The Japan Times - Gattuso wants 'maximum commitment' as Italy's World Cup bid on the line

Italy play away in Moldova on Thursday and host Norway in Milan on Sunday. The Italians are second in Group I three points behind leaders Norway.

"This won't be a simple outing; I want to see maximum commitment to continue what we started in September," Gattuso told a pre-match press conference.

"Against Moldova, we'll try out players who haven't had much playing time, but we have to think about ourselves and not about what Norway will do," he continued.

"The match against Moldova is the most important because the one against Norway is easier to prepare for. We know that this Norwegian team can cause us problems, with their speed, their physical presence, their exceptional style of football," the former AC Milan and Napoli coach said.

Italy failed to reach the last two World Cup tournaments. They are guaranteed to reach the play-offs as second in their group.

And they can still mathematically finish first, and qualify directly for the next World Cup in north America, by beating Moldova and Norway.

However, they would need to win by scoring a lot of goals in each match to overtake Norway, who have a significantly better goal difference.

Gattuso will be without Fiorentina striker Moise Kean, who has scored six goals in his last four appearances for the national team, and was injured while playing for his club.

Liverpool winger Federico Chiesa has decided against playing for Italy during the November break. Chiesa has not played for the Italy national team since the 2024 Euros.

Since succeeding Luciano Spalletti, who was dismissed after the 3-0 defeat in Oslo in early June, Gattuso has revitalised Italy, who have now racked up four consecutive wins with 16 goals scored.

The former AC Milan star also clarified that the training camp initially considered to prepare for the playoffs at the end of March could not take place "due to a lack of available slots in the schedule".

"It's up to us to do our best by scouting players both in Italy and abroad," he added.

T.Sasaki--JT