“We can’t miss the World Cup,” Luciano Spalletti

Credit: Photo by Icon sport

Luciano Spalletti urges Italian fans in the USA to put “pressure” and motivation on the team against Ecuador.

The Azzurri kicked off their American tour by beating Venezuela 2-1 in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday. These are the warm-up matches for Euro 2024 in Germany this summer. “It’s impressive. You can feel the love for Italy here. There are people here who moved to America to make a life for themselves and now they are returning that love. It provides pressure and responsibility, but at the same time, it inflames us. Italy’s history in soccer is a history of quality, we can’t miss the World Cup, but we mustn’t be presumptuous either. All the teams are strong now,” said Spalletti. There are plans to grow soccer in the USA, with the Club World Cup to be held there in the new, expanded format in 2025, followed by the World Cup co-hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico in 2026. Italy has failed to qualify for the last two editions of the World Cup, but Spalletti hopes to end that run.