World Cup 2010

Gianluigi Buffon Admits Italy Are In Need Of Change

The keeper has agreed with those who are calling for the inclusion of younger players.

Jun 21, 2009 11:25:05 PM

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon tries to explain what happened after Italy's 1-0 defeat to Egypt

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Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon tries to explain what happened after Italy's 1-0 defeat to Egypt

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Gianluigi Buffon

Italy were humiliated by Brazil, as they were bundled out of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, as a result of a 3-0 score line.

The outcome has placed further pressure on an already under-fire Marcello Lippi, who has failed to act on those calling for the introduction of youth into his squad in recent times.

The Azzurri goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, spoke about this following the completion of the match, and had his say on the ongoing issue.

“It was clear that we weren’t up to it tonight, as we were never really competitive,” Buffon stressed in an interview with Rai Sport.

“When we put our heart and soul into matches we are a great team, but without these features we become vulnerable. It has been tough here because we have players like [Fabio] Cannavaro who has not trained for a month, and [Gennaro] Gattuso who missed seven months.

“We can only wish and hope that our young players make a leap in quality in the coming months, in order to give us a hand.

“You must understand though that playing for the Azzurri is not like playing in the league. It takes experience and character to be a success at this level.

“To be fair to Lippi, I do not see many young players around who really could make a significant change to this team, perhaps because our league in recent years has become a little less competitive.

“[Davide] Santon? He had a muscular problem in training. [Mario] Balotelli? He does not have the ability at this point, and he is with the Under-21’s anyway.”

Buffon and the Italians will resume their quest to qualify for next year’s World Cup in September, when they travel to face Georgia.

Adrian Del Monte, Goal.com