Roberto Donadoni has called on his players to bounce back from their heavy defeat to Holland.
Italy face tough task to reach last eight
Roberto Donadoni has called on his players to bounce back from their heavy defeat to Holland.
The Italians succumbed to a 3-0 loss in their opening Group C fixture at Euro 2008, a result which has seriously damaged their hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals.
With Romania and France still to come in the 'Group of Death', Donadoni will be under immense pressure to lead a recovery over the coming weeks.
He had found his position as coach under scrutiny by certain sections of the Italian media prior to the tournament and is doing little to wrestle the critics from his back.
The former Milan midfielder admits that his side deserved to take nothing from the game against the Dutch, but is refusing to give up hope after just one match.
Mistakes
"In the first-half, we conceded two goals, from mistakes, but despite that we were not overrun by Holland," Donadoni told
Rai tv.
"We have made mistakes in our approach to the game, but the guys will respond positively.
"We were also short on luck throughout the game.
"I don't deny the facts, we have not started well, but we must look forward to the next two matches and try to do our best."
"Against Romania (on Friday), we have to recover our mental strength."
Plans
One man expected to come back into the side for Italy's second group game is Roma's Daniele de Rossi.
The combative midfielder was restricted to the role of spectator against Holland, but Donadoni admits that the talented 24-year-old is in his thoughts.
"De Rossi to come in? I will think about it," he added.
