National team and youth, Ciccio Graziani goes down flat
On the eve of Italy’s two World Cup qualifying challenges, committed on Friday, Sept. 5 in Bergamo against Estonia and on Monday, Sept. 8 on the neutral in Debrecen, Hungary, against Israel, an old glory of the national team, 1982 world champion Ciccio Graziani, had his say without hiding too much about the youngsters summoned by new coach Gennaro Gattuso and the latter’s possible choices, starting with the possibility of seeing Francesco Pio Esposito as a starter in attack.
“Let“s go easy on these youngsters– Graziani commented to the microphones of ‘Kiss Kiss Napoli’ -. Esposito is not yet a starter in his team, he did well in Serie B but it is the cadet series, the top league and the national team are another thing. Leoni? He has made 17 appearances in Serie A but one cannot expect that he can already be a starter in Italy’Italy”.
Talking further about the new Liverpool defender, who picked him up from Parma, Graziani added: “He still has to prove that he is stronger than Bastoni, Buongiorno and Calafiori, although he has great room for improvement. Bergomi at the time already played for two championships as a starter for Inter. With young people you have to go easy”.
The next two matches will be decisive in the economy of Group I for the national team: in the standings Norway leads with 12 points, followed by Israel at 6, Italy and Estonia at 3 and Moldova at 0. Israel and Moldova have one game less than Haaland and his teammates, while Italy has two to make up: everything, then, is still to be decided, with the first-place finisher going directly to the World Cup and the second having to go through the risky serpentine playoff.
