Prandelli happy with draw after Spain surprise
Reuters - Sunday 10 June 2012, 19:03
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli
thought the 1-1 draw with Spain in their Euro 2012 Group C
opener on Sunday was a fair result but rued letting the holders,
who started without a striker, get back into the game so
quickly.
Substitute Antonio Di Natale put the Azzurri ahead on the
hour mark moments after coming on but Cesc Fabregas soon hit
back for Spain, who introduced Fernando Torres late on and could
have snatched the win if the striker had been sharper.
"The draw was fair. We need to improve," Prandelli told a
news conference.
"We really tried to press the Spaniards from the start of
their attacks. We tried to avoid one on ones and for 60-70
minutes I think we played very well at the back.
"What disappoints me was that we allowed them to equalise
very quickly. We should have made them work harder to get back
into the game. The problem we had with Torres is that we gave
him the ball twice. We caused problems for ourselves."
Prandelli, who raised eyebrows himself by handing a debut to
Emanuele Giaccherini at left wing-back in a new 3-5-2 formation,
had expected Torres to start.
"We were a little surprised that there was no stirker but we
decided to play as we had planned," added the coach, whose side
had lost their last three friendlies.
Mario Balotelli had a fitful game and was replaced by Di
Natale soon after running clear on goal but failing to shoot or
pass before being tackled.
"When he missed that chance I already had decided to bring
on Di Natale. We needed to be a bit better going forward, it was
not a punishment at all," Prandelli said.
"I just wanted one of the strikers to go deeper. Mario just
has to remember how he created that chance, he pressed, won the
ball back and created it."