Cesare Prandelli insisted Italy “put in a great performance” for their World Cup qualifying victory in Armenia, but was angry with the referee.
“I continue to repeat this is a very difficult group, which we proved tonight, but put in a great performance. Obviously we ran a few risks, but that is normal,” said the Coach after the 3-1 win.
Cesare Prandelli insisted Italy “put in a great performance” for their World Cup qualifying victory in Armenia, but was angry with the referee.
“I continue to repeat this is a very difficult group, which we proved tonight, but put in a great performance. Obviously we ran a few risks, but that is normal,” said the Coach after the 3-1 win.
“We did not suffer a great deal in defence. There were some counter-attacks and a few individual errors, but we kept the initiative and pushed forward continually.”
The Coach introduced Stephan El Shaarawy and Emanuele Giaccherini for Sebastian Giovinco and Andrea Pirlo.
“We weren’t pushing much down the wings and I wanted to keep the Armenian defence deep.”
Daniele De Rossi and Pablo Daniel Osvaldo both scored in Yerevan just days after they were dropped by Zdenek Zeman at Roma.
“It means they put in a good performance. Nothing more.”
Prandelli was angry with the Croatian referee, as he let play continue for Armenia’s equaliser when Christian Maggio and Davit Manoyan clashed heads.
“When two players clash heads and are down injured, you have to stop play. There’s no point saying otherwise.”