Italy on the brink of a place in Brazil ahead of their World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic in Turin on Tuesday, 10th September.
Cesare Prandelii, Italy coach, said: “We have worked well in these last two days because we had time to recover. We are aware of the importance of this game, so it will be vital that we don’t make any mistakes in the mental approach to the game.”
“We have prepared several dead ball situations and our concentration was at its best. We know that football can have surprises and we don’t want tomorrow night to have any, especially for how we approach the match. If they play better than us and give us a hard time, we will congratulate them. We certainly don’t believe that we have already won the game.”
Riccardo Montolivo, Italy midfielder, said: “I’m feeling good, I had a slight problem after the Milan-Cagliari game but after three or four days of rest it’s fine now.”
“Taking part in a World Cup is the peak of footballer’s career so it’s clear that we’ve been motivated since the very first qualifier. Of course we know that our objective is close now but we are also aware of the fact that it will be a very difficult game. In the first leg the Czech Republic made it very tough for us and we remember that, so tomorrow will be a difficult match.”
