O’Neill focuses on long balls, defense and intensity to put the Azzurri in difficulty. However, Gattuso’s team is preparing and also relies on the work of the former defender, director from the bench…
Long ball (a lot) and then we’ll see. Michael O’Neill, Northern Irish leader, knows that all the weight of what is at stake is on blue shoulders and does not hide it. “We – he says – have more to gain than to lose and we know it well. I don’t expect a match with many goals, on the contrary…”, he says. Yes, the goals. His boys often mark them like this: long ball (a lot) and then here’s the winning deflection in full traffic in the opponent’s penalty area. The Northern Ireland travel plan is clear, proven, change-proof: if you win, you win the only way known.
set pieces
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O’Neill will leave nothing to chance, not even superstition: the shirt will be cloud white with mint green inserts, a reference to the world championship past. They, the Northern Irish, reach these play-offs despite only three successes in the qualifying round, occupy place number 69 in the ranking and have been missing from the global event for forty years. In the group there is a lot of Championship, the English B series, but also the awareness of being able to update the story thanks to the ability to capitalize on free kicks (the average height of the team allows for high altitude flights), the energy in the counterattacks (running is one of O’Neill’s secrets) and the peaks of intensity that the group knows how to maintain and distribute throughout the entire duel. Missing from the roll call will be star Conor Bradley, right back, but not only, Alexander-Arnold’s heir at Liverpool, out of action due to torn knee ligaments in January.
the Bonucci weapon
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So what should Rino Gattuso and his Azzurri expect? A bus and many balls near Donnarumma: the work done by Leonardo Bonucci will be fundamental for our fate in the playoff semi-final. Bonucci? Yes, the former Juventus player, European champion at Wembley, is the director, from the bench, of offensive and defensive set pieces: he is the most cumbersome witness now that we are going to face the Northern Irish obstacle.
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