Gattuso Loses Sleep As Italy Braces For Northern Ireland In World Cup Play-off

Gennaro Gattuso admits Italy’s looming match with Northern Ireland has left him restless as the Azzurri fight to avoid another World Cup heartbreak.

For four months, Italy have known the obstacle blocking their path back to the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 2014.

Victory in the play-off semi-final would set up a decisive clash with Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina for a place in Group B alongside co-hosts Canada, Switzerland and Qatar.

Despite Italy’s pedigree as four-time world champions, memories of shock eliminations by North Macedonia and Sweden still linger.

Gattuso says the pressure is taking a personal toll. He said, “As a player, Gattuso did not sleep before big games. It’s similar to a manager but he now has the aid of sleeping pills from his doctor. Otherwise, he says, ‘at 4.30 or 5am I wake up and I’m wide-eyed like a bat’.”

The former AC Milan midfielder replaced Luciano Spalletti in June and has won five of his first six matches in charge.

“I’ve been coaching for several years now, but certainly this game is the most important fixture of my coaching career so far,” said Gattuso.

“I’m prepared and, believe me, I’m not thinking about things going badly, I’m thinking positively. I want to think big, and we certainly will compete and we’ll see how things come out.”

Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill knows the scale of the task but relishes the chance to end a 40-year wait for a World Cup appearance.

“The pressure of managing Italy is a lot different from the pressure of managing Northern Ireland,” O’Neill said.

“I have great admiration for what he did as a player and, obviously, the job he’s done as a coach as well.”