Udine, Italy (AP) – The Israel-Italy World Cup qualifier will still be played in strange conditions on Tuesday despite a breakthrough. armistice agreement This temporarily halted the two-year war in Gaza.
Security will be tight at Udine’s stadium and throughout the city.
The pro-Palestinian march is scheduled to begin in the city center a few hours before kick-off and is expected to draw around 10,000 people. It is expected that stadiums located on the outskirts of cities will be moved away.
More than 9,000 tickets have been sold for the qualifying round, which will be played at the 25,000-seat Stadio Friuli, so the demonstrations are likely to attract more people than the matches. Still, ticket sales have doubled in the past week, representing a slow wave.
The match will take place four days after the ceasefire in Gaza went into effect, and one day after all 20 surviving Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel left. walked freely As part of the ceasefire agreement.
“It’s a very beautiful image. We’re all very happy,” Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso said on Monday. “I would like to thank[the stadium crowd]because they will be very important to us. I also pay tribute to the people who come outside.”
“It’s a shame because so many families wanted to bring their children and they could have come on the night of the celebration. But we also respect the families outside. We’re glad the war has stopped.”
Italy too We played against Israel in Udine a year ago.was chosen due to the relative difficulty of access to the city in northeastern Italy, near the Slovenian border, and the ease of isolating the stadium, which is surrounded by road closures.
Helicopters will also be flying throughout the day and a heavy police presence will be in place ahead of the match, which has been classified as the highest risk category.
Ahead of Israel’s last match in Norway, About 1,000 protesters walked To the stadium in Oslo.
protester Ten days ago, he approached the gates of Italy’s training center in Florence and demanded that the match against Israel be cancelled. millions of activists I went out on the street.
UEFA considers suspending Israel Due to the war, Udine’s mayor, Alberto Felice de Toni, asked for the match to be postponed.
Israel took everything well – winger Manar Solomon admitted: “We’re used to it” – but it’s the heightened emotions caused by what’s happening back home that could affect the players.
“This is a moment I will never forget,” Israeli national team coach Ran Ben-Simon said after seeing the news that the hostages had returned home. They all hugged each other “as every mother hugs her son.”
“During the match, I think about things other than football, so there are moments that are helpful and moments that are not,” an emotional Solomon said through an interpreter. “But I think everything that happened in Israel today should give everyone more motivation.
“Today is one of the happiest days of our lives. We have been praying for this moment for two years. Last night we could not sleep very well because we wanted to get up early to see the people celebrating on the streets of Israel when they returned home.”
On the field, Italy should at least secure a playoff spot if they beat Israel and avoid missing out on a third consecutive World Cup.
Italy are second in the group, six points behind perfect Norway and three points ahead of Israel. Both have played one game more than the Azzurri.
Only the group winners will advance directly to next year’s North American tournament. Those who pass second place will advance to the playoffs. In the playoffs, four-time champions Italy were eliminated in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Italy defeated Israel 5-4 last month. Director Gattuso said, craziest game I have been involved as a coach. ”
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