Calafiori confirm fitness for Northern Ireland tie

Riccardo Calafiori has confirmed that he’s fit to play for the Azurri against Northern Ireland on Thursday.

The Arsenal defender revealed this during a press conference at Italy’s Coverciano training base on Tuesday, ahead of the crucial upcoming World Cup play-off games.

Gennaro Gattuso had said on Monday that the defender suffered a little discomfort during Arsenal’s 2-0 loss against Manchester City in the EFL Cup Final.

So, he is expected to make his call after some sessions 

He added that in such a delicate moment of the World Cup qualifiers, the key is to always live in the present, enjoy every single moment, and focus on one game at a time.

Italy had already missed the last two World Cups. They will have to stop the trend when they face Northern Ireland in the World Cup play-off semi-final on Thursday, March 26.  

There is a potential final away against Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday, March 31.

Calafiori, who prefers that Italy should focus on itself, said it’s not the moment to focus on the opponents as winning depends more on us,” said the Arsenal defender.

“The game must be prepared just as a normal game. We know how important it is, but we must feel light. On set pieces, I feel that we must be very focused, especially defensively. We know they can be dangerous in these situations. We can be dangerous too, but in today’s football, set pieces make a difference, and details are crucial,” he said.

Speaking on the strength of their opponent, which is mostly on dead balls and set pieces, Calafiori said, as soon as they have the ball, they’ll try to play that way.

“The only way is to try to avoid these types of play as much as we can, stay focused on second balls, and stay focused from start to finish.”

On the difference between Italian and English football, he said there’s a lot of talk about the Premier League, but in the end, it’s only Arsenal and Liverpool that are left in the Champions League.

Noting that the Champions League is a tough competition, the Arsenal defender said football is not an exact science, expressing the belief that the biggest difference is mostly in the intensity of training and games, but the real training is the game in the Premier League.