Defending champions leave with whimper
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/06/2010 (5945 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Marcello Lippi delivered a scathing verdict on his humiliated team Thursday after Italy was sent tumbling out of the World Cup by Slovakia, confessing he failed to motivate his aging squad who had played with fear.
After the defending champion was eliminated Thursday without winning a game in one of the tournament’s easiest groups, the veteran Italy coach had to accept the truth that everyone else had seen.
"I take full responsibility," Lippi said after the 3-2 loss to Slovakia. "I thought this team could do more and that’s what I prepared it to do, but when you see a team that plays with fear in their legs and in their hearts, you understand that you have failed."
Save for the final 10 minutes against Slovakia, Italy’s attack was confused and unable to hit the target. Lippi started all three group games with different formations but could never find the right formula.
"It’s my fault," Lippi added. "I wasn’t able to motivate the team. When something like this happens, it’s always the leader’s fault. I thought I played an important role when the team won, so it’s only fair to have had just as big an impact in this failure."
Lippi led Italy to the 2006 title, when the Azzurri conceded only two goals over seven matches. This time, they let in five goals in just three games, with 36-year-old captain Fabio Cannavaro responsible in part for the first two in the opening 1-1 draws with Paraguay and 78th-ranked New Zealand.
Nine players on the squad were 30 or over.
"It’s everyone’s fault, not just Lippi’s. We’ve all got to be accountable," defender Gianluca Zambrotta said. "When you finish last in a group with
New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia, with all respect to those teams, it’s only right to go home."
Combative midfielder Gennaro Gattuso, who will now retire from international soccer, declared that Italian soccer had touched rock bottom.
Lippi didn’t call up creative but aging forwards Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero and never even considered bringing along talented but temperamental strikers Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli.
Until Antonio Di Natale and Fabio Quagliarella scored in the final 10 minutes against Slovakia, no Italy forward found the target in open play. In the 1-1 draws with Paraguay and 78th-ranked New Zealand, the goals came from midfielder Daniele De Rossi and forward Vincenzo Iaquinta from a penalty.
— The Associated Press