IRENE, South Africa (AP) — Italy coach Marcello Lippi is upset that his squad wasn’t able to follow his orders in its surprising 1-1 draw with New Zealand at the World Cup.
In a heated news conference Monday, Lippi acknowledged that “evidently something is not working if we’re not able to put the ball in the net.”
Lippi recalled that he worked all week on keeping the ball low and on the ground against the tall and physical All Whites, “but as soon we grew a little nervous we started booting it high in the air. … We didn’t do much of what needed to do.”
Italy also tied 1-1 with Paraguay in its opener and now needs to beat Slovakia in its final Group F match Thursday to be sure of advancing.
