The China Mail - Italy beat Estonia in World Cup qualifier before Israel clash

Goals from Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui and Pio Esposito were enough for Italy to move three points ahead of Israel in second place, which offers a play-off spot for qualification to the finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Gennaro Gattuso's team are on 12 points, six behind group leaders Norway who have a goal difference which is 19 superior to Italy's and are all-but guaranteed a place at the World Cup.

Estonia, who scored through Rauno Sappinen in the 76th minute thanks to Gianluigi Donnarumma dropping a cross at his feet, have three points and cannot qualify.

"I'm very pleased, we're on the right track. The boys showed desire and professionalism," said Gattuso.

"We're progressing match after match, but often the second game (in the international break) is the one which causes us more difficulty."

The Azzurri might be without Kean for Tuesday's match with Israel as the Fiorentina striker hobbled off the field with an ankle problem shortly after curling in his sixth goal in four games for his country in the the fifth minute.

Kean's striker partner Retegui doubled Italy's lead in the 38th minute, making up for failing to score from the penalty spot on the half-hour mark.

And Inter Milan forward Esposito made sure of the points two minutes before Donnarumma's howler with his first international goal, drilling home Leonardo Spinazzola's cross from the left.

Italy have a game in hand on both third-placed Israel and Norway and can effectively secure second in the group in Udine next week, but the match is destined to be a sideshow.

Only 5,000 tickets have been sold for the fixture, meaning that the Bluenergy stadium is set to have huge patches of empty seats while potentially thousands more protest elsewhere in the city.

The demonstrations will be in response to Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip, which was sparked by the attack by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, on nearby Israeli communities.

During massive strike action in support of the Palestinians earlier this month, demonstrators went to the Italian national team's training centre in Florence to demand the match be called off.

Udine's mayor Alberto Felice De Toni has also asked for the match to be postponed over fears of potential violence in the small city, in Italy's far north-east.

E.Choi--ThChM