Federico Dimarco believes his reaction to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s win over Wales in the World Cup play-off semi-finals was blown out of proportion.<\/p>\n
Italy will face Bosnia for a spot at this summer’s tournament after the latter overcame Wales in a penalty shoot-out on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Azzurri, meanwhile, defeated Northern Ireland 2-0 in Bergamo as they look to reach the World Cup finals for the first time since 2014.<\/p>\n
Following their victory, Italy’s Dimarco and Guglielmo Vicario were seen celebrating after watching Bosnia defeat Wales on penalties.<\/p>\n
That was taken by many to mean the Azzurri pair would rather face Bosnia than Wales, given they are a lowly 66th in the FIFA World Rankings.<\/p>\n
Dimarco defended his reaction to the result, insisting it was in no way disrespectful to the Bosnian team.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019m here, given that after the game against Northern Ireland, I was the protagonist of an incident,” said Dimarco at Saturday’s press conference.<\/p>\n
“I respect every club and every country; it was an instinctive reaction.<\/p>\n
“I was simply watching the penalty shoot-out with my team-mates.<\/p>\n
“[Edin] Dzeko also plays for Bosnia. I played with him for two years, and I texted him. He replied to me, and I\u2019m happy to see him in the final.<\/p>\n
“I didn\u2019t lack respect for Bosnia or the Bosnian people.<\/p>\n
“It was said I was arrogant; with what right, since we haven\u2019t been at the World Cup since 2014? How could I be arrogant?<\/p>\n
“That said, I believe it was disrespectful to be filmed in a context where there were also friends, family, and children present.”<\/p>\n
Gennaro Gattuso’s Italy travel to Zenica to face Bosnia on Tuesday, hoping to end their long wait for a World Cup appearance.<\/p>\n
Since the 2020-21 Nations League, when Italy took four points off Bosnia, the two nations have met just once, when the Azzurri won 1-0 in an international friendly in June 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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