Italy are one step away from ending their long wait to get back to the World Cup.
Italy and Bosnia-Herzegovina meet in a World Cup play-off final with both sides aiming to qualify for the first time since 2014.
The Azzurri’s prolonged absence from a competition they have won four times is a source of great embarrassment for Italian football, and they will be expected to end it with victory in Zenica.
Their hopes of prevailing are complicated by being away from home, though Italy will be the fresher of the two sides following their respective semi-finals.
While Italy enjoyed an ultimately comfortable 2-0 win over Northern Ireland in Bergamo, Bosnia needed penalties to get past Wales.
Bosnia appeared set for elimination before the 40-year-old Edin Dzeko equalised four minutes from the end of normal time.
Having subsequently kept their nerve in the shootout and kept their hopes alive, Bosnia were provided with added motivation after a video of Italian players, including Dzeko’s former team-mate Federico Dimarco, celebrating Wales’ exit went viral on social media.
But Dzeko did not take offence, stressing that such celebrations are evidence Italy are feeling the pressure.
“What happened is something completely normal because we all have our preferences, mine was maybe not to play against Italy,” Dzeko told reporters on Monday.
“But today you have to be careful, with social media everything becomes bigger than it is. Dimarco messaged me and said he didn’t want to offend anyone. I told him ‘what are we even talking about? There’s absolutely no problem’.
“Italy didn’t want to play in Wales, I don’t know why, because we went there without fear and won.
“I don’t know why Italy should be afraid of Wales or Bosnia. Italy is an incredible national team that has won four World Cups.
“If they’re afraid of playing in Wales, it means something isn’t working, and maybe we should look at it this way, they might really suffer in this match because they’re playing for so much after missing two World Cups. That means they’re afraid.”
Italy boss Gennaro Gattuso did little to ease the feeling of pressure in his comments after the win over Northern Ireland, describing the play-off final as Italy’s ‘Everest’.
“We’ve taken a little step forward, now we have to climb the mountain, the Everest,” said Gattuso.
“We know that there’s a lot at stake, I think everyone had some butterflies today [Thursday] and that’s understandable. I had them, Gigi Buffon has them, we all did.
“Today the top priority was to win. I wasn’t interested in the performance today, just as I’m not interested in the performance in Bosnia.”
It can be considered a sign of how far Italian football has fallen that Gattuso is describing Tuesday’s game in such terms, but he will hope they elicit a response from his players that ensures Italy end their prolonged exile from the biggest stage.
Team news for Bosnia-Herzegovina v Italy
Both managers will be expected to stick with most of the players who got them to this point.
Italy’s attacking options are somewhat limited by Gianluca Scamacca’s continued struggles with an adductor problem.
Predicted line-ups for Bosnia-Herzegovina v Italy
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Vasilj; Dedic, Muharemovic, Katic, Kolasinac; Memic, Tahirovic, Sunjic, Alajbegovic; Demirovic, Dzeko.
Italy: Donnarumma; Mancini, Bastoni, Calafiori; Politano, Barella, Locatelli, Tonali, Dimarco; Kean, Esposito.
Where to watch Bosnia-Herzegovina v Italy: TV and online streams
Bosnia-Herzegovina v Italy kicks off at 7:45pm UK time. It is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video for a pay-per-view charge of £2.49.
Stats for Bosnia-Herzegovina v Italy
- Bosnia and Italy have met six times, with the Azzurri losing just once (W4, D1).
- Italy have kept a clean sheet in three of their last four meetings with Bosnia. The only Bosnia player to score in that span is Edin Dzeko.
- The Azzurri have also kept a clean sheet in three of their last four games and did not allow a single shot on target against Northern Ireland.
- Gattuso’s men have scored in every game since opening their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 3-0 loss to Norway.
- Bosnia have not kept a clean sheet against a side other than San Marino since a 1-0 win over Romania in March last year.
Prediction for Bosnia-Herzegovina v Italy
It’s unlikely to be an easy night for Italy, but the Azzurri should have just enough to ensure they end their long wait for a return to the World Cup finals.
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