Italy is the next European giant to suffer an early exit. (image: abcnews.go.com)

Arrivederci Azzurri.

Yet another mighty European giant has bowed out of the Fifa World Cup. Italy has exited this tournament at the group stage – the second one in a row that the Azzurri has been eliminated – at the very first hurdle.

Had held their fate in their own hands

The mighty Italians had held their fate in their own hands, thanks to a victorious start to the World Cup when they had beaten England by a comfortable two goals to one.

But a defeat at the hands of Costa Rica, one of the World Cup’s South American surprise packages, had put a dent on their qualification through to the knockout stages.

Not exactly a must-win game for them

In their final Group D match, they were up against South American team, Uruguay. Being in second place before the match, a draw would have seen them through to the knockout rounds. So it wasn’t exactly a must-win game for them, and they did not even need to rely on other results to have confirmed their progress.

But alas, the Azzurri had still failed to deliver and went out due to a late Uruguay goal. So they become the next casualties of this very surprising edition of the Fifa World Cup.

The temperature probably didn’t help the Italians much either, as their game was played in the hot Brazilian midday sun. So maybe their bodies still had not quite adapted to the higher temperatures, and the players were not able to play at their peak.

The infamous vampire bite. (Image: smh.com.au)

At least they lasted all three games

Italy can console themselves though, in the fact that at least they lasted all three of the games in the group stage, unlike Spain and England – two other European footballing superpowers – who had both been booted out after only two matches.

And now, the Italians can finally do England a favour… by sharing a bus with them to the airport. Well, it certainly was not what both teams had wanted…

Italy’s exit has already claimed its first two casualties

Italy being eliminated from the Fifa World Cup has already claimed its first two casualties. This is because both Italy’s manager, Cesare Prandelli, as well as the Italian football federation president, Giancarlo Abete, has quit – in the wake of this latest defeat.

Not all roses for Uruguay, either

Watch out Colombia. The vampire is coming. (Image from dailymail.co.uk)

However, it is not all roses for Uruguay though, even though they may have qualified for the knockout rounds at Italy’s expense.

That’s because in the game against Italy, one of their own players, Luis Suarez has proven to the world yet again, that he was a vampire in his previous life. This is certainly not the first time that Suarez has unleashed his fangs and gone on to “suck” someone’s blood either.

The unfortunate victim this time round had been Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini and the teeth marks that Suarez had left on his shoulder were rather obvious – based on photographic evidence circulating around the Internet.

Suarez’s tournament may be over, too

So if Fifa decides to take action and give Suarez the lengthy ban that he should deserve for his vampire-like tendencies, the tournament of one of Uruguay’s best players and shining stars may be over.

For offences of this nature, the maximum ban from international football is two years. So Suarez could see himself with having plenty of free time, following this incident.

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