Cesare Prandelli assures Italy “have to be more audacious” when taking on Spain in the Confederations Cup semi-final.
Although La Roja play Nigeria tonight, it will take an extraordinary set of results for them to not take top spot in Group B.
Cesare Prandelli assures Italy “have to be more audacious” when taking on Spain in the Confederations Cup semi-final.
Although La Roja play Nigeria tonight, it will take an extraordinary set of results for them to not take top spot in Group B.
“Of course we will try to correct our errors, but this competition seems to have many goals, as teams are not sitting back,” he told Sky Sport Italia after a 4-2 defeat to Brazil.
“I imagine the match with Spain will be similar. We cannot make that many changes in the space of five days, after all.
“I hope everyone will be fit for the semi-final, then we will make choices on a tactical level. However you face Spain, you will struggle, as they are the strongest team in the world. We have to be more audacious.”
Before this defeat to Brazil, Italy’s only competitive loss under Prandelli had been the 4-0 Euro 2012 Final against Spain.
“Defeats are defeats. On 3-2 the team believed, pushed hard and created the chances to equalise. I liked the reaction, as in difficulty we were able to turn the game around and keep on believing we could put Brazil under pressure.
“It was important for us to know we could do that against Brazil. Antonio Candreva did well in two different roles and showed good fitness levels. Emanuele Giaccherini is a great joker in the pack.”
The Azzurri started the match badly in Salvador and consistently gave the ball away.
“I didn’t get angry as such, but we kept misplacing passes and therefore couldn’t get out of our own half. Once we managed to string a couple together, it was a very different situation.”