Rome, 31 March (LaPresse) – “This is brilliant, you’ve brought me back to life,” said Gigi Buffon, speaking directly from Bosnia, as he greeted Fiorello during a video call broadcast on ‘La Pennicanza’ on Radio 2. The call soon turned into a good-luck ritual, with Fiorello guiding him through breathing exercises to ease the tension. On the line-up: “I can’t remember it… Donnarumma’s in goal, you’ll find him everywhere. Will Esposito or Retegui be in defence? I’ve no idea; the manager wanted to think it through right to the last minute. We’re all in good physical shape, but the match could go on for 120 minutes, so we need to make the right choices.” Then came the most heartfelt message: “We’re very positive and confident; we feel the whole country behind us… you help us do that too; it’s very important to us. This is probably the most important night in Italian football in the last 20 years; we have to win it together.” The interview ended with a chorus alongside Fiorello: “It’s us, it’s us, we’re the ones going to the World Cup.”
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