Next Chelsea coach Antonio Conte still hammering away at his Italy players despite qualification to Euro 2016 knockout stages

No let-off: Marco Parolo (right) says Antonio Conte (left) is maintaining the pressure on the Italy players
Claudio Villa/Getty Images
Vaishali Bhardwaj19 June 2016

Chelsea fans have been given a small insight into what the club can expect from Antonio Conte next season after Italy midfielder Marco Parolo revealed the 46-year-old has continued to "hammer" the Azzurri despite their qualification to the knockout stages of Euro 2016.

Italy, who came into the tournament in France being one of the dark horses to win it, booked their place in the last 16 of Euro 2016 after beating Sweden 1-0 on Friday - which was the Azzurri's second straight victory in the competition following on from their opening 2-0 win over Belgium.

But Conte, who will take charge of Chelsea once the European Championships in France end, has not given his Italy players any time off ahead of the team's final group game against the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday - with Parolo admitting the former Juventus boss has continued to keep the team on their toes.

"Even on the day after the game against Sweden, Conte has continued to hammer everyone and told us we also have to win the game against Ireland," Parolo said.

"If you allow the tension to drop, then it can be difficult to rediscover the right level of concentration. His motto is that winning helps you to win and I am also convinced about that."

Italy's success of qualifying for the knockout stages of the European Championships so quickly came after Conte played down his side's chances of winning the competition, citing an ageing squad and lack of talent as two reasons why the Azzurri are not favourites to triumph in France.

But Parolo believes Italy's 100 per cent record at Euro 2016 so far has been down to Conte's tactics and ability to create a strong team spirit in the camp.

Euro 2016: Day Eight In Pictures

1/30

"Winning teams are also made up of players who, like me, make sacrifices without being noticed," Parolo said.

"We are a mix of various talents. It's an advantage for us that we are not just associated with one player.

"We want to continue on our current path, in the shadows, taking it one game at a time. Wherever we end up, it'll be because we gave everything we had."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in