England could learn a lot from Italy… Right now we need people who care about their country
Antonio Conte could have taught shamed Roy Hodgson a lesson - instead his inadequacies as a coach were laid bare
IT was not Nice at all.
But as we look back on England’s exit to Iceland on the Cote D’Azur there is a lesson we must take from Italy and Antonio Conte.
My moment of this Euro was watching Italy heroes Gigi Buffon and Andrea Barzagli, standing just yards from me in Bordeaux, shedding tears live on Italian TV after their penalty shootout loss to Germany.
It showed what it means to play for your country. Even for multi-millionaires who have won everything.
You play because you care. And it is what they said that matters the most.
Buffon, 38, said: “When there is a team, when there are values, when there is an organisation in the game nothing is impossible.
“Conte congratulated us because he was proud to have coached a group of players, of men like us, that till the end we expended our last ounce of sweat as we looked to achieve this result and follow our dream.”
Choked up Barzagli, 35, said: “The defeat is all that remains.
“Over the years to come, of everything that was beautiful that we did, nothing will remain because when you go out, only the disappointment is left and in a few years no one will remember.”
But remember they will.
Even though they lost, Italy were victors in terms of their nation’s football future.
Those words inspired millions of Italian kids, who learnt that more than winning or losing, it is about giving everything for their country.
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By contrast, shamed former England boss Roy Hodgson managed to hit a new low the day after the loss to Iceland by saying: “I do not know what I am doing here.” Well, he was there to explain how he had managed to cock up so badly after trousering £12million over four years and three abject tournament failures.
Only he did not want to — pampered as he has been by hangers on and media officers who have shielded him from having to give real answers and masqueraded his inadequacy as a man.
There is a lesson to take from Conte
His inadequacies as a coach were laid bare on the pitch.
As a man he was finally exposed with his crass opening barb.
It summed up what is wrong with English football.
No accountability — for anything. Just a sense of entitlement.
Germany, Italy and Spain have suffered massive flops in the last two decades, too.
But they have also learnt and triumphed because those in charge and those who play are accountable.
They do not hide because they care. So they explain failure. And learn from it.
It is what you do the day after a disaster that matters.
The FA’s next move this week already must be to ask for a meeting with Conte in Chelsea’s Cobham HQ.
Right now, we need people who really care about their country.
England need to listen and learn from those who do.