{"id":550291,"date":"2026-03-28T11:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T11:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/550291\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T11:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T11:10:14","slug":"i-was-worried-by-italy-but-super-bastoni-has-my-backing-for-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/550291\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I was worried by Italy, but super Bastoni has my backing’ for 2026 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"NAPLES,<\/p>\n

Monza coach Alessandro Nesta (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/p>\n

Italy legend Alessandro Nesta gives his prediction for the World Cup play-off final against Bosnia, and stands with Alessandro Bastoni. \u2018I simulated many times in my career.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Azzurri took over 55 minutes to break Northern Ireland down in Bergamo during last night\u2019s World Cup play-off semi-final.<\/p>\n

They eventually ran out 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean, setting up the final showdown with Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday evening<\/a> in Zenica.<\/p>\n

Nesta anxious as an Italy supporter\"Monza'sMonza\u2019s Italian coach Alessandro Nesta arrives prior to the Italian Serie A football match between AC Monza and Inter Milan at the Brianteo stadium in Monza, on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Gabriel BOUYS \/ AFP) (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cI too got worried in the first half,\u201d confessed Nesta on Sky Sport Italia.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the real qualities of the teams emerge, then it\u2019s not even close for any of the teams involved in the play-offs, but the pressure of wearing the Italy jersey is different to representing Northern Ireland or Bosnia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first half performance was down to the visible tension that the Azzurri were dealing with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to the draw, the play-off final will be played with Bosnia and Herzegovina as the hosts in a fiery atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must be well aware that it\u2019s going to be a lot tougher in Bosnia, both because we are away from home in front of their passionate fans, but also as Bosnia are a better team than Northern Ireland, who frankly didn\u2019t impress me much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FLORENCE,FLORENCE, ITALY \u2013 JANUARY 29: Alessandro Nesta during the \u201cPanchina d\u2019Oro\u201d award season 2022\/2023 at Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano on January 29, 2024 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There were some doubts ahead of the semi-final that fans might continue jeering Bastoni, who has been targeted for insults since he confessed to simulation when getting Juventus player Pierre Kalulu sent off against Inter.<\/p>\n

A few had also called for Bastoni to be frozen out of the Italy squad<\/a> as punishment for this unsporting behaviour, but Nesta is having none of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to congratulate Bastoni, because they really piled on him about that simulation, and despite not being at his best yesterday due to an injury, he played a great game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always had a reputation for being a fair player, but I too simulated many times in my career. I\u2019ll never lecture Bastoni on morality, he\u2019s super in my eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdmittedly, he is less able to make the most of his attacking characteristics when playing centrally in a back three.\u201d<\/p>\n


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\n\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Monza coach Alessandro Nesta (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro\/Getty Images) Italy legend Alessandro Nesta gives his prediction for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-550291","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-soccer","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}