Soccer: Italian coach gives no excuses

Italian soccer coach Marcello Lippi offered no excuses in the aftermath of his team's shock 1-1 draw against New Zealand in their World Cup group F match at Nelspruitt in South Africa early this morning (NZT).

"We're just sorry we didn't win a match we could have," Lippi said. "If we didn't win against New Zealand it's our fault. Once again the opponent scored on their first chance. We were able to control the game after that, but this was a match we should have won."

Italy again struggled against New Zealand in the air, replicating their effort at the Confederations Cup last year when they pulled off a 4-3 win after twice trailing the All Whites.

Lippi told Associated Press that while his players had been unlucky, they had also fallen well short of his expectations.

"They weren't as lucid or as enterprising as they should have been," he said.

"Again we were very unfortunate. It's not like we didn't do great things, although you always need to do more."

Lippi was without two of his top players, missing goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and midfielder Andrea Pirlo through injury but haven't won since beating Sweden 1-0 in a friendly in November.

Their winless streak of five games includes four draws and a 1-2 loss to Mexico in a World Cup warmup.

However Lippi refused to accept he had omitted more talented players from his squad, Reuters reported.

Lippi has ignored Sampdoria's creative forward Antonio Cassano ever since returning to the job in 2008 while the likes of Alessandro Del Piero and Giuseppe Rossi were excluded despite their ability to do something different.

"I am absolutely convinced there are no phenomenons that I left at home," said Lippi.

"We have players who have personality, players who have proved it in the championship. We have the Serie A top scorer of 29 goals (Antonio Di Natale)."

"I don't think it's a question of personality, it's just fluidity. There is no one else I could have brought. They would have had the same problems as the lads who were out there today. It's premature to talk about that."

Lippi said creative midfielder Pirlo could make a difference, but there was some doubt about the timing of his return: "If he is available, but I don't have certainty."

- NZPA