Danielle de Rossi tells Italy to improve
Herbert hails 'incredible result'
Posted: 2010-06-20 21:37
After watching his New Zealand outfit hold world champions Italy to a 1-1 draw, coach Ricki Herbert praised his men for what he considered to be the greatest result in the country’s football history.
“I think it is the most incredible result we've had,” he told AFP. “I know it is early in the morning in New Zealand, but I think there will be a lot of excitement back home. It’s more than anything we have achieved in the history of the game. I think it will be embraced enormously.
“A lot of people felt we shouldn't be in the World Cup or felt the way we qualified was easy. I don't think anyone remotely gave us a chance. We are doing okay for a team that supposedly has some amateurs and shouldn't be in the World Cup.”
The All Whites will take on Paraguay on Thursday in the final round of Group F games.
As for Italy, they again flattered to deceive – this after an equally lacklustre draw against Paraguay in their opening game.
Roma midfielder Daniele de Rossi has urged the world champions to improve if they are to stand any chances of progressing to the second round.
“We need to improve immediately,” he told SkySport. “If we don’t, then there is no hope of progressing to the second round. Coming second in the group would probably put us against the Netherlands in the last 16.
“However, before we start looking ahead we must stay focused on qualifying from the group stages. As a group we must grow. Something is missing in the final third but the fault lies with the entire squad. For sure we can do much better than we have so far.”
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