Rome, March 23 (BNA) With the worst moment in Italian football on many people’s minds, coach Roberto Mancini is not thinking about the unthinkable, but rather thinking about winning the World Cup in Qatar.
Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament. Losing the World Cup twice in a row would be an unprecedented low point for the four-time champion, especially less than a year after winning the European Championship, reports the Associated Press.
And just like in the 2018 World Cup, you have to endure the qualifiers. Italy faces North Macedonia in Palermo, Sicily, on Thursday, with the winner playing either Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo or Turkey for a place in the tournament in Qatar later this year.
Our goal is to win the World Cup. In order to do that, we need to win those two games, Mancini said. “Others only think of scenario B, the negative outcome. I only think of scenario A. And let’s hope it’s A.”
Italy started the qualifiers with three straight victories but then started to falter and a disappointing home draw against Bulgaria, less than two months after winning Euro 2020, saw Mancini’s side lose their perfect start to the World Cup qualifiers.
Northern Ireland saw a draw in the last round, with Switzerland beating the Azzurri at the top of their group and making them hope to revive their nightmare in the playoffs.
Italy, however, will not be able to rely on their strongest foundations, as the defense that played a starring role in their success in Euro 2020 will have to be altered. Leonardo Spinazzola and Giovanni Di Lorenzo are both injured in the first game and both suspect Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci.
But it has the main midfield of Marco Verratti, Nicolo Parilla and Jorginho.
Verratti missed the second leg of the play-off against Sweden in November 2017 due to a suspension. And while the PSG midfielder admits that the pain of failing to qualify is still fresh on the players’ minds, he says it needs to push them to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
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