Gattuso: ‘Dimarco shook off negative label, Vicario starts for Italy’

Gennaro Gattuso is impressed with Federico Dimarco’s development at Inter and reveals Guglielmo Vicario will be among those starting for Italy against Moldova.

It kicks off at the Stadionul Zimbru in Chisinau on Thursday at 19.45 GMT.

This is the penultimate game in Group I, as the Azzurri go head-to-head with Norway on Sunday at San Siro.

“There are no easy games in Europe, there weren’t even when I was a player and Marcello Lippi was the coach,” insisted Gattuso in his press conference.

“I was just talking about it to Gigi Buffon, when there was the 3-1 win with Arrigo Sacchi. There has to be respect for Moldova, because people have in mind the 11-1 result against Norway, but that was a one-off.

“We had to sweat to get the better of them in Reggio Emilia, so we need great respect for them tomorrow.”

Having said that, Italy are going to transform the starting XI, with confirmation that Gianluca Scamacca of Atalanta and Atletico Madrid striker Giacomo Raspadori will be upfront.

There are plenty of others who are resting too, including Gianluigi Donnarumma and Dimarco.

“I can confirm there will be many changes, but it’s because I have great faith in my players. They deserve this opportunity because of their attitude this week in training, it is not just throwing them scraps.

“Vicario will be in goal and not Donnarumma. Matteo Gabbia won’t be starting, but he is set to get some playing time too.”

When it comes to Inter wing-back Dimarco, Gattuso had particular praise, as well as a barbed comment aimed at former Nerazzurri boss Simone Inzaghi.

“This idea had spread around that Dimarco could only play 60-65 minutes per match, but he worked hard to remove this label, and has been putting in really strong performances for a while.

“I confirm there will be changes tomorrow, and Dimarco is one of those who will rest.”

Dimarco was regularly one of the first players to be substituted by Inzaghi at Inter, along with anyone who had a yellow card to their name.

Even if Italy do beat Norway on Sunday, the odds of overtaking them at the top of the group are miniscule due to the extreme goal difference.

With that in mind, the Azzurri and Gattuso are already preparing for the 2026 World Cup play-offs in March.

“Sport is emotional when you see someone carrying the flag. It makes me proud to hear that 6-7 million viewers tune in to watch the Nazionale every game. We want to make people fall in love with this team.

“That love for the jersey is something we must never lack, it’s what I feel meeting supporters in every stadium, and what our players must sense too.

“We all want to see Italy at the World Cup.”