Italy must hold their nerve in crunch game vs Banyana

Italy play South Africa at the Women's World Cup on Wednesday following a 5-0 thrashing by Sweden that left Italian players in tears, but coach Milena Bertolini is confident they learned vital lessons for the crucial game in Wellington, New Zealand.

"Of course, attention is going to be a critical issue for this match," Bertolini told reporters on Tuesday. "It's either in or out. If we go back to the match against Sweden, we saw . . . that we must improve from an emotional side, but all these matches are useful to grow.

"The next match I think we will explore this experience that we had in the last match … and when we come to the tough issues we will come out on top."

The 16th-ranked Italians are second in Group G on three points thanks to a 1-0 victory over Argentina. South Africa are 54th but the FIFA rankings have counted for little at this World Cup with a number of upsets.

South Africa's attack has caused problems in their two games, a 2-1 loss to third-ranked Sweden and 2-2 draw with Argentina.

"Of course, (South Africa) have different skills, different features," Bertolini said. "We're not very strong from a physical point of view, but I'm satisfied because we've been trying things and we are coming up with positive solutions.

"And I think that also our attack, finally, we'll start to score. (My players) work very hard for the team, I think what we need is the last piece of the puzzle and I think it'll come."

We had 𝐁![CDATA[]]>𝐈![CDATA[]]>𝐆 wins in every sense on Day 10! 🙌

Which performance impressed you most? 🤔#BeyondGreatness | #FIFAWWC

— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) July 29, 2023

Roma defender Elena Linari is confident Italy can keep their nerves in check.

"As regards the emotional side of my teammates and my own, I think it wasn't easy (against Sweden), because it was a heavy, heavy defeat," she said. "But at the same time we must start again, start from scratch.

"Our group must be united and as we said earlier, (Wednesday) is going to be like a final. We must give everything that we have in order to get a good result, and actually achieve what we came here for."

Italy have been wildly inconsistent at World Cups, reaching the quarter-finals in 1991 and 2019, but failing to qualify for four consecutive tournaments from 2003 to 2015.

Reuters