1 day ago
29
Davide Bartesaghi, Matteo Gabbia and Samuele Ricci are all hoping to play a role for Italy in their World Cup qualifiers next year, with the potential group opponents now decided.
Yesterday, the draw for the World Cup groups took place in Washington, with several Milan legends present at the event. Italy, or rather whoever wins the play-off from path A, were drawn into Group B along with Canada, Qatar and Switzerland.
On paper, it’s a decent group for the Azzurri, but the biggest roadblock is making it through the play-offs in March. Gennaro Gattuso’s men haven’t exactly impressed in recent months, so there are no guarantees even if they are favourites.
Three players eager to help
Italy will first be up against Northern Ireland in the semi-final at home, but the final would be played away from home against Wales or Bosnia. In short, it’s not super easy and a lot will come down to Gattuso’s squad selection, as he simply has to get everything right.
Gabbia has impressed massively for Milan this season and was called up for the last camp, but he didn’t get any playing time. Ricci was also part of that squad but he only got four minutes on the pitch, tried as a mezz’ala by the manager.
Both of these players are definitely eyeing a call-up for the games in March, but an eye should also be kept on Bartesaghi. The youngster has been one of the exclamation marks in Serie A this season and if he were to continue like this, he could potentially receive the call from Gattuso.
English (US) ·