Begrudging Italians admire ‘insistent’ Jeff Hendrick

Italians digested their first defeat under Antonio Conte yesterday with a tonic made up of equal doses of criticism and admiration.

The criticism was entirely for their own performance, the admiration almost entirely for the way Ireland rose to the occasion.

“It was supposed to be the game in which we found the extra man,” said Corriere dello Sport. “It turned out to be the game which cut away some assumptions, starting with the idea that Italy were invulnerable.”