Gattuso hopes Serie A fixtures moved for Italy’s World Cup play-off

Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso hopes Serie A games scheduled for the weekend before the World Cup play-offs will be moved to give the Azzurri more time to prepare for a semifinal against Northern Ireland.

The Azzurri will face Northern Ireland in the World Cup play-off semifinal on March 26. The game will be played at home, while the possible final will be away against the winner between Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

There are no more international breaks until March next year, which means Gattuso will have little time to prepare for the match.

The Italian FA is hoping to find a window in February for a get-together at Coverciano, but it might prove to be a hard task due to the packed fixture list, domestically and across Europe.

Therefore, Gattuso mentioned another possible option that would help him in preparations for such a vital game.

“I spoke to some colleagues, including Montella. I’ve heard that in Turkey, they’ll probably stop the league for three days. Hopefully, we can make it too. Having the chance to play in European competition and perhaps giving three extra days to prepare,” the Italy boss told RAI.

“We must only think about the first game. Then Bosnia and Wales are different teams, with different playing styles, two different environments, but the focus is on Northern Ireland, so we might think about Bosnia and Wales,” Gattuso continued.

The Italy CT had already praised Northern Ireland’s physicality and insisted the Azzurri must prepare for a tough game.

“Northern Ireland are a physical side, they like to play on second balls, and surely we’ll need a great game, but surely we can handle it,” he added.

“Let’s think about the first game. We know what teams Wales and Bosnia are. Surely the environment in Wales is tough, they push hard, as they like. Bosnia is the same, these stadiums can make anyone struggle, but it’s useless to talk about it. We have the semifinal, let’s advance and then we’ll see the opponent and how to face it.”

The semi-final against Northern Ireland will likely be played at the New Balance Arena in Bergamo, home to Atalanta.

“Let’s see, we have talked with the President. Bergamo came out, let’s see if we’ll play there,” Gattuso confirmed.

Italy suffered a 4-1 home loss against Norway last week, and Gattuso is already making plans to visit some of his players in the coming months.

“I left the players alone these days, but in four or five days, when we recover from the bad impression we made on Sunday at San Siro, we’ll start again,” he said.

“The idea is to go visit those who play abroad, have a hot cup of tea or dinner with them, and hopefully, they’ll give us a date. I’ll meet and talk to these guys, not just about football, but also about everyday life. It would not be bad to keep in touch with the lads.

“The game the other night was a shame, but I don’t know what it could have been with a different outcome. Mentally, we might have thought we had overcome all obstacles. At the same time, it was a heavy defeat, where all our fragility emerged, and we must improve in this aspect. I hold tight to the first half; surely we must work because we can’t disappear from the pitch as we did. It’s not just the players’ problem, but also mine and that of my staff. We must try to change in this aspect.”