Materazzi: Gattuso will ‘fight tooth and nail’ for Italy’s World Cup qualification

Italy World Cup winner Marco Materazzi says his ex-Azzurri teammate Gennaro Gattuso will ‘fight tooth and nail’ for World Cup qualification: ‘He’s taken on the most difficult role.’

Italy host Northern Ireland in the World Cup play-off semifinal on March 26, with the potential final on March 31 against either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Materazzi: Gattuso must make sure Italy players ‘stay calm’

“What I know is that Rino (Gattuso) will fight tooth and nail to get us to the World Cup,” Materazzi told Vivo Azzurro.

“He’s taken on the most difficult role he could have taken; direct qualification was practically compromised. He’s trying to pass on his enthusiasm to the team. We won’t face fantastic teams, but they’ll be tough ones, and we have to make sure the players stay calm. We’ll have to push hard. I’m convinced he’s working with the utmost professionalism, and that’s what’s most important for these difficult matches.”

Materazzi and Gattuso won the World Cup with the Azzurri in 2006, and Italy have only played in the World Cup again twice since, in 2010 and 2014.

That legendary Azzurri team in 2006 beat France on penalties.

“By the time it went to penalties, there were people like Rino (Gattuso) who had already taken off their boots,” Materazzi recalled, smiling.

“Iaquinta was wandering around at a distance. Fabio (Cannavaro) had said he would take the sixth, but in my opinion, Buffon would have taken it before him. So there weren’t many of us left. I’ve always taken penalties and felt confident, even though I have this obsession that if you score during the match, you’ll miss the penalty afterwards. But when you get to that point, you can’t back out.”

Materazzi was not a designated starter at the World Cup, but broke into the XI after an injury to Alessandro Nesta.

“In terms of elegance and tactical intelligence, Nesta was the best along with Maldini. Playing next to him, I felt a bit intimidated,” Materazzi admitted.

“I can’t say the same about Cannavaro, because I felt closer to him, and we looked like two street kids playing in the park. Today’s defenders have changed, but football has changed too. In our days, the first thing was to mark and not concede goals; everyone did their job. Today, a defender almost has to know how to handle the ball with his feet first and then focus on marking so as not to lose his man.”