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FA President: Italy missing Russia 2018 'the end of the world'

FA President: Italy missing Russia 2018 'the end of the world'

Italian FA president Giorgio Tavecchio claims that not qualifying to the 2018 World Cup would be “the end of the world”.

“I consider the notion of not qualifying to the World Cup to be apocaliptic. But we’ll make it,” Tavecchio said following a heavy 3-0 defeat at the hands of Spain.

The Azzurri had done well until Saturday’s humbling in Spain, where Alvaro Morata scored and star midfielder Isco further cemented his role with the Roja by netting a brace.

“If the opposite should happen,” Tavecchio continued, “We’ll do everything to protect the federation’s interests.

“I signed a new deal with Ventura to give the Coach more standing among the players, to give him some prestige to use.

“The Ventura project is a long-term one, and an important one. Before Spain everybody was happy with the young players, now it’s a problem that has put us in trouble. We will evaluate at the right moment, and we’ll do so with Ulivieri, the Federal counsel and Ventura himself, but now is not the time”.