Simone Zaza felt it was “better to lose in a friendly than during a tournament” and Italy will learn from a 4-1 defeat to Germany.
“We certainly had a bad performance, regardless of the quality of our opponents. We had done well against Spain, tonight it’s as if we took two steps back,” the Juventus striker told Rai Sport.
Simone Zaza felt it was “better to lose in a friendly than during a tournament” and Italy will learn from a 4-1 defeat to Germany.
“We certainly had a bad performance, regardless of the quality of our opponents. We had done well against Spain, tonight it’s as if we took two steps back,” the Juventus striker told Rai Sport.
“We didn’t think we were phenomenal after the Spain match, so now we have to roll our sleeves up and become ever more aware we need to work hard to reach our objectives.
“Germany are very strong, it’s no fluke that they are world champions. We had done well against Spain and that was to our credit.
“Today we struggled in attack, as when we recovered at the start of the second half, they scored the third goal and that really knocked the wind out of our sails.
“We have to keep working and believe in what we’re doing, as that is the only way to go forward. We must realise we are only strong if we play to the max, otherwise we’re average.”
What would happen if Italy met Germany in Euro 2016?
“That’s not something I can answer, but we certainly know now where we need to improve. It hurts to lose this way, but it’s better to do it in a friendly than during a tournament. We definitely did not take this game for granted or underestimate Germany.
“I don’t think it’s an issue with the system, as we played the same shape against Spain and drew 1-1.”