Gattuso chose the Atalanta stadium to push himself towards the World Cup. Yet Bergamo has never been one of the national team’s favorite venues. Here’s the story…
The Bergamo fort chosen by coach Gattuso to accompany Italy towards the world play-off final does not have many precedents in the history of the national team. And he hasn’t even been too lucky, if it’s true that the Azzurri have only played 4 matches so far, winning just half of them. One, however, particularly dear to Gattuso himself given that he made his debut at the Gewiss Stadium on the bench inherited from Spalletti: it was last September 5th, an evening valid for the world championship qualifiers with still a small hope of being able to reverse the fate written with the defeat in Norway.
In September, Bergamo welcomed the national team very warmly and led them to a 5-0 victory. The night of the great illusion that it would have been possible to chase the Norwegians in terms of goal difference, a hope that then vanished during the autumn.
Perhaps also for the sweet memory of the first time as technical commissioner, Gattuso wanted to return to Bergamo at all costs, rejecting solutions that would have allowed a greater number of fans such as San Siro or the Olimpico in Rome. The coach himself confessed this on the long eve of the match against Northern Ireland: “I chose Bergamo and the FIGC satisfied me without problems, for example San Siro is divided and can be dangerous with the first mistakes, having played my first match there was important, Bergamo is a mess, let’s hope we haven’t screwed up.”
The advance ticket sales proved him right. The sold out arrived within a matter of minutesalso favored by the popular prices chosen by the Football Federation to bring people as close as possible to an appointment that cannot be missed. There will, therefore, be a full house and hopefully also an enthusiastic crowd as well as support if any problems emerge.
Italy in Bergamo, here are all the precedents
The truth, however, is that Bergamo is not one of the traditional homes of the Italian national team. The first time was in 1987 in a qualifying match for the ’88 European Championship which we then ended by losing the semi-final against the Soviet Union: that day’s opponent Maltadefeated 5-0 with goals from Bagni, Bergomi, Altobelli (double) and Vialli. Then nothing until 15 November 2006, as fresh World champions: friendly draw 1-1 with Türkiye with goals from Di Natale and an own goal from Materazzi.
The third appointment with history dates back to 14 October 2020 againstHolland in the Nations League: here too a 1-1 draw determined by Lorenzo Pellegrini and Van de Beek. Finally, the aforementioned 5-0 against Estonia on 5 September 2025, Gattuso’s debut on the Azzurri bench with the signatures of Kean, Retegui (double), Raspadori and Bastoni for the 5-0 to overwhelm theEstonia.
