Federico Dimarco insisted on Saturday that Italy respect Bosnia and Herzegovina, after he and teammates were caught on camera celebrating when their opponents reached the World Cup qualifying final by beating Wales.
"I respect all clubs and, above all, all national teams. It was an instinctive reaction; we were among friends watching a penalty shoot-out," wing-back Dimarco said at a press conference at Coverciano, the Italy team's training centre.
Italy will attempt to end their World Cup exile when they meet Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday in Zenica.
Italy, who finished a distant second to Norway in their qualifying group, beat Northern Ireland 2-0 in Atalanta in 90 minutes on Thursday. They then watched the end of the game from Cardiff where Edin Dzeko scored a late equaliser to force extra time.
When the Bosnians won in a penalty shootout, Dimarco, Sandro Tonali and other Italian players were shown on state broadcaster Rai celebrating. The reaction was picked up on by their opponents.
Miralem Pjanic, a former Bosnia international who spent nine seasons in Serie A with Roma and Juventus, made clear his unhappiness when he talked to La Gazzetta dello Sport
"Dimarco and the other Azzurri's joy? Honestly, I don't understand why," he said.
"We'll have to create a hellish atmosphere for the match. It'll take real character to come away from Zenica with a win."
Dimarco, a former teammate of Dzeko's at Inter Milan, said the Bosnians should not take offence.
"I spoke with Dzeko, a friend, and congratulated him. I repeat, I showed no disrespect to anyone, neither to Bosnia nor to the Bosnians; we are all decent people," Dimarco said.
Italy did not take part in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, failing on both occasions in the play-offs –- against Sweden for the World Cup in Russia and against North Macedonia four years later.
"I've heard people say we were arrogant. There's really no reason to be, we've missed the last two World Cups," Dimarco pointed out.
"All that upset me, and I think it was a bit disrespectful to have been filmed at that moment," he said.
"We absolutely want to qualify for this World Cup; we're a group that gets on well together. We're expecting a hostile atmosphere, but we're Italy and we have to put in a great performance."