‘Sense the danger’ warning over Northern Ireland threat from Italy boss Gennaro Gattuso before Bergamo
Italy head coach Gennaro Gattuso has warned his players to “sense the danger” on Thursday in Bergamo against Northern Ireland across the high-stakes World Cup play-off semi-final.
Although split in the FIFA World Rankings by 57 spots, both sides stand 90 minutes away from a final shot next Tuesday against either Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina towards the ultimate prize of the summer finals.
Gattuso, the former Rangers midfielder and AC Milan legend, helped Italy lift the World Cup in 2006 during his celebrated playing career.
However, Northern Ireland stand in the way of Italy’s bid to make a welcome return to the global showpiece after World Cup qualification disappointment over the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
Despite four-time World Cup winners Italy holding the status of favourites on home soil, Gattuso offered high praise for Northern Ireland’s strengths.
“They run a lot, they’re able to play vertically and caused problems from set-pieces,” said Gattuso this week at his press conference, translated into English on the official Italian Football Federation (FIGC) website. “We’ll need to be aware and sense the danger.
"Since I’ve coached the players, I’ve noticed that, at times, we’ve not been able to sense it.”
Thursday will mark a fifth fixture for Italy at the Stadio di Bergamo, with Gattuso kicking off his era as international boss six months ago at the same venue with a 5-0 defeat of Estonia.
“I chose the stadium...in September (against Estonia), the first half ended 0-0 and despite the result they still applauded us,” said Gattuso as he aims to extend Italy’s unbeaten record at the stadium with a capacity under 23,500. “In a stadium of 50 or 60,000 fans, after 10 minutes you might make a mistake and then the fans start whistling...I want to play in a tight and compact stadium, I hope I’ve got it right.”
Gattuso used his press conference this week to confirm Italy’s full focus.
“We must only have our minds on Thursday’s match,” he said. “I hope, with all my heart, that we achieve this objective, the group deserves it.
"There’s no need to stress the players out, they know what we’re playing for...obviously, there’s going to be a bit of tension, but we must do our best to spread lots of positivity.”