Gian Piero Ventura admits taking the Italy job in 2016 and then not resigning before the World Cup play-off with Sweden were ‘huge mistakes.’
The 72-year-old is currently out of work, having been fired by Salernitana in August.
He was on the Italy bench from July 2016 until his dismissal in November 2017, just days after Italy lost the play-off and failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
Gian Piero Ventura admits taking the Italy job in 2016 and then not resigning before the World Cup play-off with Sweden were ‘huge mistakes.’
The 72-year-old is currently out of work, having been fired by Salernitana in August.
He was on the Italy bench from July 2016 until his dismissal in November 2017, just days after Italy lost the play-off and failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
“My first huge mistake was accepting the job in the first place and the second was not quitting earlier,” Ventura told podcast One More Time.
“There was a hostile climate and everything was pointing towards our defeat. For the good of Italy, I should’ve left earlier.
“In fact, while I was going to sign the contract as CT of the Nazionale, I received a phone call to stop. They told me: ‘Hold on, because there’s been an intervention from politics’ to get a different coach.”
Ventura had left his job with Torino in order to accept the Azzurri role, another moment he bitterly regrets.
“I still had two years left on my contract with Torino, but the offer arrived to lead the Nazionale, with Marcello Lippi giving me the news I’d been chosen.
“I thought about it for a long time. Everyone advised me to accept, as it’d be the icing on the cake to conclude my career. That is everyone except my staff, who suggested I think about this very carefully.
“I accepted and became the captain of the ship: a horrible mistake. When the Prime Minister at the time, Matteo Renzi, said publicly he expected a different coach, that’s not starting on the right foot. I should already have realised there that we weren’t all on the same page.”
Ventura oversaw 17 Italy games, resulting in 10 wins, four draws and three defeats.