Dimarco urges respect for Bosnia and Herzegovina from Italy after Wales defeat celebration

"I hold respect for every club and particularly every national side. It was merely a natural response; we were with companions observing a penalty decider," wing-back Dimarco remarked during a media briefing at Coverciano, Italy's training facility.

Italy seeks to halt their World Cup drought as they face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday in Zenica.

Italy, who placed well behind Norway in their qualification section, secured a 2-0 victory over Northern Ireland in Atalanta inside 90 minutes on Thursday. They later viewed the final moments from Cardiff, where Edin Dzeko netted a timely equaliser to extend play into overtime.

When the Bosnians prevailed on penalties, footage on national broadcaster Rai captured Dimarco, Sandro Tonali, and fellow Italian squad members in celebration. Their opponents took notice of the moment.

Miralem Pjanic, a past Bosnia representative who played nine years in Serie A for Roma and Juventus, expressed his frustration in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"The delight from Dimarco and the rest of the Azzurri? Truthfully, I fail to grasp the reason," he stated.

"We need to foster an intense environment for the encounter. True resilience will be required to claim victory away from Zenica."

Dimarco, previously a colleague of Dzeko's at Inter Milan, assured that the Bosnians ought not to feel slighted.

"I conversed with Dzeko, a close friend, and offered my congratulations. To reiterate, I intended no discourtesy towards anyone, neither Bosnia nor its players; we are all fine individuals," Dimarco added.

Italy missed the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, eliminated in play-offs on both counts against Sweden for the Russia tournament and North Macedonia four years on.

"I have heard claims of our arrogance. There is no basis for it, as we have sat out the prior two World Cups," Dimarco noted.

"The whole matter disturbed me, and capturing that instant on camera seemed somewhat impolite," he continued.

"We are fully committed to qualifying for this World Cup; we form a united team. We foresee a challenging crowd, yet we represent Italy and must produce an outstanding effort."