Italy vs Northern Ireland: “We can match any team at our best” – Galbraith

Ethan Galbraith’s first memory of the World Cup is watching the 2010 finals in South Africa, and the Northern Ireland midfielder says it is a bit of a “pressure moment for me” to be just two wins away from participating in this year’s tournament.

Michael O’Neill’s side face Italy in their semi-final in Bergamo on Thursday (19:45 GMT) and if they win, they will then go on to play either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina for a place in this summer’s finals in North America.

Galbraith, who was on the bench in 2021 when Northern Ireland held Italy to a scoreless draw at home that sent the Azzurri to an ultimately unsuccessful semi-final, is aware of the task ahead of him but is happy to be in this position.

The 24-year-old Swansea City player told the BBC: “I’ve thought about it many times and they will be difficult games, but to even be part of those games is huge.”

“We can go out there and do our best and hopefully that will be enough on the night.

“It’s a bit of a painful moment. Being in this team is unreal, but being two games away from the World Cup is crazy.”

While Northern Ireland will be without some key figures including Conor Bradley and Dan Ballard, Italy also have concerns with midfielder Sandro Tonali missing Newcastle United’s weekend defeat to Sunderland due to a thigh injury.

However, Galbraith insists Northern Ireland are preparing the best version of Italy who he admits will be “under a lot of pressure” to reach their first World Cup finals since 2014.

Although Northern Ireland finished third in their qualifying group, the performance in the defeat to Germany brought positives, and Galbraith feels they can serve as good preparation for their test in Italy.

“You have to prepare for them [Italy] “The best team and we did that with Germany.”

“Germany are a big team and so are Italy with a number of stars, so playing those games against Germany in the group has put us in good stead for this match.

“If we can give 100% of our energy, we can be competitive with anyone.”

Watch Italy and Northern Ireland’s World Cup qualifier on Thursday 26 March from 19:00 GMT on BBC iPlayer, BBC One NI and BBC Three; Listen to BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster, and follow live commentary with in-play clips on the BBC Sport app and website.

On Wednesday, March 25, watch a special pre-show with Italy and Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport app and website from 19:00 GMT.