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The shorter wait is the one worthy of considerably more attention. Four decades have passed since Northern Ireland appeared at a World Cup, then for the second time in succession. Any disappointment at finishing third in a group also involving Brazil and Spain was offset by hope of an imminent return. There has been no further seat at international football’s top table.
Italy’s World Cup hiatus involves failure to qualify in 2018 and 2022 (their previous two experiences were only marginally less miserable). For four-time winners of the tournament and a nation obsessed with the sport, this constitutes an affront. It brings intense pressure. One of Italy and Northern Ireland will retain the aspiration of 2026 participation when the full-time whistle shrieks in Bergamo on Thursday night.
Nobody connected with Gli Azzurri is willing to play down the significance of what lies in front of them. “This is the most important game of my coaching career so far,” says Gennaro Gattuso. “Our aim is to get back to where we were for many years and have a starring role there as well.”
The theme was replicated by Mateo Retegui. “This is the most important week of the entire season for each and every one of us,” says the striker. Retegui’s domestic commitment is in the Saudi Pro League but this was still quite the statement. “Now is the time to show everyone exactly who we are,” he adds.
Gattuso was a notoriously bad sleeper when a player. It is perhaps unfair then to infer increased anxiety at this juncture. Italy’s team doctor received pre-match thanks from Gattuso for night aids. “The older I get the more help I need otherwise at 4.30 or 5am I am wide awake, like a bat,” Gattuso says. “I am prepared. Believe me, I am thinking positively. I want to think big.” It is just that the 48-year-old looks like a man carrying a heavy burden, a mere half dozen games into coaching Italy. Even if Northern Ireland are seen off, Wales or Bosnia will be no formality.
The head coach concedes it has been a “shock” to Italian systems to suffer prolonged World Cup absence. He lifted the trophy in 2006 for goodness sake. Gattuso refused to blame Italian fans for taking a dim view of their national team; the playing of this tie at the home of Atalanta, where the capacity is less than 25,000, feels like a story of indifference. Italy would surely have tried to rattle Northern Ireland with the atmosphere in Milan, Naples or Rome if they sensed they could. In beautiful, elegant Bergamo you must go some to realise a football match is ever taking place.
“The supporters don’t have any responsibility, it is up to us,” Gattuso says. “There have been two huge disappointments in the past but now is not the time to look at what didn’t work. Now is about what our target is. This is crucial for us.”
Gattuso turned heads among visiting journalists by pointing towards the likely approach of Northern Ireland. “They typically ‘toss the ball into the box’, as they say in the British Isles,” he says. “They get eight or nine men in the box and thrive on latching on to second balls. Direct, vertical football. I haven’t seen a team that is necessarily going to be keeping the ball and dragging you around in midfield.” Gattuso – who was never compared to Michel Platini in his on-field pomp – means no offence. His analysis was perfectly fair. “Italy play a lot of long diagonal passes as well,” says Northern Ireland’s manager Michael O’Neill with a smile.
Northern Ireland would be considered outsiders even with Conor Bradley and Dan Ballard available. Bradley’s absence was factored in by O’Neill long ago but the loss of Ballard, who sustained a hamstring injury after this squad was named, feels significant. O’Neill has regularly worked wonders with his country given lack of available resource; back-up to what he has is decidedly thin. Even taking into account the heat on Italy to finally deliver, it would be a monumental shock if Northern Ireland progress.
“The important thing for us is to play the game and not think about what is at stake,” says O’Neill. “The expectation clearly lies with the home nation. I have a lot of belief in this group. It will be a young team; the benefit you get with youth is a lack of fear. We have everything to gain. This will be a huge test but one I believe we are ready for.”
Italian victory would almost certainly end O’Neill’s competitive reign, with the manager for now juggling duties with trying to extend the stay of Blackburn in the Championship. Longer term, a dual role is impractical.
“We are masters of our own fate,” says Gattuso. “We know very well what we need to do. We also need to be fully aware that we will be up against players that will be foaming at the mouth. We must not underestimate the opposition. Yes, they are Northern Ireland … but how did they get this far?” Should they get any further Italy will encounter its latest, shuddering football fallout.
