Italians debate Donadoni's future

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-24  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

ROBERTO Donadoni said he had little choice but to let Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Di Natale take the penalties which they missed.

De Rossi had a slight niggle while Di Natale was booed by the Spanish fans as he took the kick after infuriating them with some gamesmanship.

Donadoni, who missed a penalty in Italy's World Cup semifinal defeat by Argentina in 1990, said the duo put their hands up and others did not.

"We made the decision simply because you have to feel you are ready to take a penalty," Donadoni said. "I don't decide the penalty takers, I don't oblige them to take them. We decide together when we know how they are feeling.

"All I can say is that in general in my professional career I haven't been lucky with penalties," said Donadoni, whose own position is under review.

He himself is refusing to bow out.

"If you guys have fresher news than me, I don't know, but I'm calm, and I'm not very worried about it," Donadoni said, adding that he never considered resigning. "Absolutely not. I don't see why decisions like this should be made if a game is won or lost on penalties, with everything decided by one meter more or one meter less. It seems like stupid reasoning.

"I don't see why I should resign. That would seem excessive."

The world champion was drab and unimaginative and deserved to be sent home. The Italians lacked any creativity or spark in midfield and had to rely on uncharacteristic long balls and crosses to try to force an opening. Their final pass was often way too poor and lacked penetration.

Big forward Luca Toni struggled throughout, failing to find the net and looking cumbersome rather than threatening and has been found wanting against the best defenders.

Donadoni favored a three-pronged attack coming into the tournament but the 0-3 defeat by Netherlands made the inexperienced coach abandon all his plans and switch to a largely untried 4-3-1-2 formation. It hardly changed things as it struggled for a 1-1 draw against Romania and an equally tedious 2-0 win over 10-man France. His decision to alter his centre back pairing after the Dutch drubbing smacked of desperation even if it did shore up the defence.

Centre back Giorgio Chiellini, 23, is the one Italian to come out with real credit for his tough-tackling displays. Donadoni's decision to switch captains between goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and Alessandro Del Piero hardly gave the side guidance.

Italian media suspect Donadoni will soon be sacked with World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi poised to return.