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Michael O’Neill admitted northern ireland wanted to escape Italy in the World Cup qualifying play-offs, but backed his team to pull off a major upset.
Northern Ireland should travel to Italy For the one-off match on 26 March, the winners will face a second match against one of the wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina for a place in the final in North America five days later.
Northern Ireland boss O’Neill said: “We knew our away game was always going to be tough, no matter who it is.
“I think we would have preferred one of the other teams that were in Pot One but ultimately to get to the World Cup we have to beat two very good teams.
“It will be a big game away from Italy, great game for us to be involved in. Obviously the expectation and pressure is very high on the Italians and we have to try to use it in our favor and we have to believe.
“I think the performances we have had this campaign and away from home, I think they have been strong and hopefully that will give us confidence that we believe we can go to Italy and win games.
“The big thing for me is that in March we will be as strong as possible in terms of player availability, that will be a big factor for us. And, if we are, I believe we can get the right results.”
The stakes are high for the Azzurri, who have failed to qualify for the last two World Cups.
O’Neill admitted he has not studied Italy closely because of the focus on Northern Ireland’s group, but added: “I know they lost home and away to Norway in qualification.
“With (Gennaro) Gattuso as manager, you would hope he would not lack passion. We will do our job now, we have four months to prepare for this game and watch Italy closely.
“What I would say (to my players) is don’t waste opportunities. It’s not about being ready, it’s about taking the opportunity.
“The most important thing is that we have confidence going into this game that we can probably produce one of the best results in our history, certainly in our recent history.”
Bosnia had a strong qualifying campaign but missed out on top spot in their group to Austria by just two points, but Wales will be pleased to have both of their potential matches at home.
republic of irelandwho booked their place in dramatic fashion with a last-gasp win over Hungary Play Czech Republic in the semi-finals.
Its winner will face Denmark or North Macedonia in a home match.
Four of the remaining qualifiers will be from Europe, with Ukraine, Sweden, Poland and Albania coming from Path B, while Path C will consist of Turkey, Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo.
A draw was also made for the Inter-Confederation play-offs, from which the last two teams would advance to the 48-strong final.
Jamaica, who missed out on automatic qualifying to Curaçao, will face New Caledonia in the final, with the winner facing the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Bolivia and Suriname, meanwhile, will battle for the right to face Iraq.
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