The Azzurri qualified for the World Cup play-off final. In Bergamo the national team erased the ghosts of the past for one evening and now there is only one step left to qualify.
Suffering and fair. A balm for Italy’s head and a pass for the final in which Gattuso’s national team will try to secure a pass to the World Cup on Tuesday evening in Zenica against Bosnia and Herzegovina (8.45 pm). A right foot from Tonali and a surgical left foot from Kean gave the Azzurri the victory they needed to chase away the ghosts, put the failures against Sweden and North Macedonia behind them at least for a few hours and look to the future with confidence.
It won’t be easy because Italy is convalescent, not healed. But it will be different than the night in Bergamo in which for a long time the national team played with less brakes, almost hypnotized by the tension, condemned to sterile ball possession with the end in the Irish trap. It went like this until half-time, leaving bad omens in the heads of millions of fans. It went like this until the script changed, the pace picked up and Northern Ireland’s willing defense began to show some wear and tear.
The rest was better and showed the other side of the moon, the one that makes you imagine that even the away match through which qualification for the World Cup passes is achievable. Blessed Politano with his tireless challenging of opponents on the right side of the fort. Blessed Tonali, Stretcher And Locatelli who found spacings and geometries that had been lost for an hour. Blessed Kean who played like a veteran and was the most dangerous as well as the scorer of the goal that sent the Azzurri packing for Tuesday evening.
Benedict, above all, Gattuso who accompanied his family like an older brother. This national team doesn’t have great game plots, and Northern Ireland did everything to ensure that even those few weren’t developable, but they certainly have heart and awareness of the moment. It wasn’t a given, however, it’s enough to dream that the world championship fast is ready to end. See Sticks suffer on pain, Left-handed And Tonali multiply your energy despite your aches and pains, Scamacca expect to stay in retreat even though injured and the others (Di Lorenzo, Vicario and Zaccagni) wearing a tracksuit to sit on the bench even if not called up because he is out due to physical problems seems like a miracle.
Italy will play in the World Cup play-off final against Bosnia who knocked out Wales on penalties. She will do so in a hostile environmental condition, different from the loving support with which Bergamo helped her overcome her fears. He will do it against an opponent who on paper is less strong than the Welsh and that red wall that awaited us. The best known name is that of Dzeko, decisive in the Bosnian comeback in Cardiff. Be careful, however, not to underestimate others. The challenge in Wales was an almost wild battle also from a physical point of view and we will have an advantage from this just as it will be an advantage to have broken the ice in Bergamo. It’s not much, but it’s all that was needed on the first of the two most important evenings of the Italian football season. Now rest, recharge your batteries and keep your head high: forward, Italy! It can be done.
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