Antonio Conte feels Italy learned a valuable lesson after a 1-0 friendly defeat to Portugal in Geneva saw them miss out on top seeding for the next month's World Cup draw.
The Azzurri needed to beat a Portugal side missing Cristiano Ronaldo to overtake Croatia in the FIFA rankings ahead of the UEFA draw for Russia 2018 qualifying on July 25.
But instead Eder's second-half goal settled a lacklustre encounter to confirm Italy's absence from the list of Europe's leading nations.
"These are important games, even if you lose them, because they will help us to grow,'' the former Juventus boss told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "They give the players valuable experience.''
Italy were similarly toothless during their 1-1 Euro 2016 qualifying draw with Croatia last week, and only substitute Franco Vazquez really threatened to score in the very last moments in Switzerland.
Conte rejected suggestions his players are regressing and aimed some thinly-veiled criticism at the previous management team, which was led by Cesare Prandelli until the end of last year's World Cup.
He added: "Is it a step back from the game in Split? No, it was a big test against a tough nation and it served as a lesson for us.
"I've been asking myself why Italy has fallen behind lesser nations in the rankings.
"I think you can see that some of what has gone before has led us into this situation.''
Sassuolo striker Nicola Sansone, who made his senior bow from the bench with 20 minutes remaining, added: "I'm happy to make my debut but less so with the result.
"Portugal were not better than us. We had to win, that's what Conte told us in the dressing room. But it won't hurt us, we're strong.''
Eder's winner arrived in the 52nd minute as the Braga striker turned home Ricardo Quaresma's outside-of-the-boot cross to open his goal scoring account on his 18th appearance for the country.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos told the Seleccao's official Facebook page: "We deserved the victory. It was a well balanced game against a great team and Portugal responded to that high level of quality with commitment from the beginning of the game, with or without the ball.
"I believed we could win and that's what happened.''