Italy in the World Cup play-offs: the latest ahead of the final in Bosnia

The Italian national team trained this morning from 11am at Coverciano (READ HERE) before having lunch and flying to Bosnia in the afternoon.

The Azzurri manager appears set to field the same starting eleven that took to the pitch last Thursday in Bergamo for the 2-0 semi-final victory over Northern Ireland, despite Cristante and Pio Esposito itching to come off the bench to replace Locatelli and Retegui.

The schedule has changed due to bad weather in Zenica, where light rain is forecast for Tuesday evening with temperatures around 3°C.

Italy will play in their white kit.

Italy’s manager, Gennaro Gattuso, said at a press conference: “There’s no difference between Bosnia and Wales. The celebration? We were stupid to shoot ourselves in the foot.”

The national team’s goalkeeper and captain, Gianluigi Donnarumma, said at a press conference: “There’s a bit of nervousness; we need to be tough.”

Bosnia’s manager, Sergej Barbarez, said at a press conference: “If we score first, we’ll park the bus in front of our goal.”

Bosnia’s captain, Edin Dzeko, said at a press conference: “Italy’s celebration is perfectly normal; we all have our preferences. But this is a national team that has won four World Cups; if they’re afraid to play in Wales, something isn’t right. Dimarco wrote to me saying he didn’t mean to offend anyone.”

Former Inter defender Beppe Bergomi said in an interview with Tuttosport: "If we don’t make it, we shouldn’t blame Gattuso because he came in mid-season, he’s managed his games, he hasn’t had much time, and we didn’t even give him a training camp after the last match against Norway. In my view, he’s done well to build a team; he’s restored a sense of belonging that had been lost.”

Fabio Capello, the former manager of Milan and Juventus, told *La Gazzetta dello Sport*: "All three are good up front, but Retegui and Kean are a bit too similar. Pio Esposito, on the other hand, especially in crucial moments, has the strength and heading ability that can prove vital, as well as excellent vision. Retegui hasn’t played for a few weeks and the pace of the Arab league is quite different from ours; sometimes you pay the price for a lack of match fitness.”

BOSNIA (4-4-2): Vasjli; Dedic, Katic, Muharemovic, Kolasinac; Bajraktarevic, Sunjic, Gigovic, Alajbegovic; Dzeko, Demirovic. Manager: Barbarez.

ITALY (3-5-2): Donnarumma; Mancini, Bastoni, Calafiori; Politano, Barella, Locatelli (Cristante), Tonali, Dimarco; Kean, Retegui (Esposito). Manager: Gattuso.

REFEREE: Clement Turpin (France), assisted by compatriots Nicolas Danos and Benjamin Pages, with Spaniard José Maria Sanchez as fourth official, and Jerome Brisard and Willy Delajod on VAR duty.