Italy start their bid to dispel the phantoms of past failures on Thursday when they take on Northern Ireland in the World Cup playoff semifinal in Bergamo.     The Azzurri, who are in the playoffs after finishing second to Erling Haaland's Norway in their qualification group, risk missing the World Cup for the third consecutive time.     The four-time world champions also failed to qualify directly for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 and were then ejected in the subsequent playoffs.     If Italy

Tag-uri: Italia