Italy fights for survival in Bergamo
Italy meets its demons on Thursday night. A decisive play-off against Northern Ireland stands between them and redemption. The aim is brutal and simple: end a ten-year curse. Italy missed the last two World Cups. The shocks of 2017 against Sweden and 2022 against North Macedonia still sting. They were also smashed by Norway (7-1 over the two matches) in the group stage. Win on Thursday and a qualifying final against Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the line.
Gattuso’s method to glue the squad together
Gennaro Gattuso took charge in June. He’s won five of six. His staff have watched 380 matches since last summer. Packed club schedules killed any winter training camp, so Gattuso criss-crossed to meet his players. Riccardo Calafiori talked on Tuesday about dinners in London set up to keep the group tight. The coaching team has been beefed up — Gianluigi Buffon and Leonardo Bonucci now add experience to the official delegation.
A financial gulf on paper
Picking Bergamo was protection, pure and simple. Gattuso wanted to avoid the suffocating pressure and possible boos of San Siro. On the pitch this looks wildly one-sided. Transfermarkt and the Italian press are blunt about it. Italy’s squad is valued at 858 million euros. Northern Ireland sits at about 81 million. The gap looks even uglier in the starting line-ups. The visitors will lean on plenty of lower-division pros. Only four Northern Ireland internationals play in top-flight leagues. Gianluigi Donnarumma’s salary is, in fact, 100 times that of opposing keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
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