Ventura and Oriali were met by the club’s vice-president Javier Zanetti and sporting director Piero Ausilio and they also saw Stefano Vecchi who replaced Stefano Pioli in the week. Ventura then greeted all of the players before spending more time speaking with the players around the Azzurri set-up: Gagliardini, D’Ambrosio, Eder and Candreva.

“The purpose of this visit and others is to get a feeling for how the players are mentally and physically,” said Ventura. “Before September’s fixture with Spain, we have two important games. There’s the qualifier with Liechtenstein where we have not just to win but also to look to boost our goal difference and we have a big friendly with Uruguay where we can improve our ranking. With a win, we’d probably move into the top ten and finally be with the top sides.”

The first few months under Ventura have been positive and not just for the results with Italy joint top alongside Spain in the group. “We’ve created a group where there is enthusiasm,” he added. “The less-young players transmit to the younger ones the meaning of the Azzurri shirt. This shirt is synonymous with responsibility but it also makes me happy if the players enjoy coming and participating. In these eight months, we’ve been able to oversee a generational change with the insertion of lots of young players who have potential to become very important for the future of the national team.”

Picture: Ventura and Oriali with Inter coach Stefano Vecchi