Can Gattuso snarl ensure Italy don't get bitten again?

Gattuso, a World Cup winner as a tough-tackling player back in 2006, is famed as "Il Ringhio" - the Snarl - and was brought in by Italy in June after a poor start to their campaign to put more fight into their game.

Still, he was unable to help them achieve automatic qualification as they finished second behind Norway -- and now the pressure is really on Italy to deliver via the play-offs, with the winners of Thursday's match advancing to a final against either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"I'd be lying if I said when I put my head on the pillow at night, I didn't hear the voices saying, 'take us to the World Cup, take us to the World Cup, take us to the World Cup'," Gattuso admitted.

"I hear it, and this is certainly the most important game of my career, even if I've been coaching for a few years now.

"Having said that, I am prepared, and, believe me, I am not thinking about things going badly. I want to think positive, to think big. Tomorrow, we will play our game, and then we'll see."

O'Neill's young team has evolved in their playing style, but Gattuso insisted he still saw a side whose primary approach was to hit it long and scrap for second balls -- the sort of comments which caused controversy when they came from Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann during last year's Group A campaign.

But Gattuso insisted he meant no disrespect with his analysis.

"We must be ready to suffer when Northern Ireland systematically pump the ball into the box, remember that any free-kick will see their goalkeeper smack a long ball forward with eight or nine players showing incredible hunger fighting for the loose ball and rebound…" he said.

"(The players) know what they need to do, to sniff out danger, believe in every single ball. We've also got to be wary on set plays. I'm not saying long balls is the only way they play, but it is their primary characteristic, and they do it very well."