Cannavaro: major changes needed to lift Azzurri once again

OUTGOING captain Fabio Cannavaro insists changes are needed in Italian football or the team could face a lengthy wait before regaining the World Cup.

An ageing Italy side crashed out of the 2010 tournament at the group stage on Thursday with a 3-2 defeat to Slovakia and the match marked the end of the road in international football for 36-year-old Cannavaro, who made 136 appearances for the Azzurri and led them to World Cup glory in 2006.

His coach Marcello Lippi insisted all the blame for the shock early exit should be laid at his door, but Cannavaro saw the problem as a larger one than the failings of one man.