The agent of Arsenal midfielder Jorginho has defended his role as Italy's prime penalty taker.

Former Napoli ace Jorginho has missed his past four spot-kicks for the Azzurri.

But Joao Santos, ahead of Italy's Euro qualifier with Ukraine, told TMW: "If he misses a penalty and the team wins 5-2, I hope he misses a penalty every match (he smiles). Beyond the jokes, only those who take penalties miss penalties.

“I hope he goes and kicks. He is a professional. Penalties are a lottery. And then he always has an opposing goalkeeper to beat.

“Goalkeepers have improved a lot in recent years. And they study all the movements of the penalty takers. Today it is more difficult to score than to make mistakes. And in ten years a goal will be scored for every ten penalties: technology, study, new techniques. It's not easy to score a penalty."