Italy will bounce back!

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

A sanguine Roberto Donadoni admitted that he was "hardly expecting flowers" in the wake of his side's worst result in the history of the UEFA European Championship finals but he insisted that with "hard work" Italy could learn from the harsh lessons of their 3-0 defeat by the Netherlands and yet emerge from Group C smelling of roses.

Rising temperatures
While Oberwaltersorf bathed in sunshine for the first time since Italy's arrival at their Austrian retreat, the temperatures in the packed press conference room reached stifling levels at Casa Azzurri, where vexed Italian journalists subjected the coach of the world champions to a demanding interrogation. Not one to get easily flustered, though, Donadoni was measured in his analysis of the night before. "It was not the most positive result last night but we need to put it into perspective," he said. "I was hardly expecting flowers from the press because the score looks bad but we created several chances ourselves. Unfortunately we also made some mistakes but we have two matches left in which we can put things right."

Shades of '94
Donadoni was in the Italy side that lost their opening match to the Republic of Ireland at the FIFA 1994 World Cup, but they bounced back from that setback to reach the final, and he is hoping his players have learned their lesson from Monday's similarly chastening experience. "We got out of that situation in America in the only way you can – by working hard, having the desire to hit back and understanding the mistakes that you've made," he said. "We must do that again. Last night we conceded too many goals. One of them could have certainly have been avoided because weren't quick enough in reacting to their counterattacks. But we had as many shots on goal as the Netherlands and the same possession and, you know, sometimes you have an off-day and things don't go your way."

Positive impact
One of the few positives drawn from the defeat was the impact Fabio Grosso, Alessandro Del Piero and Antonio Cassano made as second-half substitutes and it is possible that there could be changes for Friday's crunch match with Romania. "The players that came on in the second half played really well and I was impressed with their attitude," said Donadoni. "They made an immediate impact, creating chances straight away and they will certainly come under consideration for the next game. One match cannot wipe out everything we have achieved over the last two years. Remember we lost our first and drew our second qualifying match in reaching the EURO finals but turned it around. It was one of our worst ever defeats and we weren't at our best, but now we must roll up our sleeves and right the situation in the next matches [against Romania and France]."

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