‘Outclassed’

WC QUALIFIERS

TURIN: Italy coach Giam Piero Ventura admitted there’s work to do after an outclassed Azzurri stumbled to a 1-1 World Cup 2018 qualifying draw with Spain on Thursday.RomamidfielderDaniele De Rossi levelled from the spot eight minutes from time as Italy grabbed a lucky point after Sevilla forward Vitolo had given La Roja a 55th minute lead after pouncing on a rare blunder from goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Italy’s 2-0 defeat of Spain in the last 16 of the European Championships ended Spanish hopes of challenging for a record third consecutive title.

But only three months on, and in spite of failing to avenge their Euro setback, the former world champions showed they are back with a bang. Juventus Stadium was silenced for long periods as Spain’s ‘tiki-taka’ game baffled the hosts, and Ventura, who replaced Antonio Conte earlier this summer after his move to Chelsea, admitted there is work to do. “In some areas of the pitch we have little problems to sort out. We need a different kind of approach to try and mask these problems,” Ventura said.

“It was a game of two halves and the changes we made after the restart meant we had a much better second half. Spain were superior but, apart from their goal, Buffon hardly had a save to make. But we should learn a lot from this game.”

Spain coach Jelun Lopetegui admitted the result left a bittersweet taste. But the former Porto handler was rightly buoyed at taking a precious away point from Italy, several months ahead of preparing for the return meeting.

“The glass is both half-full and half-empty,” Lopetegui said.

“We gave a good account of ourselves against a strong side, in this stadium. You can’t give too much away to Italy and in the first half we kept their opportunities to a minimum.”

PELLE AXED

Italy coach Giampiero Ventura has Ireland 1 Austria 2

GROUP G Macedonia 1

Italy 1 Liechtenstein 0

GROUP I Kosovo 0 Iceland 3 Turkey 2 Serbia 3 Georgia 0 Wales 2

Israel 2 Spain 1 Albania 2

Croatia 6 Finland 2 Ukraine 2

axed forward Pelle for this weekend’s World Cup qualifier against Macedonia, accusing the striker of “disrespect”. The Chinese-based former Southampton forward has paid the price for failing to shake his coach’s hand when he was substituted on Thursday. Pelle, an Italy regular for the past year, was dropped after an hour following an ineffective display in Turin and replaced by Ciro Immobile. He walked off the pitch, ignoring Ventura’s outstretched hand.