The Chelsea midfielder and his country paid the price for missing two important penalty shots against Switzerland.
Jorginho cast a forlorn face after Italy's upset defeat to North Macedonia on Thursday, confessing that two costly penalty misses during the World Cup qualifying campaign are tormenting him.
The Euro 2020 champions were eliminated from contention for Qatar after a late defeat in Palermo.
The Azzurri will miss their second straight World Cup final, which is the first time in their history.What exactly was said?
Jorginho, who is typically one of the best spot-kick takers in the game, missed two in a row against Switzerland in the first round of qualifying, denying Italy two wins that would have put them first in Group C ahead of their neighbors.
"It kills me to think about it because I still think about it and it will follow me for the rest of my life," she says "RAI Sport spoke to the Chelsea midfielder.
"Stepping up there twice and being unable to assist your team and country is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life, and it weighs heavily on my mind.
"People tell us we have to keep our heads up and keep going, but it's difficult."'It's difficult to describe'
Italy became the first reigning European champion to miss the World Cup since Greece in 2006 on Thursday, and Jorginho, one of the stars of their Euro 2020 success, acknowledges it will take time to recover.
"It's difficult to explain what happened," he continued.
"It's excruciating. To be honest, I'm still skeptical. I don't believe we lacked imagination because we consistently dominated matches and created numerous opportunities. We were unable to finish them, unfortunately.
"We played terrific football last summer and won the European Championship, but we made a few little blunders in the last few games and were unable to recover." They were the deciding factor."
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