The head coach of the Italian national team, Gennaro Gattuso, expressed his surprise at the differences in the World Cup qualification formats between South America and Europe.
«It is unfair that in South America six teams qualify directly, and the seventh has to play in the playoffs, while here the groups are so tight. I am sad to see the South American group with six teams that advanced directly to the World Cup,» Football Italia quotes Gattuso as saying.
After defeating the Moldovan national team (2:0), Italy reduced its gap from the leader of group I, Norway, by three points. In the last round of the qualifiers, the teams will face each other, and in order to qualify from the first place in the group, Gattuso’s team needs to win by a margin of nine goals.