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Marseille's head coach Gennaro Gattuso gestures to his players during the Europa League League play-off first leg soccer match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Olympique Marseille at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, file)
New Italy coach and former firebrand defender Gennaro Gattuso said the first and foremost target for his players will be to get the country to the World Cup. Italy, the 4-time champions, have missed both the last two World Cups in 2018 and 2022 respectively and are in a tough spot in the Qualifiers for the 2026 edition after they were thrashed by Norway earlier this month.
“I know it’s not an easy job but nothing is easy in life. There’s not much to say. There’s work to do. I need to get inside the players’ heads. I hear often that we don’t have the talent or good enough players anymore. But I think we have the players. We just need to put the players in condition to succeed. We need to get Italy back to the World Cup. That’s fundamental,” Gattuso said at his presentation on Thursday.
Currently, the Azzurri are already nine points behind Norway in their World Cup qualifying group — albeit having played two matches fewer than the leader. Gattuso’s debut will be at home to Estonia on Sept. 5. Israel is also in the five-team Group I. Italy host Norway in the final round on Nov. 16. Only the group winner advances directly to next year’s tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. The runner-up enters playoff brackets to be played next March.
That was the stage where Italy was eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia and ruled out of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively.
“He responded without any hesitation to our call and with the same enthusiasm as when he was called up as a player to the national team. And not simply enthusiasm. It’s really a lot more: great spirit of sacrifice, great professionalism and diligence. He told me right away that nobody wins alone, that you win as a squad and a group,” Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina said.
Gattuso said he wants to set a new standard of dedication whereby even injured players remain at the national team’s training center.
“We have plenty of physical therapists and medical staff,” Gattuso said. “If I had listened to my body, I would have played 50 fewer matches. We need to go beyond our limits.”
(With agency inputs)
English (US) ·