Will Italy and Guatemala play Peru in March? This is what both federations respond to El Comercio

“They haven’t announced anything to me yet,” said Jorge Fossati about the possibility of playing with Italy and Guatemala in the friendlies on the FIFA date in March. Although from Europe “La Gazzetta dello Sport” gave the Azurri’s rival the Peruvian team, it has not yet been confirmed on national soil.

Given this panorama, from El Comercio we communicate with the respective federations to see how close the possibility is of the aforementioned friendlies taking place.

It is worth saying that Italy is preparing to defend its title in Europe. In the middle of the year, the Old Continent tournament is held in Germany and the Azurri want to regain prominence after being absent from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

“It is a concrete possibility, but not everything is defined yet. When they sign the contract, they will notify me and we will make the announcement. The proposal is for it to be played in the United States,” the Italian Federation worker told us.

The friendly against the historic Italy is a fairly big possibility, although Jorge Fossati does not lose sleep over facing renowned teams. He prefers to face teams similar to the ones he will face in the Qualifiers.

Likewise, from Videna they are waiting for the last OK: “The thing about Italy is advanced, but it is not yet confirmed,” said our FPF source.

Central American look

The other possible rival that Jorge Fossati would meet is Guatemala, a Central American country that is already thinking about what the Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup will be like. This newspaper contacted the president of the Guatemalan Football Federation, Gerardo Enrique Paiz, who told us the following.

“I have nothing confirmed, we have a promoter who moves our games. We have not signed anything yet, what I can tell you is that we are working on looking for South American teams for the FIFA date, but they have not confirmed to me if it is Peru or Colombia. I still have no information about the rivals,” he said at first.

Then, we asked him if he would be interested in playing against Peru, to which the Guatemalan boss accepted that they are a good rival. “We are interested in playing with South American teams, because we know that those teams will look for Central American teams for the Copa América. They offered me that on the FIFA date in March I would play with two South Americans. These matches were going to be in the United States, because the promoter manages that country as a location, because there are many Guatemalan immigrants, he wants to see his team and that gives a good box office,” he added.

Likewise, he made it clear that Guatemala will go with all its player potential for the FIFA date in March. “Yes, we will go with everything because it is FIFA date and we continue to prepare, since our Qualifiers begin in June and we need to have the base.”

“I don’t know about Peru, but we know that all the South American teams are superior to us and it helps us because they all have a level. We hope to define the rival before the end of January, because we have to buy air tickets and that is why confirmation from the rivals is needed,” said Gerardo Enrique Paiz, president of the Guatemalan Federation.

Finally, Guatemala’s coach, Luis Fernando Tena, also spoke with this newspaper about the possibility of facing Peru. “Yes, it is a possibility, that is what the promoters have told us, but it is not certain yet.”

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