Italy has a tough match ahead of them this evening at the San Siro, as they must overturn a 1-0 defeat against Sweden from the first leg in order to qualify for the World Cup. No one knows better about tough international matches than former captain Paolo Maldini, who spoke exclusively to Sky Sport about the match this evening, "I am tense because it is a very important match, I remember Italy-Portugal in 1993. I cannot imagine a World Cup without Italy, it is an incredibly intense match. I was the captain for many years, inside I feel these emotions that are the emotions of our whole country today. What do you say to the squad in this situation? These are the matches in which you must not say much. The motivation is there for everyone. Many times being too pumped up is already a problem. It is true that the San Siro can give something more but it can also take away. I remember teammates who preferred to play away matches instead. It is a matter of personality and feeling when playing in a grand stadium like this. The day we qualified with Spain was a sentence, they demonstrated to be stronger."
"The first leg wasn't pretty, Italy is far superior to Sweden but we weren't able to counter their rigid and physical tactics. I expect a different Italy this evening. In the case that we don't qualify, we must ask a lot of questions above all on our movement of Italian football and on the responsibility of our directors."
Maldini was then asked about his conversations about possibly joining the federation in the past years, to which he answered "Today is not the time to speak about this, there was a friendly conversation but then nothing happened. I didn't hear anything else, but I didn't respond in a positive or negative manner. Everyone asks why I don't work in football but it is my choice. I see life more clearly now and I have the ability to choose my own future and I will only return to this industry in the right circumstances. I would be obligated to choose: Milan or Italy."
He closed by saying "these matches like this evening are the ones I miss not playing in anymore. Prediction? Italy must qualify, I don't care about how but our national team must pass through."
