“We’ll book our place at the World Cup via the play-offs in March and hopefully win the tournament too.” A few minutes after the final whistle was blown in Northern Ireland vs. Italy, Roberto Mancini was already looking ahead to the two play-off matches that await the Azzurri in March. Those who are sceptical about the Head Coach’s remarks should also remember that, a year ago, he also predicted that Italy would enjoy a successful European Championship campaign. The triumph at Wembley has been and gone, and World Cup qualification remains an objective to achieve for the team, who mustn’t allow nerves to take over: “I continue to believe that we’re a great team, we’re just going through a difficult spell. The lads are strong and need to rediscover a sense of calm with March in mind. We’ve still got an opportunity and we’ll try to make the most of it.”

There are regrets after not finishing first despite going through the group unbeaten. The draw against Bulgaria in Florence proved decisive, as did the two missed spot-kicks against Switzerland: “I’m disappointed because things should have been over two games ago, or at least since Friday. We had the chances to do this but didn’t take them. The match against Bulgaria was the first in September after just two Serie A matchdays, and then there were the two penalties against Switzerland. Right now, we’re struggling to score goals despite constantly controlling matches. We had a chance in the first half, with these being games where you need to score early on in order to play in a calmer fashion.”

On Friday, he added impetus to the Azzurri’s play, winning the penalty that Jorginho then missed. This evening, Domenico Berardi started but, along with his teammates, was unable to break through the Northern Irish wall: “We knew that it’d be difficult to play here. We gave everything, and it’s disappointing that we didn’t finish things off in the group before. Now, we need to roll up our sleeves and give our all in the play-offs in order to make it to Qatar. The World Cup is very important for us, and I’m sure we’ll manage to qualify.”