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

After Gennaro Gattuso, current coach of the Italian national team, criticized the number of spots South America has to qualify for the World Cup, the goalkeeper of the Argentina National Team, Emiliano Martínez, picked up the gauntlet and responded forcefully, asserting that in Europe “they don’t know what South America is.”

“They always play on perfect, slightly wet pitches… They don’t know what South America is. There are other complexities that they don’t see in Europe,” said Dibu, in a conversation with DSports, regarding the words of the temperamental former Italian midfielder.

Delving into those “complexities” he mentioned, Martínez highlighted the playing conditions, long journeys, and even the pressure that the atmosphere of each match presents in the Conmebol Qualifiers.

The controversy arose after Gattuso complained about the number of World Cup qualifying spots that Conmebol receives compared to UEFA. “It’s not fair that six teams from South America qualify and the seventh plays the playoff, while here the groups are so tight,” said the former player, while also admitting that it made him feel “somewhat sad” 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 lifting the World Cup in 2006, the Azzurra was eliminated in the group stage in South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014, and then failed to even qualify for the tournaments in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. Now, they sit second in Group I, led by Norway, a team they must beat 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.