The last time Italian football fans enjoyed a football-free World Cup summer was in 1958, when the Azzurri were stunned by Northern Ireland in their final qualifying match and missed out on a trip to Sweden.
And it is the Scandinavian country that is looking to repeat history this time around.
Having finished second to Spain in Group G, Italy went into the draw for the play-offs and were given arguably the most difficult of the unseeded opponents in Sweden.
The tie – which will be played on a home and away basis – headlines the four European play-off games, which also sees Northern Ireland take on Greece, Croatia against Switzerland, while Ireland face Denmark.
Although the Italian side are ranked ten places higher in the FIFA rankings, they will be wary of the threat the Swedes pose – after all, Janne Andersson’s side knocked out the Netherlands.
Andersson said that whilst appreciating Italy for their tradition and history, his side were not afraid of them, telling journalists: “The pressure is on the Italians and not on us. We have already done more than we expected.
“Now the only thing that counts is the present, today’s form, players and the current game, theirs and ours.”
It would be ironic if Sweden was to qualify for the finals at their first attempt since the international retirement of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who last time around famously said after his side had been knocked out by Portugal: “One thing is for sure, a World Cup without me is nothing to watch.”
Italian coach Gian Piero Ventura, who is expected to play his preferred 3-5-2 formation has given a first call-up in over a year to Valencia striker Simone Zaza, who could well start up front after impressing in La Liga with eight goals from his last eight matches.
“I want to enjoy this moment and help the national team go to Russia. I learned the news of the call-up in the locker room, and now I do not want to stop. I am fully focused on helping my national team do well,” the forward said.
Ventura has also recalled Brazilian-born midfielder Jorginho, who has played just two friendly matches for the Azzurri.
“There are a number of countries that football fans worldwide simply expect to see at the World Cup finals. Italy ranks very highly amongst them,” said Cole He Xin, who is the Sports Director of the StarTimes Media Division.
“I am pleased that we will be able to bring such a fantastic game to a global audience. There is no other competition that attracts such interest world-wide and I would say that football should not only be called The Beautiful Game, it could just as well be The Greatest Game and I expect the Sweden v Italy tie to show just why.”
StarTimes has secured the rights for the FIFA World Cup and will be broadcasting matches live throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.
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The company’s vision is “To ensure that every African family can access, afford, watch and share the beauty of digital TV”. StarTimes achieves this by combining satellite and terrestrial DTV systems to provide an open and secure digital wireless platform.
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