Bitter Azzurri see Scandinavian fix
Tuesday 22 June, 2004
Disappointed and bitter Italy players – and the Federation Chief – suggest there was a Scandinavian fix to push them out of the tournament.
“I’d just like to point out to those who say Italian football is particularly prone to conspiracies and other sorts of behaviour that other Federations are just as bad, if not much worse, than us,” noted former Azzurri hero Gigi Riva.
Italy needed to beat Bulgaria in order to go through, but a 2-2 draw would have automatically qualified both Sweden and Denmark. The Scandinavians insisted they would never do such a thing, but the result was all too predictable.
“They set up a great acting performance, pretending to be filled with joy when taking the lead and yet always conceding the equaliser.”
FIGC President Franco Carraro was equally upset and chose his words very carefully when making his point.
“There are no doubts that watching this match suggests these two teams aimed for a draw. Naturally, this sort of suggestion is difficult to prove, but we were eliminated with five points in the table and leave with our heads held high.”
“However,” he added, “we did not do enough and undoubtedly this team performed below its capabilities.”
The Azzurri were among the favourites for Euro 2004, but crashed out with just one win and two draws.
“It is also a shame that Denmark and Sweden qualify after failing to beat us, especially when we dominated the match with the Swedes.”
“We are going out for two reasons,” continued the Federation chief. “Firstly, we failed to make the most of our many scoring opportunities. Secondly, the calendar proved decisive, as if the third game had been Sweden-Italy or Denmark-Italy, the result would have been different.”
Trapattoni’s future now hangs in the balance and should be given his marching orders in a planned meeting on Friday.
“We have a Federation meeting planned for the 25th and during the course of that coming together we will analyse the situation of this negative experience.”
The players were also downcast after the 2-2 result that many had feared came to pass in the final minute, making Antonio Cassano’s winner over Bulgaria futile.
“Had we not conceded that late goal from Ibrahimovic and perhaps if we’d been in a cleaner Group – which in my view, it wasn’t – then we’d all be here talking about a great Italy squad,” said Marco Materazzi.
The Inter defender’s foul on Dimitar Berbatov saw Bulgaria take the lead with a penalty before half-time.
“He was tugging my shirt first and I fell because he pulled me down, so when I heard the whistle I assumed it was for a free kick in our favour.”
There were also complaints when Antonio Cassano was hacked down in the box, then there was a slight nudge on Christian Vieri.
“The tackle on Cassano was a clear foul and I can’t believe it wasn’t awarded,” added Materazzi. “Obviously the first game was a bad performance, but we were certainly unlucky in the next two matches.”
Massimo Oddo was a late substitute and claimed Giovanni Trapattoni’s favouritism between players saw him resist the possibility of change.
“We gave it everything we had, even if we ended up making a few too many mistakes, but it all seems a bit pointless to discuss it now. We are professionals and even if the Coach decided on the starting eleven a long time ago it is our job to try and make him change his mind.”
“I would like to point out that we all take responsibility for this exit,” concluded the Lazio fullback, “from the goalkeeper to the defence, midfield and forwards. Mistakes were made all through the squad and we are not blaming anyone else.”
Sure, blame the bad old Scandinavians...
Oddo is right, it's their own fault. They scored 3 goals in 3 matches, Sweden scored 8. It was all in their hands, they have noone else to blame.
Tuesday 22 June, 2004
Disappointed and bitter Italy players – and the Federation Chief – suggest there was a Scandinavian fix to push them out of the tournament.
“I’d just like to point out to those who say Italian football is particularly prone to conspiracies and other sorts of behaviour that other Federations are just as bad, if not much worse, than us,” noted former Azzurri hero Gigi Riva.
Italy needed to beat Bulgaria in order to go through, but a 2-2 draw would have automatically qualified both Sweden and Denmark. The Scandinavians insisted they would never do such a thing, but the result was all too predictable.
“They set up a great acting performance, pretending to be filled with joy when taking the lead and yet always conceding the equaliser.”
FIGC President Franco Carraro was equally upset and chose his words very carefully when making his point.
“There are no doubts that watching this match suggests these two teams aimed for a draw. Naturally, this sort of suggestion is difficult to prove, but we were eliminated with five points in the table and leave with our heads held high.”
“However,” he added, “we did not do enough and undoubtedly this team performed below its capabilities.”
The Azzurri were among the favourites for Euro 2004, but crashed out with just one win and two draws.
“It is also a shame that Denmark and Sweden qualify after failing to beat us, especially when we dominated the match with the Swedes.”
“We are going out for two reasons,” continued the Federation chief. “Firstly, we failed to make the most of our many scoring opportunities. Secondly, the calendar proved decisive, as if the third game had been Sweden-Italy or Denmark-Italy, the result would have been different.”
Trapattoni’s future now hangs in the balance and should be given his marching orders in a planned meeting on Friday.
“We have a Federation meeting planned for the 25th and during the course of that coming together we will analyse the situation of this negative experience.”
The players were also downcast after the 2-2 result that many had feared came to pass in the final minute, making Antonio Cassano’s winner over Bulgaria futile.
“Had we not conceded that late goal from Ibrahimovic and perhaps if we’d been in a cleaner Group – which in my view, it wasn’t – then we’d all be here talking about a great Italy squad,” said Marco Materazzi.
The Inter defender’s foul on Dimitar Berbatov saw Bulgaria take the lead with a penalty before half-time.
“He was tugging my shirt first and I fell because he pulled me down, so when I heard the whistle I assumed it was for a free kick in our favour.”
There were also complaints when Antonio Cassano was hacked down in the box, then there was a slight nudge on Christian Vieri.
“The tackle on Cassano was a clear foul and I can’t believe it wasn’t awarded,” added Materazzi. “Obviously the first game was a bad performance, but we were certainly unlucky in the next two matches.”
Massimo Oddo was a late substitute and claimed Giovanni Trapattoni’s favouritism between players saw him resist the possibility of change.
“We gave it everything we had, even if we ended up making a few too many mistakes, but it all seems a bit pointless to discuss it now. We are professionals and even if the Coach decided on the starting eleven a long time ago it is our job to try and make him change his mind.”
“I would like to point out that we all take responsibility for this exit,” concluded the Lazio fullback, “from the goalkeeper to the defence, midfield and forwards. Mistakes were made all through the squad and we are not blaming anyone else.”
Sure, blame the bad old Scandinavians...
Oddo is right, it's their own fault. They scored 3 goals in 3 matches, Sweden scored 8. It was all in their hands, they have noone else to blame.
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