New coach, new era for the Azzurri

* From: AFP
* July 02, 2010

NEW Italy coach Cesare Prandelli vowed not to dwell on the team's embarrassing group-stage exit at the World Cup, insisting his players will move on.

Prandelli, who has replaced Marcello Lippi as Azzurri coach, signed a four-year contract overnight and was formally presented at Rome's Olympic Stadium.

Defending champion Italy exited the World Cup after finishing bottom of a group that included Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia, but former Fiorentina coach Prandelli wanted to draw a line under this summer's disappointment.

"There is a lot of quality, a lot of experience and a lot of good things to build on," Prandelli said.

"What happened, happened. We need to keep hold of the good things and put good systems in place.

"Of course we want a good team and we have good players for this. I want to get the team playing well and put long-term plans in place."

Prandelli's first match in charge will be against Ivory Coast on August 10, at Fulham's Craven Cottage in London. Italy then begins its qualification for the 2012 European Championship with an away match against Estonia on September 3.

The Azzurri will be without Fabio Cannavaro and Gennaro Gattuso, who both announced their retirements from international duty after the team's World Cup exit.

There are also concerns that Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon will not have recovered from a back injury in time for the Ivory Coast match, although Prandelli intends to name him as the team's new captain.

"Of course for the first game we will only have a few days' preparation and we will have to see who is available," he said.

"I would like to give Gianluigi Buffon the captain's armband. I hope he will be a point of reference for the team and carry on to the European Championships."

Prandelli refused to be drawn on which players he will call up for the match.

Lippi, who guided Italy to World Cup glory in 2006 but could not repeat that feat four years on, was criticised toward the end of his second tenure for ignoring in-form Sampdoria striker Antonio Cassano and the pace of Inter Milan forward Mario Balotelli as he was afraid it would upset the harmony of the squad.

"Balotelli and Cassano are excellent players and they wouldn't have any problem playing together," Prandelli said. "Those called up will merit it, but I want them to act with respect for their role in the team.

"In the last few years, Cassano has grown up and calmed down. Getting married will help even more."

In the fallout from Italy's early World Cup elimination, many questions have been raised over the quality of young players coming through.

Nine of Lippi's squad in South Africa were age 30 or over, but Prandelli said he expected new faces to come through soon.

"The youth systems are the future of Italian football," Prandelli said.

"In terms of learning the game, improving technique and learning skills.

"The clubs have invested heavily in these systems and I am convinced that we will see a lot of young players coming through in the next few months."


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