Tonali tells Italy to ‘look for the positives’ and reveals biggest inspiration
Sandro Tonali says that he will ‘look for the positives’ heading into Italy’s World Cup play-off campaign at the end of March, and says that head coach Gennaro Gattuso is his biggest footballing inspiration, even before they started working together.
The Italy international sat down for a feature interview with Sky Sport Italia, discussing all things Italy and Newcastle ahead of a busy few weeks at club and international level.
Tonali on Italy hopes, dinner in London and Gattuso inspiration
It has been a season of ups and downs for Tonali’s Newcastle in the Premier League, sitting in 13th place after 28 matches.
The season will only get more intense for Tonali and his teammates from here, as they face a daunting March schedule with fixtures against Manchester United, Chelsea and bitter rivals Sunderland in the Premier League, Manchester City in the FA Cup and Barcelona over two legs of the Champions League round of 16.
Then, Italy face the World Cup play-offs, which will determine whether or not Italy will qualify for the 2026 tournament in North America or miss out for the third cycle in a row.
“It’s going to be a busy month between the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. There’s also something quite important at the end of March that we’re eagerly awaiting,” Tonali told Sky Sport Italia.
“It will be one of the biggest games for us, we have to play perfectly. There’s pressure, but I like to look for the positives, that’s the beauty of football,” he said, looking ahead to the World Cup play-off semi-final against Northern Ireland on March 26.
The Italy national team were last in action against Norway in the World Cup qualifying group stage in November, which means that it will have been more than four months since the last time the squad met up by the time the Northern Ireland fixture rolls around.
Gattuso had hoped to organise a sort-of emergency training camp for his players at some stage in between the Norway and Northern Ireland matches, but this was not possible for various reasons, scheduling in particular.
Instead, Gattuso has been on a mini-tour of Italy and the UK, having a series of dinners with his players.
“We had dinner in London,” said Tonali. “We had a great time because we hadn’t seen each other since November. It’s always nice to get together for a moment outside football. We had fun, we talked about a lot of different things. It was a different experience to usual.”
Tonali also named Gattuso as his biggest footballing inspiration.
“I’d say Gattuso. I think he’s been the person who’s instilled the most in me, even before I knew him. When he was playing, I took things from him that I liked.
“After meeting him, I’ve been able to connect with a genuine person, someone who, if he needs to tell you something, will tell you in a split second. And that’s good for us, we need people who tell us things to our face and who will get in our faces when things aren’t going well.
“We’ve got a coach who has given us so much, who is giving so much and will continue to give so much more. Not just him, but he and his staff will give everything they have to achieve this goal.”