Italy boss Giampiero Ventura says “I had tears in my eyes” as he returned to the training ground on Monday.
Ventura held Italy training for the first time on Monday morning, just hours after he named his first international squad, and he admits he had “never” spent so long away from a football pitch prior to his national-team appointment.
“I absolutely feel like a Coach, I’ve only ever done this [in my professional career],” he said at a Press conference.
Italy boss Giampiero Ventura says “I had tears in my eyes” as he returned to the training ground on Monday.
Ventura held Italy training for the first time on Monday morning, just hours after he named his first international squad, and he admits he had “never” spent so long away from a football pitch prior to his national-team appointment.
“I absolutely feel like a Coach, I’ve only ever done this [in my professional career],” he said at a Press conference.
“The selector [for the national team] is just a slightly different way of approaching [management].
“El Shaarawy went to Euro 2016, but there was no role in the 3-5-2 for him. The same holds true for [Domenico] Berardi.
“As long as the formation is this, it will be difficult for [wide] attackers to find a place [in the team].
“[On Berardi’s exclusion], I wanted to call up all of the Euro 2016 group, then there were exceptional cases like [Simone] Zaza, who hasn’t played for a while.
“[Leonardo] Bonucci’s been given two days off to sort out some personal problems.
“We must wait and I hope, wishing him well, of course, that he’s here tomorrow night or the morning after.
“There was no [outpouring of] emotion when seeing the players as I met them all at retreats, except for [Graziano] Pelle, who was in China, and that made it difficult for me to see him.
“But I had tears in my eyes when I went back on a football pitch [referring to Italy training]. I missed it for three months.
“I’d never been so far away from a pitch, I couldn’t wait to get back on one.”