Italy to face Sweden in World Cup playoffs
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Four-time champion Italy will have to beat Sweden in a European playoff to qualify for its 15th straight World Cup.
A regular at every World Cup since 1958, the Italians were drawn yesterday to play in Sweden in the first leg of the playoff on November 10.
鈥淎 World Cup without Italy isn鈥檛 a World Cup,鈥 said Italy team manager Gabriele Oriali, representing coach Gian Piero Ventura at the draw at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
Still, Oriali 鈥 who played on Italy鈥檚 1982 winning team鈥 cautioned that 鈥渉istory and tradition don鈥檛 go out onto the pitch鈥.
In other pairings, it was: Northern Ireland vs Switzerland; Croatia vs Greece; and Denmark vs Ireland. The first legs will be played from November 9-11, with the return games from November 12-14.
The four winners will enter the World Cup draw on December 1 at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow.
Sweden got the opponent which coaches of the other three unseeded teams all said they wanted to avoid.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 worst or easiest or whatever, it doesn鈥檛 matter today because it鈥檚 Italy we鈥檙e going to play,鈥 Sweden coach Janne Andersson said.
Four years ago, Sweden also got a tough draw and was eliminated by Cristiano Ronaldo鈥檚 three second-leg goals for Portugal in Stockholm.
Switzerland was the highest-ranked team in the draw, and won nine straight games in qualifying until a final and decisive loss to Portugal this month.
鈥淚 feel their qualification group was possibly one of the easier groups,鈥 Northern Ireland coach Michael O鈥橬eill said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a game I believe we can win.鈥
Northern Ireland has not been at a World Cup since 1986, and its neighbor has missed three straight editions 鈥毭劽 including elimination in a controversial November 2009 playoff against France.
Ireland coach Martin O鈥橬eill said he was also pleased to avoid Croatia鈥檚 鈥渟tar-studded side鈥 to play a Denmark team coached by Age Hareide, a former teammate 35 years ago.
Martin O鈥橬eill picked out Christian Eriksen, the in-form Tottenham Hotspur playmaker, as a danger ahead of a first leg in Copenhagen.
鈥淚f you consider the Danish run just recently, he has masterminded nearly all their proceedings,鈥 Martin O鈥橬eill said.
Croatia and Greece, which both came through playoffs to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, could generate the most heated atmosphere of the four pairings.
鈥淭here is a great rivalry between both countries,鈥 said Michael Skibbe, the German coach of Greece, who said his team鈥檚 style of tough defense and counter-attacks matched well with Croatia鈥檚 stylish midfield.
鈥淢aybe this is for us quite a good choice,鈥 Skibbe said. 鈥淓very player of my team knows exactly what the opponent is going to do. They will not surprise us.鈥
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic will be taking charge of only his second and third games after he was appointed two days before its final group match against Ukraine. 鈥淚 respect Greece but I am convinced it鈥檚 down to how we perform,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he tricky bit is that we are playing the return leg away.鈥
The eight teams had the best records as runners-up in the nine European qualifying groups.
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