Northern Ireland captain Trai Hume says his play-off final win with Sunderland last year is good preparation for the World Cup play-off with Italy in Bergamo.
Defender Hume helped Sunderland to a 2-1 win over Sheffield United in the Championship play-off final at Wembley and could have another life-changing win on Thursday.
Four-time world champions Italy are under immense pressure to avoid a historic third consecutive failure to reach the finals, while Northern Ireland have not played at a World Cup since 1986.
“Wembley was definitely different,” Hume said. “The emotion going into the game and the pressure and what it meant.
“Playing in that game and getting promoted to the Premier League is life-changing, for your career, financially for your family, it changes everything.
“I think going through that experience, it was nervous and exciting, but I think you learn from that and you gain that experience and all the games after that come that little bit easier.
“We are a young team but we have a lot of experience at international level, we’ve played a lot of games but I think you can always keep everyone calm and keep everyone ready.”
Should Northern Ireland pull off a famous win they would face either Wales or Bosnia for a place at the finals.
Path A: Italy surely can’t miss out again…
- Semi-finals (March 26): Italy vs Northern Ireland; Wales vs Bosnia & Herzegovina.
- The Stakes: Italy, the European champions of 2020 and World Cup winners as recently as 2006, are desperate to avoid missing a third consecutive World Cup. They face a Northern Ireland side that has proven difficult to break down in Bergamo.
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