MILAN, Italy — Italy are aiming for World Cup glory
despite having to navigate a treacherous play-off path in order to get the 2022
tournament, with
North Macedonia the first barrier standing in their way.
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The
European champions begin a potential two-match mini
campaign in Palermo on Thursday with missing a second straight World Cup a real
possibility, as a trip to either Turkey or Portugal awaits should they get
through their semi-final.
However coach
Roberto Mancini says he is looking past
the playoffs and at Qatar, where the tournament kicks off in November.
"Our goal is to win the World Cup, and to win the World
Cup we have to win these two matches. There's nothing else to say,"
Mancini told reporters on Monday.
After so-called 'Notte Magiche' ('Magical Nights') of Euro
2020,
Italy looked certain to banish the ghosts of the disastrous qualifying
campaign for 2018 as Mancini's team not only won, but won playing an expansive
style of football rarely associated with the Azzurri.
Those balmy summer evenings soon gave way to a frosty autumn
in which Italy drew four of their final five World Cup qualifiers and two
missed Jorginho penalties in their two matches with Switzerland cost them an
automatic spot.
Italy's displays in those matches did not live up to the
swaggering style which characterized their play right up to their Euro
quarter-final win over Belgium.
"I'm confident. I have good players, professionals who
from nothing built a victory that nobody believed in beforehand," added
Mancini.
"They managed to form themselves into an extraordinary
team. We need to build our confidence from that, from what we have
accomplished."
Defensive worries
Although the manner in which top spot in Group C was handed
to the Swiss has caused alarm, Mancini is sticking with the blueprint which
brought him triumph at Wembley.
"We don't have much time to try out new things in
training. The basis will the same as in the Euro," he said.
Italy will likely be missing their entire first-choice back
four, with
Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Leonardo Spinazzola and
Giovanni Di Lorenzo all expected to be out of the semi.
Right-back Di Lorenzo was taken out of the picture at the
last moment when he limped out of
Napoli's 2-1 win over Udinese on Saturday
afternoon, while on the other flank Spinazzola hasn't played since injuring his
Achilles tendon against Belgium in July.
The last time Bonucci played was early March while on Sunday
Juve teammate Chiellini made his first appearance for the best part of two
months, in the first half of his team's 2–0 win over Salernitana.
Mancini said he probably would not risk as important a
figure as Chiellini for a home match against a team they would expect to
dominate, given the tough nature of the final should they get through.
"Giorgio is pretty good, we'll see if he can play both
matches, probably not, but we'll talk about it together," said Mancini.
Backing his team will be a sell-out crowd at the Stadio
Renzo Barbera in the Sicilian capital, the first match in Italy to be played in
front of a full-capacity stadium since the
coronavirus pandemic first curbed
attendances.
Stadiums in Italy are not due to fully open until April
after fluctuating between 50 and 75 percent since the start of the season but
special permission has been granted for the play-off as Italy hope to not
repeat the nightmare of just over four years ago.
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