Italian media: Do we need to suspend league training to play in Northern Ireland? The only use of this is to give the national team no more excuses

The European playoff matches of the World Cup preliminaries are announced. Italy will face Northern Ireland. The winner of this game will face the winner of Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina. The semi-finals will be held on March 26, 2026, and the finals will be held on March 31, 2026.

Italian media published commentary articles across the market, talking about hot topics related to whether the Serie A league may give way to the national team and the national team training.

Full market text:

Stop making excuses

Considering the opponents in the draw, the semi-finals against Northern Ireland and the finals against Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina, our first thought is that defeating these teams does not require training or extra rest for the players.

Although some players do not play in Serie A, they will be called up by Gattuso (especially Calafioli, Tonali and Retegui). In this case, they will not be able to get sufficient rest and will not be ready for the coach.

Is training really useful? Is it really useful to move a league round forward or postpone it? Our answer to both questions is yes, but for one reason: to give our national team no excuses.

Because missing out on three consecutive World Cups shouldn't happen, and we shouldn't even think about it. But if it does happen, there's nothing worse than hearing people complain about the league not making way for the national teams.

So, let us quickly prepare for training and try to reschedule the league. But it would be terrible if we failed the entire country again. Because to say Northern Ireland is a team we can definitely win is ridiculous.