FIGC President Gabriele Gravina admits Italy ‘did not expect’ their World Cup failure, but he hopes Roberto Mancini will continue as coach after winning EURO 2020.
The Azzurri finished second in their World Cup qualifying group after a run of disappointing draws, then lost the play-off semi-final to North Macedonia this evening.
Despite over 30 attempts on goal, they were beaten by a stoppage-time Aleksandar Trajkovski effort from distance.
“This is football and when you are in sport, you have to accept these verdicts,” Gravina told RAI Sport.
World Cup Play-Offs | Italy 0-1 North Macedonia: Azzurri fail again
“I am truly sad for our fans. The great joy we had over the summer remains, but also the great bitterness for this defeat. We didn’t expect it.
“These lads gave our country a wonderful dream just a few months ago. We mustn’t rest on our laurels, though, and this evening again shows us that there is something we need to work on in our football movement.
“We need to understand what needs doing, for example resolving the problem of our younger players not getting playing time.”
Gravina was asked if he was angry that the Lega Serie A refused to postpone one round of games so that Mancini could have more than three days to prepare for this play-off.
“It’s disappointing the lads basically only had one full day of training. That doesn’t help, but I don’t want to cause controversy.”
The coach has not resigned, saying it was too early to talk about his future, but will the FIGC stand by their man?
“I hope Mancini continues with us. He has a commitment with us for this project, I hope he can shake off this elimination just like all the Italians and that he remains at the helm to continue our work together.”
Gravina also sat next to Mancini in the post-match press conference, an unusual gesture and a strong show of support.
“Just as we accepted the praise last summer, we must accept the criticism coming our way, but I must try to protect this Nazionale. We go forward with heads held high.
“We mustn’t lose the enthusiasm of last summer and we saw that strong bond between the fans and the team again this evening. Criticism is fine, but we don’t want the risk of doing even more damage.”
Gravina did hit back at the clubs, which he accused of focusing too much on foreign players and also of showing too little support to the Nazionale.
“Our coaches have a very difficult job choosing players because only circa 30 per cent of the youth team players are Italian.
“Another issue is that while the lads arrive with enthusiasm, every time we call them up, the clubs put up resistance. They see the Nazionale as more of an irritation than an opportunity.”