Dibu Martínez hits back at Gattuso: "They don't know what South America is" | OneFootball

After Gennaro Gattuso, the current coach of the Italian national team, criticized the number of spots that South America has to qualify for the World Cup, the goalkeeper of the Argentine National Team, Emiliano Martínez, responded firmly, asserting that in Europe "they don't know what South America is."

"They always play on perfect, wet pitches... They don't know what South America is. There are other complexities that Europe doesn't see," said Dibu in an interview with DSports, regarding the words of the temperamental former Italian midfielder.

Delving into those "complexities" he mentioned, Martínez highlighted the playing conditions, long travels, and even the pressure of the atmosphere in each match during the Conmebol qualifiers.

The controversy arose after Gattuso complained about the number of qualifying spots for the World Cup that Conmebol receives compared to UEFA. "It's not fair that six teams qualify in South America and the seventh plays a playoff, while here the groups are so tight," expressed the former player, also stating that it caused him "some sadness" to see six South American teams qualify directly for the World Cup.

The truth is that Gattuso's words are rooted in Italy's poor performances in recent qualifiers. After winning the World Cup in 2006, the Azzurri were eliminated in the group stage of South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014, and then failed to qualify for the tournaments in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. Now, they are in second place in Group I led by Norway, a team they must defeat by nine goals if they want to secure a direct ticket to the United States, Mexico, and Canada 2026.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.