Gennaro Gattuso insists his full focus remains on Italy’s World Cup qualifier against Moldova and not on the likelihood of his team being forced into a play-off in March.
The Azzurri travel to Stadionul Zimbru on Thursday, having already guaranteed they will finish no lower than second in Group I after picking up 15 points from their six matches.
Italy could still beat Norway at the summit, but they would need their group rivals to lose both of their remaining matches, the last of which is against Italy next Sunday.
Norway, led by Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, has a greater goal difference than Italy (+26 to +10) and is the top scorer in the UEFA qualifying section.
And despite Italy winning all six previous meetings against Moldova 17-2, Gattuso says they cannot afford to take their eyes off the ball in case Norway make a mistake against Estonia.
“I’ll be honest, my thoughts are on tomorrow’s match and not beyond that. I want to see improvement, how the players train and work together,” Gattuso said.
“I think this togetherness was not an easy task. We have already qualified for the play-offs, so there are small pains.
“I have to thank people like that [Nicolo] Stretcher, [Riccardo] Calafiori and [Alessandro] Bastoni because he was here, because that was by no means self-evident.
“I congratulate the boys on their professionalism and hunger, which they show every day.”
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When the teams met in June, Giacomo Raspadori and Andrea Cambiaso scored the goals in a 2–0 win for Italy, Luciano Spalletti’s last match in charge.
“There is absolutely nothing easy about any match. Don’t forget the match in Reggio Emilia four months ago,” Gattuso warned.
“Many people have in mind the fact that Norway beat Moldova 11-1, but these are not players who just ran away from home and accidentally ended up on a field.
“They have their own issues to deal with, but tomorrow won’t be a walk in the park.”
Ultimately, a 3-0 defeat to Norway in their opening qualifier appears to have done the damage for Italy, who have failed to qualify for the last two World Cups.
But when asked if he would change anything about Italy’s qualifying campaign, Gattuso cited the format of the groups as something FIFA and UEFA need to improve.
“There are no regrets. Winning helps us win, so that’s up to us now,” Gattuso added.
“We do have some problems with the criteria, because if we look at South America, where six of the ten teams go straight to the World Cup and the seventh plays a play-off with a team from Oceania, you regret it.
“That is the disappointment, the system in Europe needs to change.”
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