Gattuso: "That was definitely the craziest game"

Deep breath: Gennaro Gattuso didn't have a relaxing evening against Israel. IMAGO/Gribaudi/ImagePhoto

Any football fan of the Italian national team who was already upset by the recent 5-0 win on Gennaro Gattuso's debut was shaken up even more on this Monday evening.

In the highly turbulent 5:4 defeat in World Cup qualifying Group I against host Israel – the game had been moved to Debrecen, Hungary, due to the Israel-Gaza conflict – events unfolded almost every minute.

A cheeky underdog kept the partially disorganized Azzurri defense busy, taking a 1-0 and later 2-1 lead. Two Italian own goals, along with successful attacking moves by Gattuso's recently euphoric players, did the rest – as did saves and curious moves by and with Gianluigi Donnarumma , and, to top it all off, a late squandered 4-2 lead by the favorites, including a long-range goal by Sandro Tonali in stoppage time to make it 5-4.

Gattuso himself, as usual, appeared emotional and worn out during the match, repeatedly complaining and expressing dissatisfaction with his team's performance. The former world-class striker poured all of this into a clear analysis shortly after the game to RAI Sport and Sky Sport Italia .

"It was a nightmare," said the Milan legend. "It was definitely the craziest game I've ever witnessed on the sidelines as a coach. It was terrible. But we fought back."

While Gattuso admitted that Israel had been clever, especially on the counterattack, and had repeatedly inflicted pain on Italy, he also knew: "We have to improve. We were crazy with the way we played offensively at times (and thus created space; ed. )." The Israelis had exploited this cold-bloodedly "and surprised us with counterattacks every time."

All of this also opened the eyes of the 2006 World Cup champions to the fact that this proud football country, on its way to its first World Cup appearance since 2014 (!), is still "too fragile. We concede ridiculous goals too easily." However, Gattuso sees himself and his coaching staff as primarily responsible for correcting this in the future. He doesn't want to place any blame on his players, because: "The boys also deserve recognition for reacting to every slap in the face today."