Roberto Mancini's long road in the World Cup qualifiers begins for Italy on Thursday 25 March in Parma. The first opponent they will face is Northern Ireland. There are quite a few Juventus players in the history of the Azzurri's confrontations against the Northern Irish, who wore the national team jersey, with Omar Sivori having made his debut in this match.
LOTS OF JUVE WITH OMAR
Tuesday 25 April 1961: many Bianconeri were sent to Bologna for a friendly match against Northern Ireland. At the time the Azzurri's calendar did not have many games bookmarked, and it was the first match of the year for the national team. What stands out is the strong Juventus structure within the Italian team: Mora, Nicolé, Sivori and Stacchini. It was Stacchini himself who grabbed the brace that led the hosts to a 2-0 advantage, but after the Irish fought back to draw level, the great Omar landed up scoring the decisive goal in a 3-2 win.
ANOTHER 10 FROM THE BIANCONERI
Another friendly, one more victory. On January 22, 1997, a friendly match between Italy and Northern Ireland was played in Palermo. These two fixtures played so many years apart were united by a common person, Cesare Maldini: he played in the backline in the 1961 fixture, before then turning to the role of Technical Commissioner. Sivori's role was played by another Juventus number 10, Alessandro Del Piero. It was he who scored the goal that put the result at 2-0 with a free kick from a very tight angle.
THE LITTLE PRINCE IN BLUE
One of the more recent Italy-Northern Ireland fixtures was valid for a qualifier for the European Championships and it was played at a particular moment of the season. This international fixture took place just days after Juventus faced Milan, where they claimed a 2-0 victory thanks to a brace from Marchisio. And in fact, his golden period was only further confirmed once donning the National team jersey: before the match against the Northern Irish, the Principino got on the scoresheet in Serbia-Italy
FOUR JUVENTINI, THREE GOALS
Four Juventus players were present in the starting XI of Italy-Northern Ireland on 11 October 2011. Cesare Prandelli lined-up Buffon in goal, Barzagli and Chiellini slotted into the center of the four-man backline, with Pirlo sitting above in midfield. Up front was Cassano, who scored two of the three goals in the game, but it was the Bianconeri who deserved the praise. Gigi pulled out two incredible saves, Barzagli interpreted his role perfectly, Giorgio showed great concentration and Pirlo was a catalyst in the move that led to the third goal.
BEFORE "THE BATTLE OF BELFAST"
In this photo you will see Ermes Muccinelli, Juventus winger, against Fiorentina during a match in the 1950's. Because one cannot forget when the Azzurri suffered a defeat against Northern Ireland, which prevented them from participating in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. A play-off took place which was dubbed "the battle of Belfast". The first time, however, went in favour of the Azzurri and it also proved to be the first time ever that they met. It ended 1-0 in Rome and among the Azzurri there was the massive presence of players from Fiorentina, the reigning Italian champions. No Juventus player was on the pitch, not even Muccinelli - who played over 200 games in Juventus, and at the time, was donning the colours of Lazio.