{"id":364027,"date":"2026-03-25T08:45:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T08:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/364027\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T08:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T08:45:11","slug":"untimely-injury-and-intense-atmosphere-northern-ireland-v-italy-talking-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/364027\/","title":{"rendered":"Untimely injury and intense atmosphere \u2013 Northern Ireland v Italy talking points"},"content":{"rendered":"

Northern Ireland\u2019s hopes of reaching the World Cup finals for the first time in 40 years rest on Thursday night\u2019s play-off semi-final against Italy in Bergamo.<\/p>\n

Michael O\u2019Neill\u2019s men must pull off what would be a huge upset simply to progress to a final away to either Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina.<\/p>\n

Here the Press Association looks at the key talking points ahead of a big night in Italy.<\/p>\n

Injuries strike again\"\"\/<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill has known for some time he would be without star man Conor Bradley, but suffered another blow this week with confirmation that Sunderland defender Dan Ballard is also out \u2013 leaving Northern Ireland without two of their Premier League talents. The good news is that, since the last camp in November, Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles has returned from the shoulder injuries that kept him out of the entire Group A campaign. The 20-year-old could immediately reclaim the gloves from Bailey Peacock-Farrell.<\/p>\n

Bergamo awaits\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Italy could have chosen Milan\u2019s San Siro or Rome\u2019s Stadio Olimpico for this crunch qualifier, but instead have gone with Atalanta\u2019s 24,900-capacity Stadio di Bergamo. Italy \u2013 who have no set home stadium \u2013 have played here five times before, beating Estonia 5-0 on their last visit in September. The venue can create an intense atmosphere despite its modest size, but for a Northern Ireland squad with many players from the Championship, it is certainly less intimidating. \u201cFor where I\u2019m playing my club football at the minute, it\u2019s a similar size to that,\u201d Swansea\u2019s Ethan Galbraith said. \u201cIt\u2019ll be normal for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pressure on the hosts\"\"\/<\/p>\n

All the expectation is on hosts Italy, with the pressure only increased by their failure to qualify for the last two World Cups. Missing a third is not an option. Northern Ireland will certainly hope Italy might get inside their own heads, although Gennaro Gattuso\u2019s players insist it only adds to their motivation. \u201cWe have to all work together to bring Italy back to the top, so we\u2019ll definitely arrive fully charged and focused to do very well,\u201d Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma said. \u201cThe coach will already be fully charged. We hope to bring Italy back to where they deserve to be and I\u2019m very confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goal-shy Northern Ireland\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Goals have long been at a premium for Northern Ireland, but their record against Italy is something else. They have not scored in any of their last seven meetings \u2013 a run which dates back almost 65 years, with Derek Dougan and Billy McAdams scoring in a 3-2 loss in April 1961. Northern Ireland have won only one of their 11 matches against Italy, a 2-1 success in 1958, but had the chances to win their last one \u2013 a 0-0 draw in Belfast in November 2021.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill\u2019s side-hustle\"\"\/<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill sprung a surprise last month when he was named manager of Championship relegation-battlers Blackburn alongside his Northern Ireland role. The 56-year-old has consistently argued it has had no negative impact on his preparations for this game, a view backed by his players during camp this week. But if Northern Ireland fail to play up to their own recent standards, he is bound to face more scrutiny over his decision to take the job.<\/p>\n

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ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Northern Ireland\u2019s hopes of reaching the World Cup finals for the first time in 40 years rest on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364028,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[164248,15143,61,60,102,65560,43,2443,164249,153781],"class_list":{"0":"post-364027","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-ethan-galbraith","9":"tag-gianluigi-donnarumma","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-italy","13":"tag-michael-oneill","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-northern-ireland","16":"tag-pierce-charles","17":"tag-world-cup-qualifying"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}