UDINE, Italy — Israel's World Cup qualifying match against Italy will still be played in a strange climate on Tuesday despite a breakthrough ceasefire deal that has paused two years of war in Gaza.
Security will be tight at the stadium in Udine and throughout the city.
A pro-Palestinian march is scheduled to start in the city center a few hours before kickoff and is expected to attract around 10,000 people. It is expected to be kept away from the stadium which is on the outskirts of the city.
The demonstration could feature more people than the match as just over 9,000 tickets have been sold for the qualifier at 25,000-seat Stadio Friuli. Even that represents a late flurry, with ticket sales having doubled over the past week.
The match will be played four days after the ceasefire in Gaza took effect and the day after all 20 remaining living Israeli hostages in Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel walked free as part of the ceasefire agreement.
“They are beautiful images, we’re all so happy,” Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso said on Monday. “We thank (the stadium spectators) because they will be very, very important for us and we also respect those who will be outside.
“I’m disappointed as so many families wanted to bring their children, they could have come to a night of celebration, but we respect also those that will be outside. We are happy that the war has been stopped.”
Italy also played Israel a year ago in Udine, which was chosen because of the relative difficulty of reaching the city in north-east Italy, near the Slovenian border, and the ease of isolating the stadium, where road blocks will be set up all around.
There will also be helicopters flying throughout the day and a high police presence, ahead of a match that has been placed in the highest-risk category.
Ahead of Israel's previous match in Norway, around 1,000 protesters walked to the stadium in Oslo.
Protesters approached the gates of Italy's training center in Florence 10 days ago to demand that the Israel match not go ahead — part of a national strike in which millions of activists took to the streets.
UEFA considered suspending Israel over the war and Udine Mayor Alberto Felice De Toni called for the game to be postponed.
Israel took it all in stride — winger Manor Solomon admitted "We are used to it” — but what could affect the players is the heightened emotions from what is happening back home.
After watching the news of the hostages returning home, Israel coach Ran Ben-Shimon said, “It’s a moment we’ll carry with us for all our lives.” They all hugged each other “as every mother hugs their sons.”
“There are moments that help and moments that don’t, because we think of things other than soccer during the game,” an emotional Solomon said through a translator. "But I think that everything that happened today in Israel should give more motivation to everyone.
“It's one of the happiest days of our lives. We prayed for two years for this moment. Last night was very hard for us to sleep because we wanted to wake up early to see the images of them coming home and everyone on the streets of Israel celebrating.”
On the field, Italy would secure at least a playoff spot if it beats Israel as it attempts to avoid missing a third straight World Cup.
Italy is second in its group, six points behind perfect Norway and three ahead of Israel. Both of them have played one game more than the Azzurri.
Only the group winner advances directly to next year’s tournament in North America. The second-place finisher progresses to a playoff — the stage where four-time champion Italy was eliminated during qualifying for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Italy beat Israel 5-4 last month in a chaotic qualifier that Gattuso called " the craziest game I've been involved with as a coach."
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