"Over the last few months I heard from him more than my mother." That's Riccardo Calafiori on Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso — and it tells you everything about how seriously the Azzurri are treating Thursday's World Cup playoff against Northern Ireland.
Italy have been eliminated from the last two World Cups in the playoffs — Sweden ended them in 2017, North Macedonia did it in 2022. A third straight absence from the tournament would be a national humiliation. Gattuso clearly isn't leaving anything to chance, personally driving up and down Italy and flying abroad to share dinners with his squad during the four-month gap since their last match in November.
Gattuso's personal touch
The dinner Calafiori referenced wasn't just a social call. Gattuso brought delegation chief Gianluigi Buffon and assistant Leonardo Bonucci to London — three former pillars of Italian football sitting across from the next generation. "There were a lot of soccer anecdotes shared, because the three of them have plenty of those," Calafiori said. When you're trying to hold a squad together across a four-month international break, that kind of access matters.
When Calafiori was sidelined with a muscle injury from late December to late January, Gattuso was calling constantly. That's either very good man-management or a sign of just how thin Italy's defensive options are. Probably both.
Northern Ireland's set pieces and a congested path to qualification
Calafiori knows what Thursday's game demands. "Free kicks can create the difference. The margins between squads are reduced in modern football," he said. Northern Ireland are dangerous from dead balls — and Italy, even at home in Bergamo, can't treat this as a formality. Beating Northern Ireland is only step one. Italy would then need to win away against either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina the following week to secure their place at the North America World Cup.
The 23-year-old is coming back from a knock picked up with Arsenal on Sunday, so his availability and sharpness will be something to watch. His club form has also been complicated — Piero Hincapie stepped in during Calafiori's absence and held his place even after the Italian returned. He's no longer a certainty in Mikel Arteta's starting XI, which affects his rhythm heading into camp.
On the club side, Arsenal lead Manchester City by nine points in the Premier League — a gap that makes them genuine title favourites. That's the backdrop Calafiori is coming from. But right now, none of that is his focus.
"Going to the World Cup is the dream I had as a kid, so I can't wait to play this game," he said. Italy know better than anyone what happens when you assume qualification. They've learned that lesson twice already.
