JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Marcello Lippi took all responsibility for Italy's stunning 3-2 loss to Slovakia and an early exit of the World Cup after a Group F match here on Thursday.
Italy only took two points from the previous two group matches and the third round proved to be a must-win. But the Azzurri failed to meet the standards of reigning champions, crashing out of the group stage.
I take all responsibility for what happened, no excuses, Lippi made a statement in a post-match press conference. If the team showed us just the game like tonight, that means the coach is simply unable to train the team well psychologically and technically. It's evident.
I didn't expect to end my experience with the Federation in such a fashion and I did expect a performance differently, said the 62-year old Lippi, who took the Italian team to the champions in 2006 World Cup. 1/2 12下一页尾页
