Prandelli - We'll bounce back

Cesare Prandelli hopes Italy have got all their mistakes out of their system ahead of Euro 2012 after being beaten by Russia on Friday night.

Italy boss admits performance was poor against Russia

Cesare Prandelli hopes Italy have got all their mistakes out of their system ahead of Euro 2012 after being beaten by Russia on Friday night. The Azzurri lost 3-0 in Zurich in their final warm-up match before the tournament, with Aleksandr Kerzhakov breaking the deadlock for Russia and Roman Shirokov netting twice. Prandelli accepts that his side were second best but is confident the defeat will only make Italy stronger for the greater challenges to come this summer. "We have suffered a lot," Prandelli said. "We have made many mistakes and we hope that we have used them all tonight. "Russia were better than us physically, from an intensity and temperament point of view. "Perhaps losing in this manner can help us as we return to work in order to improve."

Worrying signs

Italy went into the game after a nightmare week. A match-fixing scandal disrupted their preparations, with Prandelli dropping Zenit St Petersburg defender Domenico Criscito from the squad after he was put under investigation. The team's friendly against Luxembourg in Parma was also cancelled on Tuesday because of an earthquake in northern Italy. "Right now we are a team that is suffering a lot," Prandelli said. On the pitch, Italy had only conceded two goals in qualifying but they showed worrying signs defensively against Russia. "It's not an issue of a given line but of the whole team," he said. "If you don't defend well as a team then you struggle."

Terrible night

Italy defender Christian Maggio hopes his side can put this loss, the Azzurri's third consecutive friendly defeat, behind them. "Honestly, it has been a terrible night," he said. "I hope it is the last and we can do much better in the next game. "A lot of things have not gone the way we wanted and we really wanted to do well before we started the European Championship. "We still have a few days to improve. Our minds are on the Euros and not on what has happened this week. "We have to understand where we went wrong and try not to make the same mistakes. "It's clear that we cannot play the way we did tonight against a strong team like Spain is." Italy take on European champions and World Cup winners Spain on June 10th, before also facing Croatia and Republic of Ireland in Group C.