Giampiero Ventura claims the whistles subjected to his Italy players during their 1-0 win against Israel “were a bit forced.”
Italy fans were quick to express their disdain with the country’s performance in Emilia-Romagna, but Ventura found the jeers to be too provocative for his liking.
“We were still hurting in the first half, but we were much better in the second,” the CT said at a Press conference.
Giampiero Ventura claims the whistles subjected to his Italy players during their 1-0 win against Israel “were a bit forced.”
Italy fans were quick to express their disdain with the country’s performance in Emilia-Romagna, but Ventura found the jeers to be too provocative for his liking.
“We were still hurting in the first half, but we were much better in the second,” the CT said at a Press conference.
“We loosened up and things got easier, finding more solutions. Spain? We lost and there were whistles, but we remained focused.
“It wasn’t easy because there was only one result we could get. It seems a surprise, going to the World Cup through the playoffs.
“Winning in Spain would’ve only differed from the norm. We put that in our heads.
“Compared to last year, we have several players with minutes in their legs. We knew it’d be like this, even before the end of last season.
“It’s no coincidence that in the last 12 years, only two [Italian] teams have managed to overcome the Champions League playoffs.
“This is a problem that we’ve carried with us, and we’ve partially overcome it because there’s a month of football coming up.
“We got into the right positions, but no-one took the responsibility of looking for the killer pass. There were too many unnecessary passages of play.
“The whistles? We’ll say that they were a bit forced… Israel? They’re a national team that never gave up and never have whenever I’ve seen them.
“They gave everything, we gave him two big chances from unforgivable mistakes, but they never gave up. They were worthy opponents, so I offer them my compliments.”