Italy would ‘give their lives’ for World Cup, but warns about Bosnia fouls and referee

Gennaro Gattuso says the atmosphere in the Italy squad has been ‘positive’ ahead of the World Cup play-off Final against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but tells his players to avoid protests against the referee: ‘ Our opponents commit a lot of fouls.’

Italy coach Gattuso gave his final interview with Rai Sport ahead of tonight’s World Cup play-off Final against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Gattuso’s interview before Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Italy

“The eyes of the boys I’ve met are good so far. Over all these days we’ve been together and the atmosphere has always been positive,” said the Azzurri boss via Gazzetta.

“Tonight we have an important match and we’ve prepared well, fully aware that we’re playing against a team with both technique and physicality. It will require a great performance from us.

“The boys are the first ones who want to go to the World Cup. If the results don’t come, they’ll suffer in silence; they pretend to have broad shoulders, but that’s not the case. I can assure you they will do everything they can. Some people would give their lives and souls to achieve this goal.”

Gattuso also spoke about the attitude he expects from his players tonight: “Bosnia are a strong side. They have strengths and weaknesses, but they are tricky. We need to focus on delivering our performance. We’ll have to hold our ground in the first 10-15 minutes and respond blow to blow,” he said.

“We’ll need to be there and endure. Our opponents commit a lot of fouls, about ten more per game than we do on average, and we’ll have to be smart not to react because the referee has great experience; he doesn’t like raised hands in protests, so we’ll need to be careful, because the match is also played on that aspect.”

Before giving his interview, Gattuso had named his 23-man squad list for the game against Bosnia.

Juventus defender Andrea Cambiaso was dropped for the semifinal against Northern Ireland last week, but has now returned to the Azzurri squad with Atalanta’s Giorgio Scalvini going to the stands instead.

The winner of tonight’s Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy match will qualify for the World Cup and go into Group B alongside Qatar, Switzerland and Canada.