Italy hope World Cup showing can build women’s game at home

Rome: Italy hope to build the credibility of their women’s soccer program as they kick off at the World Cup against Argentina at Eden park on Monday, coach Melina Bertolini said, using the momentum of their remarkable 2019 campaign.

Italy had not qualified for the tournament in two decades when they made the cut in 2019 and reached the quarter finals under Bertolini to match their best performance in the tournament from the 1991 inaugural year.

Another strong showing at the competition this year in New Zealand and Australia would pay long-term dividends for the women’s programme in Italy, she told reporters in Auckland on Sunday.

“This World Cup is important – just as the previous one – because it does continue the growth process. We have qualified for two World Cups in a row and I think this is extraordinarily important for the growth in Italy,” Bertolini said through a translator.

“Our movement keeps growing (but) it’s a very young movement, it’s still fragile.”

A poor showing at Euro 2022, where they finished bottom in their group, and a handful of uninspiring results leading up to the World Cup leave plenty of reason for pessimism.

World Cup debutantes Morocco held Italy to a scoreless draw at a friendly this month, and in their final pre-tournament friendly Italy eked out only a 1-0 win against co-hosts New Zealand, who have never made it out of the group stage.

Argentina may have never won a match at the World Cup but they claimed third-place finishes at the 2022 and 2018 Copa America Femenina, and Bertolini said she expects a tough challenge.

“It’s gong to be a difficult match against a team that is hard to play,” said Bertolini. “We know that once you’re on the pitch it’s the emotion that takes over so we have to start from doing simple things.”

Italy next face the third-place finishers in 2019, Sweden, in Group G.