The coach of the national team that will face the Azzurri in the playoff semi-final: “The pressure is all on them. We know how the first-tier teams beat”
The weight of expectations. And fear. The one that Michael O’Neill, the coach of Northern Ireland who will challenge Italy in the playoff semi-final, doesn’t seem to have: “It’s a straight game, we’re here, we can move forward, my boys don’t have to know anything else. We’re not afraid, we can take advantage of this opportunity”, O’Neill said in the conference. “We have everything to gain, the pressure that Italy has to bear is very different from that on Northern Ireland” (here is our focus on Northern Ireland). Yes, the blues. Favorites on paper, but without those names that a few years ago could have instilled fear in their opponents when reading the lineups: “I don’t think there is a single player who scares us – said O’Neill -. We know Italy well and the strength of their midfield, but this team doesn’t have a Del Piero or a Totti: the strength of this Italy team is in the group and not in the individuals. Having said that, we respect the team: it has elements that play at a high level”.
the strategy
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No fear, therefore, for Northern Ireland. A team used to facing stronger opponents, as O’Neill recalled: “We have already beaten first-tier teams, winning with only 30% of ball possession. We are a very young team and one of the advantages of youth is lightheartedness. These guys have already played against Germany and Slovakia, they have grown a lot and this will be a very important test, but we will be ready.” The strategy is clear, and O’Neill does nothing to hide it: “It will be important for us to stay in the game, the more time passes the more difficult it becomes for those with higher expectations if the result remains 0-0”. Clear ideas and the strength of those with little to lose: Italy has been warned.
