Italy coach Antonio Conte is angry that he will have to wait four months for his team’s next match after they have played Romania yesterday.

“It’s a real shame that we play this evening and then the squad will only get together in four months’ time, it makes me angry,” he told state broadcastser RAI in an interview. “We have found continuity, a style of play and a team which the public is enthusiastic about.”

According to FIFA’s international match calendar, the next dates for international matches are between March 21 and 29.

Italy topped Euro qualifying Group H with 24 points from 10 games as they completed the campaign unbeaten. They won their first four games this season before losing 3-1 away to Belgium in a friendly on Friday.

“There are four or five big teams ahead of us, but we are destined to improve, I’m convinced we will cause trouble for everyone,” said Conte.

“I’m really starting to feel now that this is my team. The semi-final would be a good achievement, but why not the final?”

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.