Gattuso: ‘Italy see no difference between Wales and Bosnia, Dzeko is a great man’
Gennaro Gattuso assures Italy ‘see no difference between Wales and Bosnia’ with high praise for ‘good friend’ Edin Dzeko, as he sees some poker mind games for the World Cup play-off.
It kicks off at the Stadion Bilino Polje in Zenica on Tuesday at 19.45 UK time and a winner will be decided after 90 minutes, extra time or even a penalty shoot-out.
The Azzurri squeezed past Northern Ireland 2-0 in Bergamo on Thursday, while Bosnia needed penalties to defeat Wales after a 1-1 draw in Cardiff.
Their original plan had been to fly in earlier, but the state of the pitch amid rain and snow prompted them to have today’s training session in Italy instead, not arriving in Zenica until this evening.
Gattuso not underestimating Bosnia
“Anyone who is in football lives for moments like this,” Gattuso told Sky Sport Italia following a pitch inspection.
“Personally, I feel the tingle of tension, there’s nothing better than that. If you don’t feel it, then you have to hang your boots up, or as a coach just go home. We know there is a lot at stake, we’re well aware that Italy have not participated in the last two World Cups, but we also must reserve all that energy for the pitch tomorrow and not waste it beforehand.”
Gattuso was already part of the 2006 squad that won the World Cup and had an entire nation celebrating, so now he can provide a different type of gift to the country by qualifying as a coach.
“I do feel great responsibility from the first day I took the Nazionale job, but I cannot think about what happens if there’s something positive or negative. I have to look into my players’ eyes and give them confidence. That’s not because I want to gift them something, but because I believe we can achieve this target.
“In the last seven months, the team has improved a great deal. We might not be particularly pretty, but that’s fine. Our history says that with mentality, hunger, and the ability to suffer through difficulty, so many of us were able to achieve amazing and entirely unexpected things wearing this shirt. So that is something we cannot do without.”
It is widely reported that Gattuso is not planning on making any changes to the starting XI that played against Northern Ireland, despite calls for Francesco Pio Esposito and Marco Palestra to step in for Mateo Retegui and Matteo Politano.
That was a slog until Sandro Tonali broke the deadlock, then he provided the assist for Moise Kean to make it 2-0.
“I was speaking to my staff and we knew there could be difficulties. I say thank goodness Northern Ireland tried to pass it around more, because if they had just done the usual and pumped balls into the box, we could’ve struggled more,” replied Gattuso.
“Tomorrow will be a different type of game, as Bosnia have two very fast wingers with quality, two strikers who move very well to reach balls pulled back from the by-line. We need to have courage on the ball, because Bosnia are a real team who know what they want to do.”
Bosnia and Herzegovina coach Sergej Barbarez said in his pre-match press conference that he’s ready to ‘park the bus’ if they take the lead over Italy, but Gattuso isn’t buying it.
“I know Sergej is a great poker player, so I don’t believe this is a team that wants to park the bus. They have a lot of quality and respect their opponents, so we need to do the same.
“Despite what happened the other day, we know the truth of the matter is there isn’t a difference between Wales and Bosnia. That controversy emerged, Federico did very well to comment, but it’s honestly not a cliché to admit this is a tough match and we respect them.”
This was in reference to the clip showing Federico Dimarco, Guglielmo Vicario and other Italy players celebrating when Bosnia beat Wales on penalties, suggesting they preferred not to go to Cardiff for the play-off final.
Edin Dzeko also commented on that situation, confirming his love for Italy after so many years in Serie A.
“I am glad you asked me this question,” replied Gattuso.
“I made many mistakes in life, but when it comes to football, I rarely get it wrong. I was talking to Dzeko for two months last year when I was at Hajduk Split and wanted to sign him from Fenerbahce, but the club didn’t have the resources to agree a deal.
“An incredible rapport still developed, he is light years ahead of so many as a professional, so it’s no fluke that he still gets the ball in the net at age 40 and says things that are not to be taken for granted.
“It’s proof that he is a great champion, a great man, and I am not surprised by any of that. We’ve formed a strong friendship, and I compliment him as a player and a person.”
Finally, does Gattuso have a message for the Italian fans back home?
“I saw that there were 10 million television viewers when we played Northern Ireland, and going around Italy the last few months, I know it’s up to us to give them that joy.”