Ciro Immobile admits Antonio Conte is “the same old ‘hammer’ for Italy” as he was at club level.
“I am happy with my first official goal for Italy. The game went the way we had prepared for it and we did what the Coach asked,” he told Rai Sport after a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands.
Ciro Immobile admits Antonio Conte is “the same old ‘hammer’ for Italy” as he was at club level.
“I am happy with my first official goal for Italy. The game went the way we had prepared for it and we did what the Coach asked,” he told Rai Sport after a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands.
“The team was concentrated for the whole 90 minutes and fortunately it went well.”
This was Conte’s debut on the Azzurri bench and Immobile was one of several players who had worked with him before.
“I know the Coach well back from our time at Siena. He’s the same old ‘hammer’ and that’s only right that he forces the players to give their best. We are symbols for Italy, after all.
“Fortunately I had already worked with Conte at Siena and last season at Torino we played the same movements with Cerci under Giampiero Ventura. I tried to help Zaza, who had never worked with Conte before, to get the right movements.”
Immobile moved to Germany this summer to play for Borussia Dortmund.
“Obviously I’m a foreigner there and need to learn the language, which I’m finding a bit difficult.”