Euro 2012: No time to celebrate, bring on Germany - Cesare Prandelli
WARSAW. June 27. KAZINFORM The Italy coach, Cesare Prandelli, said on Monday that he had already told his players to "turn the page" after their dramatic shootout win over England. Gli Azzurri beat England on penalties after a goalless draw in Kiev to reach the last four of the competition for the first time since 2000 but Prandelli has already turned his attention to Thursday's semi-final against Germany in Warsaw.
"We have only celebrated for 10 minutes," he said. "We have turned the page and our focus is already on Germany. The Germans alongside Spain are favourites to win the European Championship. I'm not the first to discover how good they [the Germans] are, they are playing very well."
Prandelli added that he was unhappy his players would have only three days to prepare for their semi-final while Germany have had five. "It's a problem that Uefa must consider for the next European Championship," he said. "To play a semi with this small gap does not help the spectacle."
Italy's captain, Gianluigi Buffon, who saved Ashley Cole's penalty, urged his team-mates not to get carried away. "We cannot forget that we have only overcome the quarter-final stage," he said. "I cannot start jumping for joy after taking a spot in the semi-finals. I will only do that when we win something as a team. Those of us that have won something important want to repeat that and achieve it also for those that haven't won a trophy yet."
Buffon, a member of Italy's World Cup winning squad in 2006, also praised the fighting spirit the team displayed against England. "We deserved the win considering what we did throughout the game," the Juventus goalkeeper said. "We were better than them, we created so many goalscoring chances. We were even physically stronger than they were and we showed that until the last second of extra time. We have to continue on this path."
Prandelli has some injury concerns heading into the game against Germany. The Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi hurt himself against England and is doubtful, as is the right-back Ignazio Abate with a leg injury while the left-back Christian Maggio is suspended, Kazinform has learnt from the Guardian.