The Azzurri trainer did not attempt to take many
positives from his team's performance, explaining that they struggled to
cope with the weather and the play of their opponents.
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli admitted that his team were fortunate to escape from their Confederations Cup clash against Japan with a 4-3 victory, which wrapped up their spot in the semi-finals.
The Azzurri came back from a 2-0 deficit to triumph, but
were lucky to be awarded a penalty after a harsh handball call against
Makoto Hasebe, not to mention a host of near misses by Japan, who were
the superior side for much of the encounter.
And Prandelli was left under no illusions as to his side’s good
fortune throughout the match, telling reporters: “Against Mexico we
deserved [to win], but not today.
“We deserved that game against Mexico, but tonight we [were dealt] a
crazy hand. In the first 25 minutes we did not understand what we had to
do. There were times we did not play, and we were in trouble.”
However, the 55-year-old did pin some of the blame for his team’s
display on the sweltering conditions in Recife, which he felt
prematurely fatigued his team.
“It is really hard to play in this climate,” Prandelli added. “Here
it is 80 per cent humidity and crazy hot. We recovered [from the opening
25 minutes] but had no gas left.”
But with the victory, and a place in the last four in the bag,
Prandelli chose to focus his attention on preparing his team for their
final game against Brazil, the winner of which will finish in first
place in Group A.
“Now you just have to recuperate ahead of the clash with Brazil,” concluded the trainer.
