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Jorginho has been told to ‘bow down’ and accept that he will no longer be able to take penalties after missing a penalty for Italy for the fourth time in a row.
The Arsenal and Italy midfielder was responsible for the penalty in Italy’s 5-2 win over North Macedonia on Friday evening, but saw his effort saved from twelve yards.
Jorginho was once one of Europe’s best penalty takers. He missed just four penalties prior to Jordan Pickford’s heroic save for England in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.
He has missed just as many attempts since then and Friday’s tame try was another poor effort, eclipsing the record set by former Inter and Juventus striker Alessandro ‘Spillo’ Altobelli in 1986.
Now Jorginho has been told by Italy’s 1982 World Cup winner Beppe Bergomi to give up penalty responsibility after his latest refusal, which was saved by Stole Dimitrievsk.
Jorginho missed his fourth penalty in a row for Italy against North Macedonia on Friday evening
Jorginho’s tame effort was saved by North Macedonia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievsk
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Jorginho’s unique penalty style, where he made a leap mid-run-up, caused goalkeepers to commit to one side before the ball was struck. However, his unconvincing goals since then have left much to be desired.
Bergomi criticized Italy head coach Luciano Spalletti’s decision to back Jorginho and slammed the midfielder, emphasizing ‘enough is enough’.
“With all due respect, Jorginho must bow to the evidence here and admit that punishments are no longer meant for him,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
“That style of taking penalties just doesn’t work anymore and today we got confirmation without a doubt.
“We can appreciate his character and mental strength to go back there, but I would say enough is enough now. He has to go to the coach and say: let someone else take the next one,” Bergomi said.
Jorginho has been backed to continue taking penalties for Italy despite his problems
Fortunately, Jorginho’s miss did not stop Italy from moving one step closer to qualifying for next year’s European Championships in Germany with victory over North Macedonia.
A draw in the next match against Ukraine would be enough for Italy to qualify, but Spaletti was full of praise for Jorginho.
‘Jorginho should be congratulated (for his performance). He didn’t angle the ball very well, but the goalkeeper made a good save,” Spalletti said.
‘He remains a special penalty taker for Italy. I told him he would take the next penalty too and he said yes.’