Gattuso looks past Italy mistakes in victory against Estonia
Italy created some breathing room between themselves and Israel in World Cup qualifying Group I after beating Estonia 3-1 in Tallinn.
Gennaro Gattuso refused to dwell on the mistakes made by his Italy players after they beat Estonia 3-1.
Mateo Retegui missed a penalty before getting on the scoresheet, while Gianluigi Donnarumma’s glaring error allowed Estonia to score a late consolation goal in Tallinn.
However, the Azzurri continued their perfect start under Gattuso and have now scored 13 goals in three matches during his reign – more than in their first three outings under any other manager.
The win sees Italy move within six points of World Cup qualifying Group I leaders Norway with a game in hand, ahead of their upcoming clash against third-placed Israel.
Gattuso has encouraged his side to keep pushing and learn from their errors, rather than dwelling on what went wrong.
“We have a mission, which is to grow game by game, stay together and work hard, then build our confidence,” said Gattuso.
“When I see this spirit, we can make some mistakes, but I remain very happy with the performance.
“We’ve got to keep pushing and hope to keep growing too. Gigio’s error was just a moment, I rarely see any team dominate so completely for 90 minutes. If anything, it can help us remember the importance of focus.
“The important thing is to create the chances. You can miss them and see penalties saved too, but the important thing is to get those opportunities.
“We must continue like this, recover, because our history suggests we always struggle more in the second game. We have a lot at stake, as if we win, then Israel are out of the running, and we can prepare for the play-offs with more calm.”
Moise Kean scored the opening goal for Italy after four minutes but had to replaced soon after due to an ankle injury.
The Fiorentina striker became just the fourth player to score in at least four consecutive World Cup qualifiers for the Azzurri, after Luigi Riva (five, 1968-1972), Roberto Bettega (four, 1976-1977) and Filippo Inzaghi (four, 2000-2001).
Gattuso offered an update on the forward: “We’ll see, his ankle was painful and we hope it is nothing serious, as we need everyone. At least it was good that Pio [Esposito] came on and scored.”
Italy are unlikely to overhaul Norway even if they win all three of their remaining games, as the leaders have a goal difference of +26 to the Azzurri's +7, with a home game against Estonia still to come.
