What Italy's Daniele de Rossi said when asked to warm up during World Cup play-off defeat to Sweden
The defensive midfielder was asked to warm up despite Italy needing a goal
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Your support makes all the difference.Daniele de Rossi has admitted that he angrily protested against his manager’s decision not bring on unused substitute Lorenzo Insigne as Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958.
The four-time world champions played out a goalless draw with Sweden at the San Siro on Monday night, failing to overturn a one-goal deficit from Friday’s first leg in Stockholm and missing out on a place at next summer’s finals in the process.
Giampiero Ventura, the Italy head coach, denied reports suggesting that he had resigned after the final whistle despite pressure on him to step down and a protest against his methods from one of the Azzurri’s most-experienced international players.
With Italy searching for a vital goal, television cameras captured a member of Ventura’s backroom staff telling De Rossi to warm up. The Roma midfielder appeared to respond angrily, reportedly saying: “Why the hell should I go on? We don’t need to draw, we need to win!”
As De Rossi protested with the staff member he also pointed to Insigne, a fellow unused substitute on the night.
Ventura has been widely criticised for his reluctance to use Insigne during his time in charge of the Azzurri, with the Napoli forward emerging as one of Serie A’s best attacking talents in recent years.
De Rossi later admitted to protesting against Ventura’s decisions and apologised in a post-match interview with Italian television channel Rai Sport.
“We have this tendency to warm up three at a time, then after five minutes we change and another three go,” the 36-year-old said. “I just said we were near the end and had to win, so send the strikers to warm up. I pointed to Insigne too.
“It wasn’t up to me whether it was a tactical issue and the coach is a lovely guy, so I’m sorry if I offended anyone. At the time I just thought perhaps it was better that Insigne come on instead.”
De Rossi, like goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon, announced his retirement from international football after Italy’s failure to earn a place in Russia was confirmed. Both players were members of Italy’s last World Cup-winning squad in 2006.
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