Gattuso: ‘Couldn’t have imagined better ‘ start to Italy training for 1st game

Gennaro Gattuso assures he ‘couldn’t have imagined anything better’ than his first days of Italy training ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Estonia. ‘Fighting spirit is in our DNA.’

The first match in his Azzurri career will be in Bergamo on Friday at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).

It will be followed by another 2026 World Cup qualifier against Israel on neutral turf in Debrecen, Hungary, on Monday evening.

Gattuso relishing Italy challenge

“I really couldn’t have imagined anything better, the squad put itself at my disposal, along with all the people who work at the Federation,” Gattuso told Sky Sport Italia.

“I expect to see a great game tomorrow. I have to compliment the lads for their professionalism and humanity, because we always talk about a sense of belonging, being a team.

“We can talk about tactics and technique all we want, but history says that the collective and the fighting spirit are really part of our football DNA.”

Gattuso was appointed to replace sacked Luciano Spalletti on June 15, but because of the summer, has not had any time to work with the players until this week.

“I haven’t had time to get too excited, I feel the pressure the way I felt it as a player. Perhaps there will be some emotion when the referee blows the whistle, but for now I am concentrated, and we’ve got to take it one game at a time.

“We know there is a very tough task ahead of us, but we’ve got to give it our all.”

A change to the team has already been forced, with Atalanta striker Gianluca Scamacca withdrawing due to a knee problem.

The Italy squad will have a message before kick-off against Estonia marking the death of legendary fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died today at the age of 91.

He designed many of the Italy official suits for their tournaments and sponsored a basketball team.

“We have lost a great man, who embodied class and quality. I met him at a basketball match, he loved sport.”