Nerazzurri; his assistants Salvatore Sullo and Paolo Vanoli; and his fitness coach Alessandro Innocenti. Ventura was welcomed by Inter vice-president Javier Zanetti and head coach Frank De Boer before meeting Inter’s Italy players. Today’s visit was the last meeting with a Serie A club before the Azzurri’s first training camp begins on Sunday 28th August in Coverciano ahead of the friendly match against France in Bari on 1st September (ko 21:00 CEST) and Italy’s opening World Cup qualifier for Russia 2018. After these two matches, Ventura will continue his tour of top-division clubs. Speaking to the Inter Channel, Ventura reminisced about his first few weeks as an international manager after many years at the helm of clubs: “Before we played a lot and we travelled little”. There has been a lot travelling for the head coach so that he can share the Azzurri’s next moves with the relevant coaches and players: “We can’t count on many Italians coming from a league that used to give us a lot more,” said Ventura, “so we have to be patient and wait for those who are coming through. There are a lot of youngsters breaking through, we need to give them time to find a way of playing at international level and above all to let them express themselves. Italy is slightly different to other countries: if a young player makes a mistake in one match, he can get stung. The objective is to create a solid core in the mean time in order to give a boost to the current players.” After the France friendly, Ventura will only have a couple of days to prepare for the first match of World Cup qualifying away in Israel: “Often the top two go through,” he said, “but this year it’s only the group winner and the runners-up go into the play-offs. We have a group that is certainly not easy, but we’re aware that there are teams that are expected to do well and we’ll have a very exciting and fascinating adventure.” Italy’s schedule for the matches against France and Israel in September:
 
Saturday 27th August
Squad announced
 
Sunday 28th August
Players meet in Coverciano following the end of the league matches for their clubs.
                    
Monday 29th August   
11:00 Training (closed)
13:30 Press conference with the head coach    
17:30 Training (first 20’ open to press)
              
Tuesday 30th August
10:30 Training (closed)
13:30 Press conference unveiling the new structure of Club Italia followed by a press meeting with the players
17:00 Training (first 20’ open to press)
              
Wednesday 31st August                                                                                                                                  
10:00 Training (closed)
16:30 Training (closed)
18:30 Squad leave Coverciano for Florence airport
19:15 Chartered flight from Florence to Bari departs
20:30 Squad arrive in Bari and transfer to the Stadio San Nicola followed by press conference with the head coach and one player
                               
Thursday 1st September                                                                                          
21:00 ITALY vs. FRANCE FRIENDLY MATCH
At the end of the match, there will be a press meeting and players will return to the hotel for dinner
                                    
Friday 2nd September
17:30 Training at the Stadio San Nicola (first 20’ open to press)
              
Saturday 3rd September
10:30 Training at the Stadio San Nicola (first 20’ open to press)
followed by meeting with the press
17:00 Training at the Stadio San Nicola (closed)
              
Sunday 4th September         
10:00 Training at the Stadio San Nicola (closed)
15:15 Chartered flight from Bari to Tel Aviv departs                                                                            
19:05 (18:05 CEST) Chartered flight arrives in Tel Aviv and squad transfer by bus to Haifa (1h 20mins) 
20:45 (19:45 CEST) Pitch inspection at the S. Hofer Stadium and press conference with head coach and one player
Followed by transfer to hotel                    
              
Monday 5th September
21:45 (20:45 CEST) 2018 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING MATCH: ISRAEL vs. ITALY
Followed by meeting with the press and transfer to hotel
 
Tuesday 6th September
12:30 (11:30 CEST) Chartered flight leaves Tel Aviv for Milan Malpensa via Rome Fiumincino
 
*NB: You are kindly reminded that access to the National Training Centre in Coverciano, the Stadio San Nicola in Bari, and the S. Hofer Stadium in Haifa will only be permitted to accredited Media staff who have received accreditation via http://www.accreditations.figc.it before 23rd August 2016 (www.figc.it – Area Media – Info per le Redazioni).
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