Giampiero Ventura claims he tried to resign as Italy CT, but refused after Sweden as “it would've been like admitting to being the only one responsible”.
The former Torino Coach became the first man to fail to take the Azzurri to the World Cup in 60 years when his side lost in the play-off, and he became a national hate figure after refusing to resign, instead receiving his full salary as a pay-off.
Giampiero Ventura claims he tried to resign as Italy CT, but refused after Sweden as “it would've been like admitting to being the only one responsible”.
The former Torino Coach became the first man to fail to take the Azzurri to the World Cup in 60 years when his side lost in the play-off, and he became a national hate figure after refusing to resign, instead receiving his full salary as a pay-off.
“I’ll watch the World Cup at my house, in pain,” Ventura told Rai.
“We came into the Spain game with important numbers and there were two possibilities: win it or go to the play-offs.
“Immediately after the defeat there was unprecedented violence for the first defeat in a year, with many asking for my resignation.
“It was an external delegitimisation of me, which affected the games. There had already been an internal delegitimisation.
“The project was based on having [Marcello] Lippi as a technical director and tutor, and I was left without a support network in a role I didn’t know.
“They should have known before, for a year I was the CT and the technical director. Then in the moment in which I should have been officially put in place they suddenly decided to name [Renzo] Ulivieri. That’s a delegitimisation.
“Following the match against Israel, after the Spain game, I had to resign because the whole stadium whistled the national team. I offered my resignation after the Macedonia game.
“I submitted my resignation to the directors, saying that they needed someone else who could bring serenity because it was a hostile climate.
“My resignation wasn’t accepted, but I’d already decided, that even if we’d qualified, I wouldn’t have gone to the World Cup.
“I didn’t resign after Sweden because it would have been like admitting to being the only one responsible for a defeat which had many fathers.
“I became a scapegoat for all the ills of calcio. I put myself in the shoes of the Italian people and I know that they’re suffering, but it will pass.
“For me though, it will never pass.
“I wish good luck to [Roberto] Mancini from the bottom of my heart, I hope he can be put in a position to work in the correct manner and be able to deal with people.
“People can say what they want, now I want to get back into the game and give my answers on the pitch.”