Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi had heated words with a member of the team's coaching staff yesterday in frustration at the manager's reluctance to bring on striker Lorenzo Insigne. 

The veteran midfielder was caught angrily remonstrating with a coach who asked him to warm up as Italy were locked in a 0-0 draw with Sweden, in a game they had to win. 

Slow-motion replays suggest De Rossi told the coach "Why the hell should I go on? We don't need to draw, we need to win!"

After the match, De Rossi recounted the incident to Italian media. 

"We tend to warm up three at a time, then after five minutes we change and another three go," he told Rai Sport.

"I just said [to the coach] we were near the end and had to win, so send the strikers to warm up. I pointed to Insigne too." 

The game was De Rossi's last as an Italy player, with the Roma midfielder joining goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon in hanging up his international boots. 

Ultimately, Italy coach Gianpiero Ventura chose to leave both De Rossi and Insigne out of the match, as Italy failed to score a goal and were left out of the World Cup for the first time in almost half a century. 

Reports in Italian media claimed that the coach had clashed with players at the end of the first leg match against Sweden, when some players criticised the team's tactics and line-up.  

Ventura, widely pilloried in Italy for the team's failure to qualify, has so far declined to resign, saying that he needs to discuss things with football federation president Carlo Tavecchio first.