Italy, Ventura: “Spain isn't decisive, but it's very important. Balotelli? No forgone conclusions”

After winning their first World Cup 2018 qualifier against Israel, the Italian national team will play their next qualifying matches against Spain and Macedonia. Thursday, they will face off against Lopetegui's Spanish side. The coach of Italy, Giampiero Ventura, spoke at a press conference today, ahead of Thursday's match: "I don't believe that our match against Spain will be a decisive game" - he said - "It's important for us, but there are still a lot of other matches. It will be a match of particular importance, though, because we are going up against the strongest team in our group. They lost their last qualifier 23 years ago and there's not much more to say. They've changed since Euro 2016." He didn't only talk about Spain, but also about his players; he did not close the door on Mario Balotelli either: "We'll see a more vigorous Italy than we did in Israel. The boys have more minutes under their belts now," the coach continued, "The only difference now is that last month, we played in a friendly match before our two qualifiers, and there was less time for recovery. Balotelli? I'll repeat what I said on the day of my official presentation: his ability is unquestionable, it's the rest that we must discuss. He was pre-selected because he has returned to play regularly and is scoring again. His pre-selection was a sign that there are no foregone conclusions." He then talked about possible strike pairings and the importance of youth in his national team: "Immobile and Belotti could play together, they already have and are playing very well at this moment. They will definitely play in one of the two matches. I'm happy to see the young players on the pitch. I'm happy that the Italian academies are producing talents again who are actually getting to play. I'm very happy that Serie A and Serie B accepted the invitation to hold apprenticeships for Under-23s. They're our future. That's our goal, to pursue the same path that Conte was on, in order to provide new strength for the next World Cup." Finally, he ended the press conference talking about some more individual players, Verratti and Florenzi in particular: "Verratti? He is a player who will be monitored. He had some problems after the Israel match. We have to see where and how to use him: we must decide if he will be more important versus Spain or Macedonia. Darmian? I called him up to play in a 3-man defense. Perin was already part of our group, and now he has returned from injury so he could be with us once again. Him and Donnarumma are an example of how we're working toward the future. The Italians who play abroad? I always follow them, Soriano is an example. Florenzi? He has played everywhere other than in goal! He has a lot of quality, but he's a winger or midfielder in our plan." @GIANMARCalciO