Despite winning the Euros during the summer, Italy still have bad memories about the World Cup and they’ll have to handle the pressure when they meet Switzerland on Friday, writes Giancarlo Rinaldi.
Italian football fans of a sensitive disposition should look away now. The last time the Azzurri faced a World Cup qualification showdown it did not go well. Some supporters still wake up amid their nightmares of that disaster – almost exactly four years ago – which saw Sweden cancel La Nazionale’s trip to Russia 2018. Nobody with a Tricolore on their bedroom wall wants a repeat of that debacle against Switzerland on Friday night.
It is not quite comparing like with like, of course. That play-off clash was a winner takes all scenario which will not be what is played out in Rome. Roberto Mancini would still have the safety net of a play-off route should his team mess up at the Stadio Olimpico. However, anything other than a win would feel like a rare hair out of place in what has been a pretty much perfectly groomed reign as national team boss thus far.
Those who have followed the boys in blue for a longer lifetime might see another bad omen on the horizon. Back in 1958, it would be Northern Ireland who cost Italy their admission to the World Cup – the only other time they failed to get there. They are also their final group stage opponents this time around.
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Pessimism, though, ought not to be allowed at the COVID-restricted party on this occasion. This team produced the goods in style this summer to become European Champions and surely has enough in its locker to deliver the win against the Swiss which would banish any doubts. It would continue an upward trend since the Giampiero Ventura age which has been truly remarkable.
In football, of course, the journey from hero to zero can be shorter than Giorgio Chiellini’s haircut. Nonetheless, it would represent a terrible collapse for the reigning continental kings to miss out on a World Cup. It would not be entirely without precedent – ask Czechoslovakia, Denmark or Greece about that – but it would still be a painful slap in the face for a team that has proved good at dodging the punches thus far.
The build-up, though, has not been without its hitches. Marco Verratti – the man who makes the midfield tick and the referee’s yellow-card pocket twitch – was an early call-off with a hip injury. He was followed, in no particular order, by Lorenzo Pellegrini, Nicolò Zaniolo, Ciro Immobile and Giorgio Chiellini. With doubts over the other Nicolò – Barella – the Italy boss did not have his troubles to seek.
However, he has tried to ooze calm in the build-up to a clash with a side he did beat, after all, quite convincingly in the summer. Verratti missed that match, too, if you remember and Chiellini had to come off quite early. Suddenly, the omens don’t look quite as bad as they did, do they?
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Nonetheless, there is no doubt the Swiss are not a side to be taken lightly and represent a tricky test of Italy’s World Cup credentials. They have the tools to hurt the Azzurri – but only if they are allowed to use them. As with most of the games under Mancini’s leadership, if his troops can take control of the initiative, they have shown there are not many sides that can live with them.
It might have to be a bit of an experimental starting XI in this latest gladiatorial conflict in Rome but it should not be one his team approaches with any trepidation. They did, after all, go into battle at Wembley earlier this year and come away with the spoils. If any outfit in world football should be high on confidence, it is probably this one.
Balance, as always, will be the key. If Mancini can get the right mix between attacking intent and defensive savvy there is little doubt his players have too much for the opponents who lie in store. They have made this voyage a little more complicated than it needed to be but they still have their fate in their own hands.
Switzerland are a familiar foe, for sure, and one to be respected but not feared. This group of players did not come this far, you feel, to be thwarted at the final hurdle. By the time Qatar 2022 rolls around it will have been eight years since Italy played at a World Cup and for a nation of its footballing stature that is simply far too long. The Euros were great, no doubt, but a Mondiale is another matter. Last time around they said: “No Italy, no party.” It is up to this side to prove that it has the quality to add another star to the four it can already stitch onto its famous blue shirts.