The former Azzurri chief regrets the 2008 Euro elimination at the hands of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011, but maintains that his campaign was not a failure.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926 are set to face World and European Champions Spain in their first match of the Euros, and Donadoni remembers his 2008 campaign when they were knocked out by the same opposition.
The Azzurri were beaten by Spain in the quarter-final of Euro 2008 on penalties, and the former manager believes that there was little to separate the two sides at that time, and the defeat was a matter of fortune.
However, the current Parma manager reveals that the loss was devastating for him, as it barred him from continuing his work with the team that had won the 2006 World Cup.
Donadoni went on to deny the notion that Italy’s 2008 campaign was a failure, and pointed out that the team did worse in the 2010 World Cup without him.
While talking to the Gazzetta dello Sport, the 48-yaer-old said:
“Spain were not that much better than Italy on that day, the rest is a case of ifs and buts. That defeat saddens me because I then couldn’t continue my rejuvenation of the 2006 World Cup wining squad. Was Euro 2008 a failure? Then what was the 2010 World
Cup – a catastrophe?”
Donadoni was replaced by Marcelo Lippi after the Euro debacle, and Italy failed to get through the group stages of the 2010 World Cup in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/South-Africa-c757.
The Parma chief hailed Cesare Prandelli’s approach to the game, stating that the style apart from being Spanish has a lot of promise. The former Italy manager stated that he also aspired to eventually take his team to playing the same style, but regretted
that he was not allowed the time to take his project to completion.
“I like the idea of Prandelli’s football and not because playing in a Spanish way is in vogue. My project was targeted towards something similar, but I didn’t have the time to see it through.”
Spain are the World and European Champions, and start as the favourites to win their third major tournament in a row. However, Donadoni maintained that the added pressure of the mounting expectations will take its toll on La Roja’s campaign.
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