Costa Rica pulled off an historic win in Recife, as Sam Lewis analyses the slow and sluggish Italy.

Gianluigi Buffon: 6

Didn’t have an awful lot to do, especially in the second half and looked occasionally flappy dealing with corners early on in the first-half.

Costa Rica pulled off an historic win in Recife, as Sam Lewis analyses the slow and sluggish Italy.

Gianluigi Buffon: 6

Didn’t have an awful lot to do, especially in the second half and looked occasionally flappy dealing with corners early on in the first-half.

Ignazio Abate: 5

Was ineffective going forward and often caught out of position defensively. Matteo Darmian’s presence was missed on the right wing.

Giorgio Chiellini: 4

Constantly gave the ball away, struggled to deal with pressure and the energy of Joel Campbell and his Costa Rican teammates. Should’ve conceded a penalty.

Andrea Barzagli: 5.5

Not as obviously bad as his Juventus teammate but was often found missing when Costa Rica countered. Struggled with pace at times.

Matteo Darmian: 6

Was again an outlet going forward and was relatively unchallenged in both phases of the game, but nowhere near as effective as against England.

Daniele De Rossi: 5

Like the rest of the Italian midfield, De Rossi was not as accurate or calm in possession as against England on Saturday in Manaus. Sluggish.

Andrea Pirlo: 6.5

Italy’s best midfielder by a long way, particularly in the first half. Probably should’ve had an assist. Influence waned later on.

Thiago Motta: 5

Slow, sloppy with the ball at his feet and deservedly substituted as Italy went 1-0 down before half-time. Replaced by Antonio Cassano.

Claudio Marchisio: 6

Did a lot of running but not a lot else as the Juventus man struggled to help Italy out going forward with wayward passes and predictable dribbling. Replaced by Alessio Cerci.

Antonio Candreva: 6

Was bright and industrious at times during the first half but didn’t make the sort of impact that the Lazio man had against England. Replaced by Lorenzo Insigne.

Mario BalotellI: 6

Held the ball up well in the first half as Andrea Pirlo found the Milan man with regularity. Cut a frustrated figure later and should’ve scored in the first half.

Substitutes:

Antonio Cassano: 5

Was occasionally dangerous following his substitution, but the moments of ingenuity were too few and far apart. Didn’t find the through ball Italy needed.

Lorenzo Insigne: 4

Brought on as an additional outlet to help energize the Italian attack, but spent almost his entire tenure on the pitch offside.

Alessio Cerci: 5

Showed pace but like his teammates struggled to create the clear cut chance that Italy really needed. Was very quiet throughout.

Cesare Prandelli: 6

Hard to criticise Prandelli’s drive to find an equaliser with positive substitutions throughout, but Italy’s lackadaisical approach raises questions of the Coach.

Words: Sam Lewis

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