Conte is already thinking ahead to the future: “I hope we will qualify to the European Championship. We have important games in September against Malta and Bulgaria, and we will prepare for these as usual by working hard.”
Manolo Gabbiadini was somewhat regretful after the match: “If we played like we did in the last few minutes, for the whole game, we might well have won. It’s true, this game was important for our ranking, but matches like this are more useful to gain experience.” He also commented on his missed chance at the end of the game: “I turned quickly, maybe I should have taken it better but it didn’t work out. We have a great group, a good team and we just need experience.  Italy lacks talent? That’s only being said from the outside; we know what we are capable of.”  
UEFA President Michel Platini and General Secretary Gianni Infantino attended the game and sat next to FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio. Platini wanted to congratulate Pirlo: “It’s such as pleasure to watch him on the ball.”
It wasn’t the perfect debut for Nicola Sansone: “I’m happy that I made my debut, but I’m sorry that we lost the game. We should have won, we wanted to win, but we couldn’t score. I don’t think that Portugal are better than us. We are sorry about the rankings, but now we need to focus on qualifying for the European Championship. We are a good team and I am confident we will accomplish this.”   ]]>