Antonio Conte isn’t taking the Republic of Ireland lightly, but offered a warning to those expecting Italy to roll over.
The Italy manager will make a number of changes for Wednesday’s game against Ireland in Lille, knowing that regardless of the result they will top the table.
The Azzurri are also facing a team that desperately need to raise their performance following the crushing 3-0 defeat to Belgium. At times during Saturday’s game in Bordeaux, Ireland were as bad as they had been in Euro 2012.
However, in the pre-game press conference on Tuesday, Conte preferred to focus on Ireland’s greatest victory in recent times, rather than the collapse to the tournament’s top ranked side.
“You don’t beat Germany by the Grace of God,” Conte said, referring to Ireland’s 1-0 win over Germany last October.
“Ireland beat Germany in qualifying, they all help each other out and it’ll be their game of a lifetime, so we don’t want to be embarrassed.”
However, Conte’s example of Italy’s performance against Norway in qualifying could be cause for concern for Irish fans. Italy had already secured their place at Euro 2016, but still beat Norway, consigning them to the play-offs.
“I give Ireland the example of last October. We qualified for the Euros with a game to spare. That was against Norway who had to win to go through. But we won 1-0. That sent Norway into a play-off and they lost it. So they are not here. We are out to win tomorrow.”
