Cassano and we didn't win them. I don't see anybody like [Francesco] Totti or [Alessandro] Del Piero hanging around."
Cannavaro and the midfielder Gennaro Gattuso are retiring from the national team; goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon will take over the captaincy. At 33, defender Gianluca Zambrotta has said he wants to continue playing for Italy, but Prandelli may choose to bring back Fabio Grosso and develop the 19-year-old right-back Davide Santon.
At 25, Giorgio Chiellini becomes the reference point in central defence, but he needs a new partner without Cannavaro.
The playmaker Andrea Pirlo is 31 and can still contribute – when fit – and Riccardo Montolivo, who replaced Pirlo in all three games in South Africa, is sure to maintain his spot, having played under Prandelli with Fiorentina. Daniele de Rossi remains in midfield, while Mauro Camoranesi could be phased out.
The biggest problems are in attack. Alberto Gilardino started at centre-forward in the opening two games but did not create a single scoring chance. Still, Prandelli is likely to try to get the 27-year-old striker back in form, having coached him successfully at both Parma and Fiorentina.
Fabio Quagliarella featured only in the second half against Slovakia but produced more in those 45 minutes than any other forward did over the three games, scoring once and having another attempt ruled out for offside.
After the elimination, Quagliarella was the most distraught of all, and had to be escorted off the pitch in tears. "We tried to console the younger players," Gattuso said. "I told some of them: 'We're leaving and the Azzurri jersey is yours now: always treat it with pride.'"
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