The feat was impossible. To qualify directly for the next World Cup, Italy had to beat Norway by nine goals. Failing to achieve the unthinkable, the Nazionale hoped to take revenge after the 3-0 defeat suffered in Oslo last June.
The first period brought hope for Gennaro Gattuso’s men. To their advantage, they led 1-0 thanks to a goal from Pio Esposito. Alas, the Italians sank in the second half, ultimately receiving another slap against Erling Haaland and his gang (4-1).
As expected, Italy will therefore have to go through the play-offs to get their ticket to America. As in 2018 and 2022. And there is necessarily concern since the Italians had both failed against Sweden (1-0) and North Macedonia (1-0). And all the more so in view of the service delivered by the Squadra Azzura.
“We ask forgiveness from the fans”
Gennaro Gattuso also apologized to the supporters after the defeat. “We apologize to the fans, 4-1 is too heavy a result, he confided in front of the microphones.
We had a good first half, but not the second. We had a lot of difficulties. We started to be afraid. »
“It’s worrying, I would be hypocritical to say otherwise. We’ll see each other again in three months… But it’s easy to read, today we learned too big a lesson.” he continued, adding: “The pressure is high at the moment, we have not qualified for the World Cup in the last two editions, and we must not underestimate this aspect. But we can’t let the first setback get us down either. »
“After the 2-1, we gave up and disappeared from the field. This must not happen, for his part indicated Gianluigi Donnarumma. We are angry and disappointed in ourselves. We have to raise our heads because in March, we are playing something big. I’m very bitter but we absolutely have to go to the World Cup. We have to find confidence between now and March. »
