Tonali and Kean end Northern Ireland World Cup hopes to send Italy into playoff final
Game seven of Gennaro Gattuso’s Italy tenure delivered comfort. In number eight, he will look to end the painful wait of a nation by returning his country to the World Cup for the first time since 2014. Northern Ireland’s future, a bright one with this young squad, now means looking towards Euro 2028. This was simply a campaign too soon.
Gattuso has a stated aim of making World Cup impact, not simply qualifying. There were long spells in this playoff when the coach’s aspirations felt ludicrous. Perhaps Italy laboured, especially in the first half, under expectation. Yet it is an undoubted truism that they will require a huge uplift in performance level to feature prominently in the summer. Had Northern Ireland snatched the opening goal here, Italy would have been in serious bother.
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