Gattuso spoke at a press conference ahead of Italy’s World Cup qualifier against Israel on Monday in Debrecen. “I apologize if anyone misunderstood,” he said. “I only said we were unlucky to face Israel in our group, because it is a good team with players who can cause us problems. That’s all I meant… I apologize to everyone — I never meant it was unfortunate that we had to play against Israel. Never. Allow me to say, the words reported in Israel did not reflect my intention at all.”
The former AC Milan star praised Israel’s quality, contrasting it with Estonia, which Italy beat 5-0 last week in European Championship qualifying. “These are very different teams,” Gattuso said. “Estonia are very physical, while Israel have more quality and play with those effective transitions. It will not be an easy game.”
Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali added that Italy was focused only on Monday’s match. “This will be very different from Estonia,” he said. “We’re not thinking about playoffs or Norway. Our goal is to win and take three points.”
Tonali also dismissed concerns about playing in an empty stadium in Hungary rather than in front of a home crowd in Israel. “We can play anywhere,” he said. “The number of fans doesn’t matter. We respect Israel’s team and will give our maximum.”
