Manager admits not preparing squad properly. Goalkeeper says “It’s our fault”
MILAN – “I take full responsibility. If the team went out with terror in their legs and hearts, it means that the manager didn’t prepare the game properly either tactically or psychologically”. Marcello Lippi looks sombre as he faces the microphones for the first time after one of the darkest days in the history of Italian football. Lippi begins with an apology. “I thought this team could go places but I obviously didn’t prepare them well enough”, he says. “They way the side played in the first half was the last thing I was expecting”. Does he feel let down by the players? “I believe in them very strongly. It’s not a question of my having overestimated the side’s potential but you can’t call the team that played tonight Italy”. Four years ago, triumph. Today, failure. “I feel mortified for everyone. I am truly sorry to bring four fantastic years to a close like this. For myself, for the fans, for the federation and for everybody”. Lippi seeks no excuses. “I take complete responsibility for my decisions, for what happened and for how I sent the side out in the three games”. What about the future? “I wish my successor the very best of luck. I don’t want to go straight back to training. I’ll be taking a few months off. I’m ready to face the scrutiny, that goes without saying, and there was criticism even before the World Cup started. In any case, I’ve already declared myself guilty”.
BUFFON – Gigi Buffon was the first player to speak after the disaster. “If you can’t win even one out of three games, you deserve to be going home. You just need to understand why it happened”, said the Italian keeper. Buffon, who was out of the side with back trouble, told RAI Sport: “We played our best game against Paraguay. But we just weren’t firing on all cylinders against New Zealand and Slovakia. We never produced anything to show that we were strong and competitive. The group was not difficult and we were looking to go forward. It’s our fault”. Has Italys top shot-stopper got any regrets about the players who were left at home? “This is what Italian football has to offer”.
DE ROSSI – “I never thought we’d be leaving at the end of the group stage”, a rueful Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sport. “There’s no logical explanation. It would have been in the order of things to go out in the quarter-finals to Spain or Brazil but not like this. We’re gutted and it’ll probably get even worse over the next few days”.
MONTOLIVO – “The first two games were well played”, says Riccardo Montolivo. “But for this last one, we just weren’t up to it. We played badly in the first half, perhaps because we were a bit afraid. Our regret is not having given everything we had”. What about Lippi? “A great man. Fantastic charisma. But we players have to take some of the blame. We’re shattered”.
ZAMBROTTA – Gianluca Zambrotta agrees: “Everyone has to take the blame for this elimination, not just the manager. We have to accept our responsibilities, examine our conscience, get over this World Cup and move on”. The Italian defender isn’t looking for excuses. “It’s straightforward enough. We came last in the group and we deserve to be going home”. Why? Zambrotta, speaking on Sky Sport, adds: “We played well in the first couple of games and gave it everything we had. We got better today after an appalling first half. In the end, we could have qualified with a bit more luck and a bit more determination in front of goal but all of us should be hanging our heads. It’s not possible for Italy to rack up just two points in three games against outfits like Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia, with all due respect for those teams”.
DI NATALE – Totò Di Natale doesn’t blame the manager either: “Lippi may have put his hand up but it’s our fault. The boss gave us everything right up till the end but we weren’t good enough to win the match. We needed a little bit of luck but that’s how it ended and I’m gutted. If that’s how things turned out, we weren’t up to it”.
PIRLO – Andrea Pirlo adds:“We were pitiful. I’m sorry for us and for the whole of the country. We came to the World Cup with lots of new players, and lots of pressure. Perhaps the group just wasn’t as strong as last time. It’s our responsibility. We just didn’t give what we wanted to give, and could have given”. How would he sum up this World Cup for Italy? “Dramatic, and no mistake”. Any advice for the new manager Prandelli? “He’ll know what to do. Let’s hope the outcome is different.
GATTUSO – Rino “Ringhio” Gattuso confirms that he is retiring from international football: “A disgusting way to go but you’ve go to look to the future. Sadly, four years ago we were heroes. Today, we’re a bunch of wallies. When we won the World Cup, they made us knights of labour. Now we’re knights of shame, and that’s as it should be. Today is a black day for Italian football. We accept our responsibilities because you can’t come out of a group like this with two measly points. We failed. A total disaster”.
