Antonio Conte was a severe and impassive brick wall at his press conference on Saturday ahead of Italy’s crucial Euro 2016 qualifier against Bulgaria in Palermo.
Italy managed a 1-0 victory over a tenacious and overwhelmingly defensive Malta side in Florence on Thursday, with the team receiving harsh judgement from the media for their uninspiring performance.
“I’m not sorry that we got bombarded by critics after that game,” said Conte. “We’re nobody’s coddled children here – we’re subject to criticism the same as anyone else, so we’d better shut up and get to work to deny our naysayers any more satisfaction.”
“The game was valuable,” he insisted, “Not only for the three points but also as a learning experience. What do we need to improve? Well, we need to hit our shots on target more than 4 times out of 22, that would be a start.” Conte also warned against complacency on Sunday, despite the fact that Bulgaria are virtually without hope of sneaking in to a qualifying spot: “Everyone who plays against Italy finds great motivation, even if they’re out of the running. Look at Azerbaijan holding Croatia to a 0-0 draw, for that matter.”
For the rest of the conference, Conte was nearly silent, offering short and brusque answers to specific questions and avoiding any comment at all on the formation to be fielded in Palermo.
“I still have 12 hours to make my final squad decisions, so you’ll all see tomorrow night,” he said reservedly. “Can Zaza and Pelle play together? Yes, they can play together or each on their own. Florenzi as a defender? If he plays consistently at Roma he can also play here. Will Pirlo play? Like I said, you’ll see at 8:45. Alternatives to Pirlo? I have plenty.”
Conte has strictly controlled all media access to the team during training and outside of it, and experimented with a number of formations and lineups in the short sections of practice open to reporters. His cards are close to his vest, and in his words, we all must wait for kickoff to see what his plans really are for this critical, potentially qualification-sealing Sunday night in Palermo.
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