Italy repechage to World Cup: Azzurri in pole, former champion says yes

The new souring of relations between the United States and Iran is putting the Tehran selection’s participation in the World Cup even more in the balance. The crisis in the Strait of Hormuz seems to have no solution, and with only a month to go before the start of the World Cup, many bookmakers are betting on Team Melli’s absence at the rainbow event.

Italy is the first team in the running to replace Iran after unprecedented pressure from Donald Trump’s special envoy, Paolo Zampolli. Italians are skeptical and largely opposed, but among those in favor is Henrik Larsen, a former Pisa player in the 1990s and one of Denmark’s heroes at the 1992 European Championships.

The Danes were repechaged just days before the tournament, winning the European Championship for the first and so far only time in their history. “We were on vacation with our families, we had only one friendly match with the national team scheduled. We were ten days away from our debut, but in the qualifying round we had finished in second place behind Yugoslavia, failing to qualify for the tournament. Then Uefa decided to exclude Savicevic and co. because of the war in the Balkans. We took their place as repechagees,” Larsen told Gazzetta dello Sport.

On the Azzurri’s repechage, Larsen says he is hopeful: “It is a very similar case to my Denmark. In 1992, Yugoslavia was excluded following the UN resolution that imposed an embargo and economic sanctions. This time Iran might change its mind and not submit the team because of the conflict with the US. Anything can happen.”

“I wish Italy to do as we did,” Larsen said. “Until Sweden ’92 we had only totaled one participation in the World Cup in 1986. We are a small country, it was great to be able to play that competition. We won as underdogs by overcoming the Netherlands of Gullit and Van Basten and even Klinsmann’s Germany in the final.”

The Italians are against it, but according to Larsen they are wrong: “Italy has not participated in the World Cup for 12 years. When I played, Serie A was one of the most coveted leagues. Too bad that only three foreign players per team could be registered. The Azzurri were almost unbeatable back then. Today the fans should be happy if the repechage hypothesis materialized.”