Giorgio Chiellini admits his injury is more serious than he anticipated, but is confident Italy ‘will put in a great performance’ against Switzerland and Northern Ireland.
The Azzurri and Juventus captain had to leave the Coverciano training ground today due to a thigh issue, as it was confirmed he would not be fit enough to play in either of the World Cup qualifiers.
“Unfortunately, I have to pull out due to an injury, but I will be close to my teammates for this important game we have coming up,” Chiellini told RAI Sport.
“I am calm, confident, the same sentiments that our coach is transmitting to the group. I am certain we will achieve the target of World Cup qualification.
“I was here and thought it was something less serious, but I realised I am going to need a few more days to rest. As I said before, we are a great squad and the secret of this three-year period is that even by changing the personnel, the team performance remains the same.
“We will put in a great performance, I am relaxed. I will be in Rome to stay close to the team, but not to play.”
It is a head-to-head with Switzerland for the top of the 2022 World Cup qualifying group, as they are currently neck-and-neck, separated only by goal different.
Just the top team will get a direct pass into the World Cup, with the runners-up going into the play-offs.
Italy have lost Chiellini, Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Nicolò Barella to injury already, along with players like Marco Verratti who were never called up.
“All the national teams are in an emergency situation at the moment, as the fixture list is so packed there’s no time to recover. Switzerland have many absentees too.”