Ciro Immobile feels he had no choice but to cover for Italy's "soft'' approach to Macedonia by scoring twice to rescue a 3-2 win.
The Lazio striker burst into life late in the day, bagging a brace after goals from Ilija Nestorovski and Ferhan Hasani put Italy on the brink of losing their first qualifying match in 10 years.
Following the Group G game in Skopje, in which Torino's Andrea Belotti opened the scoring, Immobile told reporters: "In the second half we were too soft.
"On the international stage you can't give anything away and we should have been more nasty.
"I feel important in this team now, and that's a big plus for a player. We have to be ready for what's coming as it's going to be a difficult campaign.''
Had the Azzurri suffered defeat at the Philip II Arena, they would have fallen three points behind rivals Spain, who ran out 2-0 winners in Albania.
Despite knowing the risks associated with fielding young teams in competitive international fixtures, head coach Giampiero Ventura turned to the likes of Belotti, Federico Bernardeschi and Alessio Romagnoli.
The veteran tactician was relieved to emerge unscathed from the trip east.
He said: "90 percent of our mistakes were because of superficial things. It was a great response and demonstration of character when we fought back.
"The young players have a long way to go, but I am increasingly convinced of their qualities.
"In the end we managed to crush the opposition, but there is still a lot of work to do.''