Rome, 23 Mar The Italian coach, Roberto Mancini, said at a press conference that “there is no favorite” in the play-off match between Italy and North Macedonia for the World Cup Qualification, as “anything can happen in 90 minutes”. “We all started the same way, there is no favorite team. Anything can happen in 90 minutes. You have to play every game, even the most predictable... “, said the coach at the press conference prior to the momentous clash that will take place on Thursday in Palermo (Italy). “The boys know each other well and know what to do, although there may be moments of disappointment or excitement. We just have to focus on what we need to do and that the team can play football well,” he added. Italy missed the past World Cup in Russia 2018. Now, her status as European champion means that the pressure is greater and that, if she does not qualify for the tournament, the failure would be huge. Mancini, on the other hand, does not think that we should look to the past in this regard. “It's useless to go around, we just have to be focused. We are a team that knows how to play football and must be focused on what they have to do on the field,” he explained. On the state of form and how the national team faces the match, the Italian coach stated that the group has “the right mentality”. “The national team has not changed, it has always tried to play its game. When preparing a Euro Cup and a World Cup, there is continuity, but when matches are played during the year it is more difficult. The team has the right mentality, it wants to win: from this point of view it hasn't changed,” he said. Mancini valued his opponent and considered that it is a team that “defends well and has important technical qualities”: “We must remain calm and play our game”. In addition, regarding the possibility of the match going to penalties, the coach was emphatic: “We have a lot of penalty shooters, we don't have problems... but we have to think about winning.” The match, which will be the finalist to face the winner of Turkey-Portugal in search of a passport for the 2022 World Cup, will take place in Palermo, with 100% capacity. “Palermo has always supported Italy. The sold-out stadium shows us that the city is close to us and that there will be no problems. The audience will be heard. The fact that tomorrow night there will be 100% spectators in the stadium again will be something positive,” said the 57-year-old coach. CHIEF tfc/mr/map
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