Italy coach blames lack of fitness

Coach Roberto Donadoni believes Italy were not match fit against France last night in their Euro 2008 qualifier due to the delayed start of the Serie A season.

While the French season started a month ago, and the English league, which provided much of the France team, has been in action for three weeks already, Serie A only commences this weekend.

With the lion’s share of Donadoni’s squad playing for Serie A teams, the fact they have not yet played any competitive games was a defining factor in the 3-1 defeat in Paris, according to the man who replaced Marcello Lippi after the victorious World Cup campaign.

“We were at a disadvantage from the very beginning because of the preparation,” he told RAI television afterwards.

“They were a lot fresher than us and reached the ball quicker. Now we have to build up our strength for the next few games and win both of them.”

After a 1-1 draw with Lithuania in the opening Group B fixture, Italy now trail Scotland and France by five points, while their next opponents Ukraine are also two points clear after their 3-2 win over Georgia.

France coach Raymond Domenech played down the win over the World Cup winners and admitted Wednesday’s win was meagre consolation for the World Cup final defeat at the hands of the Azzurri.

“The match that counted was two months ago and it went in a different way,” he said. “But even we have to look to the future now.”

Two goals from Sidney Govou and one from Thierry Henry were sufficient for France while Alberto Gilardino netted the goal for the world champions.