Conte slams Italy errors

Italy coach Antonio Conte has urged his side to cut out the errors that left them with a draw and a defeat from their two November friendlies.

Romania were gifted a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on Tuesday when substitute goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu parried Vlad Chiriches’ header into the path of Florin Andone, who scored from close range.

Conte’s men had battled their way back from being a goal down at half-time, following Bogdan Stancu’s opener for Romania, with Claudio Marchisio scoring from the penalty spot and Manolo Gabbiadini netting his first international goal.

But their hard work was undone a minute from time and Conte admitted: “We have to start avoiding these incidents.

“Romania had two shots on goal and scored twice. It’s a shame, as we fully deserved to win this game in every way.

“We were tense at the start because we conceded so early, and then as time wore on we shook it off. I am convinced the lads gave their all, played with intensity, tempo and everything needed to win.”

Italy suffered a 3-1 defeat to Belgium in their previous friendly on Friday, which ended a run of four consecutive wins for Conte’s side.

The Azzurri will play further friendlies against Spain and Germany before Conte finalises his Euro 2016 preparations.

He added: “I was already angry with the result in Belgium, and once again we failed to get the result we deserved. Hopefully it can be a learning experience.

“There are four months to go. We hope there won’t be any major injuries.

“There’s a group of lads who deserve to be here, we have two important friendlies against Spain and Germany, so we’ll see.”