The blame for Italy’s failure to qualify for next week’s World Cup has been laid squarely at the door of ex-coach Giampiero Ventura by former FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio.
As the tournament prepares to kick off next Thursday in Russia, the frustration and anger at Italy’s surprise failure to qualify, after losing a playoff encounter against Sweden, continues to fester.
Both Tavecchio and Ventura ultimately paid the price for the Azzurri failing to reach the tournament for the first time since 1958 and although he was the man who hired the ex-Torino boss, he has attempted to shift most of the blame with the tactician.
“We chose Ventura but in truth, there weren’t a lot of options available to us. The only coaches available were [Gianni] De Biasi, [Giampiero] Ventura or [Vincenzo] Montella,” he told Radio CRC.
“In the first nine games, we had seven wins and two draws. Then there were some unexplained results and we were also unlucky in the rankings to meet Spain after losing the friendly against Belgium.
“But Ventura had the task of bringing Italy to the World Cup and I certainly didn’t do the training. He was the conductor of the orchestra and when it sounds bad, then he has to answer for it.”
Tavecchio also confirmed that he attempted to bring back Antonio Conte in the wake of the playoff failure, before ultimately resigning from his post shortly afterwards.
