Manchester City manager http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749, and felt that the Three Lions were
totally outclassed by their opponents on the night.
The Manchester United ace was kept dormant by a rampant Italian side, who were at the helm right from the kick-off to the final whistle, spraying 35 shots at the English goal and enjoying majority of possession on the ball.
On the other hand, the melodramatic City striker remained in the midst of action and even though he scuppered a couple of golden opportunities, he continuously posed problems in the Three Lions rearguard.
Despite the fact that fingers were being raised towards Balotelli for not finding the back of the net during the game, the former Italian footballer heaped praise on him for getting into good positions, and mentioned that his English counterpart Rooney was
only seen in action during the shoot-out.
While talking to reporters, he said: “He was always at the heart of the game, had five or six chances, and was a bit unlucky…We want to compare him with Rooney, who we only noticed when it came to penalties. ‘Super Mario' did much better, and he's a great
striker we must support all the way.”
Assessing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926’s performance overall, the 47-year old opined that for England, it was only a matter of survival as the Azzurri launched attack after attack in the entire match, and thinks that Roy Hodgson’s unit were nowhere to be seen in the second half
and the extra time.
He also revealed that he expected Italy to get a goal during the extra time, and felt that Cesare Prandelli introduced more positive and effective changes during the game than Hodgson.
He added, “Prandelli also made changes very well while Hodgson thought only to defend himself and had no effect. When [Antonio] Nocerino and [http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alessandro-c4710] Diamanti came on, they gave a great boost.”
The win for Italy on Sunday night earned them a semi-final showdown with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Portugal-c2984 will go head-to-head in the other semi for a place in the grand finale.
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