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Trapattoni attacked Italy's lackluster qualifier draws criticismPosted: Sunday October 13, 2002 3:43 PMUpdated: Sunday October 13, 2002 6:47 PM ROME (Reuters) -- Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni has come under fire for his side's lacklustre 1-1 draw against Yugoslavia in a Euro 2004 qualifier in Naples on Saturday. "Enough Trapattoni! Bring back Zoff," read the headline on the front page of Sunday's sports daily Corriere dello Sport. "Until the Federation [the Italian FA] changes its coach, this national side has neither a present nor a future," wrote Corriere's editor Xavier Jacobelli in an article below. After Italy's edgy 2-0 win over lowly Azerbaijan in their first Euro 2004 qualifier last month, only a victory would have been enough to stave off criticism that has dogged Trapattoni since his side's disappointing performance at the World Cup. But the Italians were made to suffer. Ex-Fiorentina striker Predrag Mijatovic gave Yugoslavia the lead in the 27th minute, before Alessandro Del Piero equalized from a free kick 11 minutes later. After the match, Trapattoni apologized for his team's performance, but blamed the sodden pitch as much as his own selections. "We wanted to give something exceptional to Naples. We thank this wonderful public for their support and apologize for not being able to win." "But I'll tell you something," he added. "The ground conditions penalized us. Our team is built for quick maneuvers and speed." It was always going to be a difficult match against a physical Yugoslavian side, who harried the Italians in midfield, causing them to launch fruitless long balls upfield in the hope of finding strikers Filippo Inzaghi and Del Piero. Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was relieved to have survived the match and looked forward to Wednesday's away match against Wales. "I'd say that against Yugoslavia we had more of an idea of the game compared to other recent matches," he told reporters. "Then, in the second half, tiredness came into it a bit -- it wasn't easy to play on this flooded pitch. "The opposition defended a lot of the time. They marked man to man. This shouldn't happen in Cardiff. Wales are playing at home, they'll concede more space and we'll have to take advantage of that."
Del Piero grabs point for ItalyNAPLES (Reuters) -- Italy and Yugoslavia ground out a dour 1-1 draw in their Group Nine Euro 2004 qualifying match on Saturday.The visitors took the lead in the 27th minute when Predrag Mijatovic stroked the ball round goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon from close range. But Italy struck back 11 minutes later, Alessandro Del Piero underlining his rich vein of form as he rocketed a 35-yard free kick off the Yugoslav wall to equalize. Italy briefly looked like they might take control of the match, but Yugoslavia came out stronger in the second half, forcing Buffon into a succession of spectacular saves. The result means Italy remain top of Group Nine on four points, one more than Wales who they visit on Wednesday. After being criticized for playing too defensively at the World Cup and in their first Euro 2004 qualifier against Azerbaijan, this match was billed as the comeback of attacking football for Italy. Coach Giovanni Trapattoni had selected his most offensive formation yet -- a 4-3-1-2 set-up that closely mirrored the one currently used by AC Milan. But it was Italy's usually secure defense that made the first crucial error. A swift counter-attack on the left resulted in Alessandro Nesta being muscled off the ball by ex-Fiorentina attacker Mijatovic. Italy's defense drew to a horrified stop, giving Mijatovic time to advance into the area and curl the ball round Buffon. But Del Piero, with his 11th goal in eight games this season, lashed home the equalizer which flew into the top corner of the net. "We didn't create space for ourselves to attack," Trapattoni told reporters after the match. "They played well on the counter-attack, they pressed us, and whenever we went forward we left spaces behind us." SummaryItaly 1 Yugoslavia 1 -- result Euro 2004 group nine qualifier Scorers: Italy -- Alessandro Del Piero 38 Yugoslavia -- Predrag Mijatovic 27 Halftime: 1-1; Attendance: 50,000 Teams: Italy: 1-Gianluigi Buffon; 3-Luciano Zauri (15-Massimo Oddo 81), 5-Fabio Cannavaro, 6-Alessandro Nesta, 2-Christian Panucci; 11-Damiano Tommasi, 10-Andrea Pirlo (16-Massimo Ambrosini 78), 4-Gennaro Gattuso; 8-Cristiano Doni (18-Vincenzo Montella 46); 9-Filippo Inzaghi, 7-Alessandro Del Piero. Yugoslavia: 1-Dragoslav Jevric; 4-Nemanja Vidic, 11-Sinisa Mihajlovic, 5-Mladen Krstajic; 7-Nikola Lazetic, 3-Ivica Dragutinovic, 2-Zoran Mirkovic (13-Igor Duljaj 8), 6-Goran Trobok; 18-Darko Kovacevic (9-Savo Milosevic 72), 8-Predrag Mijatovic (14-Mateja Kezman 66), 10-Dejan Stankovic. Referee: Mejuto Gonzalez (Spain) Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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