Every year, one of the most hotly-anticipated games to come out is the new version of FIFA, the football game put out by publishing giants Electronic Arts that lets gamers take control of their favorite players and teams. FIFA16 is no exception, so EA unveiling a gameplay trailer of the game ahead of the annual E3 gaming expo is kind of a big deal.
The trailer features a tone-setting speech from Brazilian legend Pele about the beautiful game of football and people getting to experience it, and shows off updated graphics and stadium imagery, as well as some footage of the new ability to use women's national teams in the game. It's all very beautiful to look at, and eagle-eyed observers seemed impressed by apparent updates to some of the physics models and animations on display.
But the trailer lacked something: anything at all having to do with Italy.
That Napoli weren't in the trailer isn't surprising -- we've never gotten more than a glimpse of our beloved blue shirts in a FIFA trailer before. But despite Italian football rising again this past year, with Juventus making the Champions League final and Italian sides dominating the Europa League up until the semifinals, there's not even a one-second glimmer of an Italian team anywhere in the trailer.
The trailer is all about England, Spain, and Germany, with a few glimpses of the United States women's national team thrown in for good measure. Chelsea, Manchester City, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Borussia Dortmund all got plenty of time in the video, but not even one second could be spared for a Serie A team. It's an annoying snub for fans of a calcio persuasion -- though probably not enough for those fans to change their mind about buying the game in the end.
Maybe if Italy sweeps the Champions League and Europa League titles next season, EA can find five seconds for Italy in next year's trailer.