Italy’s likely penalty takers if Northern Ireland clash goes to shootout
Mateo Retegui will step up if Italy are awarded a penalty against Northern Ireland, but who else would take responsibility if the match goes to a shootout after 120 minutes?
Italy host Northern Ireland in the World Cup play-off semifinal tonight and will be hoping to qualify for the final without having to play 120 minutes or more.
Gennaro Gattuso has already confirmed that Retegui will take the penalty if Italy are awarded one tonight. The CT also said that each player took three penalties each on the eve of the game.
Retegui has already converted a penalty kick against Israel, but missed one against Estonia.
As reported by Gazzetta, the likes of Moise Kean, Matteo Politano, Sandro Tonali, and Manuel Locatelli are the most likely to step up if the game goes to a shootout, but the Azzurri will surely want to avoid this outcome.
Over the last two years at Fiorentina, Kean has scored three penalty kick goals and missed one.
Politano has taken four penalty kicks for Napoli, all in Coppa Italia shootouts, without missing.
Tonali has not taken penalty kicks for Newcastle, but scored two from two at Milan.
Locatelli missed the most recent penalty kick taken with Juventus, but had scored the previous two this season.
Gianluca Mancini missed a penalty kick in the Europa League Final shootout in 2023, while his Roma teammate Bryan Cristante didn’t fail.
Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolò Barella missed their most recent penalty kicks, both in the shootout of a Supercoppa Italiana semifinal against Bologna this past December.
Raspadori missed one penalty kick for Napoli, but scored one for Italy in a 3-3 draw against Germany in 2023.
