Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso clarified comments made after the recent victory against Estonia on Sunday, explaining that he was “sorry” to face Israel because of his level of play, and not because of the war in Gaza.
“I am sorry to have Israel in our group, because it is a team that plays well and that can cause us problems. For the rest, we all know: it hurts to see what’s going on, people and children who lose their lives, I don’t want to say more, “he said at a press conference.
“We are here to play and honor our work,” added the Nazional coach before his second game in his post. This will be a completely different match from that against Estonia, not only in terms of level of play but also at the levels of the characteristics of the two teams (…). They can hurt us. »»
Crucial World Cup match
At the end of the victory against Estonia on Friday (5-0), Gattuso had declared that it was “sorry” that Israel was in the group of Italy, without further details. These words had been interpreted on social networks as a conviction of the devastating offensive of Israel in Gaza, in retaliation for the unprecedented bloody attack on Palestinian Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023.
An association of Italian coaches claimed last month from FIFA and UEFA the exclusion of Israel from the Championship 2026 eliminators.
Italy, which has not participated in the last two editions of the World Cup, is 3rd in group I with six points in three games. It accuses six points behind Norway, which beat it in early June (3-0), which caused the dismissal of Luciano Spalletti and its replacement by Gattuso.
Israel occupies 2nd place (9 pts), synonymous with participation in the dams at the end of these qualifiers, the objective now the most realistic for Italy which has dropped at this stage of qualifying for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
