Italy manager Antonio Conte has expressed his pride in being able to lead the national side in the Euro 2016 in France, with the Italian hoping to end the qualification race with a win against Norway.
Italy have already qualified for the EURO 2016 when they beat Azerbaijan 3-1 on Saturday. The Italians can guarantee the top spot in the group should they remain unbeaten in their final game.
Conte proud of taking Italy to Euro 16
Speaking ahead of the game, Conte was quoted saying by ESPN FC: “To go to a European Championship or World Cup and represent Italy is a beautiful thing — a unique opportunity.
“There aren’t that many national team coaches around and, whenever it was somebody else [coaching Italy], I was always jealous of them.
“Now I’ve got the possibility to do it myself and it’s going to be fantastic.”
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Conte expecting a tough game
“It’s not going to be a walk in the park, but it won’t be for them either,” Conte said.
“We’re ready to face a Norway side who have come on leaps and bounds and are vying with Croatia for qualification together with us.
“We want to win. We are at home and we want to do well. Our aim has always got to be the very top, which means we want to win.”
Where Italy stand
While the Italians are guaranteed the top spot if they remain unbeaten in the game, a win will be even more rewarding.
The Italians are currently in danger of missing out on becoming the top seed for the draw in December, but if Belgium fail to win, Italy can take the final top seed position with a win. The other way of ensuring it would be for Italy to beat Norway by 4 more goals than the margin Belgium beat Israel by.