Lippi happy with difficult victories

Italy boss Marcello Lippi said he was pleased with the overall outcome of Italy's first two qualifiers against Cyprus and Georgia.

كتب : Amro Hassan

الخميس، 11 سبتمبر 2008 - 12:18
Italy boss Marcello Lippi said he was pleased with the overall outcome of Italy's first two qualifiers against Cyprus and Georgia.

Following their hard fought and unconvincing 2-1 win over Cyprus on Saturday, the World Champions produced a better performance to beat Georgia 2-0 in Udinese on Wednesday.

"There have been some improvements since the Cyprus game. Both victories were difficult, but that gives them a better taste," Lippi was quoted as saying by Corriere Dello Sport on Thursday.

"Six points from two games is a good result considering we lost Fabio Grosso, Alessandro Gamberini and Gennaro Gattuso to awkward injuries after the first game."

Lippi has earlier blamed poor fitness levels for the poor showing against Cyprus, and has now reaffirmed that the Azzuri will only get better with time.

"Now let's go home and comeback within a month after good five or six League games were the players will improve their fitness," added Lippi.

The two wins leave Italy top of group eight with six points, two ahead of Republic of Ireland in second place.