Italy boss Luciano Spalletti was forced to apologise after an outburst at a journalist shortly after Italy’s 1-1 draw with Croatia.
Spalletti watched his side salvage a late 1-1 draw with Croatia on Monday evening to book their place in Saturday’s last-16 clash against Switzerland.
It means Italy’s quest to retain the trophy is still on thanks to their second-placed finish behind group leaders Spain.
But the joy of the Azzurri’s 98th-minute equaliser courtesy of Lazio’s Mattia Zaccagni quickly turned sour when Spalletti angrily hit out at an Italian journalist.
The reporter had suggested that the players had held private tactical meetings before Monday’s game without Spalletti knowing.
The former Napoli and Roma boss had dropped a number of star names for the game such as Federico Chiesa and Gianluca Scamacca which further fuelled the journalist’s line of questioning.
However, what followed was an intense rant from Spalletti which left those present gobsmacked, more so the journalist in question who later revealed his question about a meeting between players was a guess and not inside information.
“There is obviously someone in the team who is passing on the information and that person is damaging the team,” Spalletti angrily responded.
“You have been told that, you haven’t interpreted that. Don’t claim this is your poetic licence.
“I always try to talk to my players. I have to listen to my players. And what’s wrong with that if the starting line-up was the result of conversations?
“I actually did my dissertation on playing 3-5-2 so it’s only natural I sometimes use it. We speak to one another and try to sort things out.
“Why must there have been a pact? Everyone could see we had a shape, even when we had six attackers on the pitch by the end.”
Italian journalist Tancredi Palmeri was at the press conference at the time of the 65-year-old’s rant and told talkSPORT that the Italy boss later made amends for the tirade.
“He had a full outburst in the post match press conference,” said Palmeri.
“He was mad at a journalist because someone mentioned in a question, was it a pact with players that you decided to switch tactics from 4-3-2-1 to 3-5-2?
“Spalletti went mad. He said: “Who told you this?.” The journalist said: “I didn’t talk to anyone, it was just my guess.”
“Then, I was next to the journalist at 2am near Leipzig Stadium and the journalists’ phone rings.
“It’s Luciano Spalletti. He apologised then he said: “The next press conference I do, I will open with a public apology.”
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News Summary:
- Italy boss Luciano Spalletti phoned journalist at 2am to apologise for furious press-conference rant
- Check all news and articles from the latest Football updates.