Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 8y

Antonio Conte frustrated as Italy fail to take their chances against Romania

Italy coach Antonio Conte bemoaned his side's lack of a cutting edge after they were held to a 2-2 friendly draw by Romania.

A late equaliser from Florin Andone in Bologna saw Italy, who lost 3-1 to Belgium in Brussels on Friday, end the calendar year on a frustrating note despite creating a host of chances.

"These are games that you have got to win, full stop," Conte told the Italian Football Association's website after goals from Claudio Marchisio and Manolo Gabbiadini were not enough for victory.

"Today, we let them have two shots on goal and they scored with both. It's disappointing, because we fully deserved to win.

"What we are left with is a good performance, but I'm really sorry that we did not win when we were leading with two minutes to go.

"The lads gave everything in terms of intensity and rhythm but, I repeat, you've got to be winning games like these, especially when you create so many chances."

However, Conte said he was happy with the squad he had and was counting on the players to form the core of his selection for Euro 2016 in France.

"We've got four months now before we get back on the field, and let's hope we don't lose anybody to injury," he added.

"We've got a group of lads who deserve to be here, so let's see. We've got two big friendlies against Spain and Germany to come, and we'll prepare in the best way we can for those."

Despite winning their Euro 2016 qualifying group, Italy -- beaten finalists three years ago -- find themselves in seeding pot two for the draw in Paris on Dec. 12.

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