Giampiero Ventura said he’ll “reflect” if Italy fail to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, but is “amazed people are surprised we’re in the play-offs.”
The first leg ended 1-0 in Solna on Friday and the decider is at San Siro on Monday at 19.45 GMT.
“These are the usual hours that approach an important game. On the one hand, it is normal, on the other we have great hunger and can’t wait to get out there to overturn a situation that we believe is unjust,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.
Giampiero Ventura said he’ll “reflect” if Italy fail to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, but is “amazed people are surprised we’re in the play-offs.”
The first leg ended 1-0 in Solna on Friday and the decider is at San Siro on Monday at 19.45 GMT.
“These are the usual hours that approach an important game. On the one hand, it is normal, on the other we have great hunger and can’t wait to get out there to overturn a situation that we believe is unjust,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.
“We do not believe that we deserved to lose when not really allowing a shot on target. We have regrets that we didn’t score when we had several clear-cut chances.
“A little more focus from the referee would’ve been helpful, but Italy have to play football, we can’t try to fight it out with Sweden in a brawl situation.”
It has been suggested he could shelve the 3-5-2 formation to use 4-2-4 or even 3-4-3, but Marco Verratti is suspended and Daniele De Rossi fatigued.
“We’ll try to use the players we believe are in the best shape in the condition to give their best. We have two games in 48 hours, some recovered quicker than others, so that will guide our indications.
“Never more than tonight, the individuals playing are irrelevant, as it’s about the team and the overall approach.”
Ventura continues to defend his Azzurri tenure and the fact they could miss their first World Cup since 1958.
“We started out with people talking about the apocalypse… We have to play a game that is within their capabilities and the first leg performance shows that we are perfectly capable of overturning the 1-0 result.
“I said from the first day that I am proud to be the Nazionale Coach, as from the moment I first kicked a ball, I’ve seen the Azzurri jersey as a reference point. None of this affects the pride of representing your country, the desire you have to contribute and the joy of this responsibility.
“I am frankly amazed that some people are surprised we are in the play-offs. We knew that only the top squad could go through and we were in the same group as Spain.
“Our objective was to stay in the running for the second match against Spain, which we achieved. We lost that game, but then we had to secure second place, which we did. We then had to ensure we were one of the top second-placed teams to be top seeds, which we did.”
Ventura recently signed a new contract to June 2020, but it’s widely believed he will be fired or resign if they miss out on the World Cup.
“If we did fail to reach the World Cup tomorrow, then a few things would have to be reflected on.”