Italy's hell in Bosnia: freezing weather, hostile ground, spy found | OneFootball

After defeating Northern Ireland in Bergamo, Italy will look for one of the last tickets to the 2026 North America World Cup against Bosnia and Herzegovina, who will be at home and are preparing a real inferno to unsettle the visiting delegation.

The Balkan side, which beat Wales on penalties in the first round of the European Playoffs and is captained by Edin Dzeko, kept its base in Zenica, a city 70 kilometers north of Sarajevo with fewer than 130,000 inhabitants. There stands Bilino Polje Stadium, which holds 15,600 people and where Bosnia remained unbeaten between 1995 and 2006.

Miralem Pjanic, former Juventus and Barcelona star, warned the Azzurra: “It won’t be pleasant for them to be there, believe me. For ninety minutes, or maybe more, it won’t simply be a football match: it will be a sporting battle.” He then played down the impact of a UEFA sanction that will reduce capacity to 11,000 home fans and 800 away supporters: “I assure you that when you’re there, it feels like there are 30,000.”

Bosnian journalist Endin Causevic told Marca: “Many fans will come to Zenica even if they don’t have a ticket… hoping to buy one somewhere. The streets will be packed because this kind of euphoria and atmosphere hasn’t been seen in years.” The newspaper Oslobodjenje headlined: “Zenica. Tuesday. 20:45. Italy comes out of formality. Bosnia comes for something else. We fear only God.”

After the win over Northern Ireland, defender Federico Di Marco and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario awaited news of their next rival and celebrated when the Bosnians beat the Welsh. “It was just a simple instinctive gesture,” explained the Inter Milan player.

Despite the celebration, a man dressed in a military parka, with an Italy patch prominently displayed, showed up at the training session open to the press, but did not leave when the journalists did, hid, and recorded the session on his phone. When he was spotted, he was expelled from the premises.

Meanwhile, the squad led by Gennaro Gattuso had to delay its schedule by a day because of the snow, rain, and cold battering Bosnia. As a result, they will arrive at the stadium with time only for a brief inspection of the pitch.

Even so, the four-time world champion nation, which missed the 2018 Russia and 2022 Qatar tournaments, has a very positive record against the Dragons: four wins, one draw, and one loss in six meetings. The winning team will go into Group B alongside Canada, Qatar, and Switzerland.

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