Football: Italy took problematic mentality: Coach

Rome, Oct 12 (IAN) Italy head coach Cesare Prandelli said his side adopted a wrong mentality in their 2-2 draw with Denmark in their penultimate World Cup qualifier Friday.

Alberto Aquilani scored in the stoppage time to salvage the draw for Italy. The Azzurri were 1-0 ahead through Dani Osavaldo before Nicklas Bendtnera headed in two goals to put Denmark in advantage, Xinhua reported.

“After an excellent first half, we suffered especially at the beginning of the second half, for twenty minutes,” Prandelli said. “If we only focus on defending, we would be in trouble.”

The Italian tactician figured that his side’s problematic mentality led to a wrong approach.

“This team is accustomed to playing and taking control, so if we lose that then we become vulnerable. Once we began playing again we created some good chances on this difficult field, where Denmark gave more than they had as they had to win this match,” Prandelli said.

“We know there are moments where you mustn’t drop the concentration. We dropped back by 10 metres before the break and allowed Denmark to put those crosses in,” he said.

“We moved the ball around fairly well, kept the ball to feet and had a great chance with Claudio Marchisio. Clearly we were also lucky with Denmark hitting the woodwork twice, but those were on set plays,” he added.

Italy ace striker Mario Balotelli was suffering a fever and did not play in this game, and Prandelli hoped he could have the forward back for their final World Cup qualifier against Armenia Tuesday.