Ventura unfazed by 8-0 win, eyes future

Italy coach Giampiero Ventura played down the significance of his side’s win over San Marino, but believes many of his youngsters will have big roles in the future.

A hat-trick from Gianluca Lapadula, one of nine debutants in the starting line-up, helped Italy to a resounding 8-0 win in Empoli on Wednesday.

Ranked 204th in the world, the friendly loss was San Marino’s 16th consecutive as they conceded four times in each half.

It came as no surprise that Ventura dismissed the importance of the win, but he hopes some of the younger players can kick on.

“This match doesn’t confirm much for those playing now other than that there’s a whole group of guys who want to be there and that’s the nicest and most important thing,” he said.

“The spirit was the right one, the result didn’t matter as we weren’t playing against one of the best teams but it was the first game for the players from the camps to say who they are and who they want to become.

#ItalySanMarino 8-0
A convincing display in Empoli from #Ventura‘s experimental #Azzurri side.#VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/PDeokgdKwW

— Italy (@azzurri) May 31, 2017

“There wasn’t much space and we put together some good passages of play, especially in the first 30 minutes.

“I don’t know when but some of these players will be part of Italy’s future. They’re very young, they have potential and they will need time to find the right path to make the most of it.”

Gianmarco Ferrari, Andrea Petagna, Mattia Caldara and Matteo Politano were also on the scoresheet, along with a Giovanni Bonini own goal.

Italy are next in action with a friendly against Uruguay, before they face Liechtenstein in a World Cup qualifier.