Gabriele Marcotti

Hello and welcome into the latest edition of ESPN FCK.

Maureen Alejandro Moreno here in the studio.

We had some very important games today as the UEFA teams were in the semi-finals of the World Cup play-offs and Italy, in Pathé, were taking on Northern Ireland.

It was two second-half goals from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kent that sealed the deal to put Italy through to the final, the play-off final it is, in Pathé on Tuesday.

We've got the Gavin Jewell show here on ESPN FC tonight, but only one place to start.

That is with you, Gav Marcotti.

How are you feeling?

Italy just one game away.

I'm feeling relieved that we've gone one step further than the last time around.

But obviously, now it's all down to Bosnia.

And can 40-year-old Njeko terrorize this Italian defense?

I think the performance was there in the second half, in the first half.

You know, Northern Ireland, rightly so.

They played their game.

They sat deep.

And it's hard to break it down.

It felt like one of those sort of cup ties with a lower division team and then the bigger team kind of like trying to figure out how to break through.

And you always need a bit of good fortune.

And they had that.

And I think once they took the lead, it became really hard for Northern Ireland to get back into it.