Karel Bruckner tries to look for reasons for his team’s early sent off, but the result stays: Czech Republic goes home, Italy goes through.

Karel BRUCKNER (CZE)
We didn’t make the most of our set-pieces. Football is a game where you have to find solutions and it’s difficult to change the game with ten against 11. Jan Polak’s mistakes and his sending-off show a lack of responsibility towards his team-mates.

Italy didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. They didn’t make any mistakes and scored when they needed to. I think it was an even match but they knew how to force home their advantage. The decisive match for us was against Ghana. We should have taken the three points but we weren’t up to it. Unfortunately, the tournament seems to have come at a time when we’ve been unfortunate with injuries, particularly in attack where we were without four players.

Marcello LIPPI (ITA)
We were focused on qualifying for the second round, which was our main objective. We knew we had to finish top to avoid Brazil. It was a match between two strong teams who had to win to stay in the tournament. In football, a numerical advantage can make a big difference. We know that only too well after our match against the USA a few days ago.

I replaced Alessandro Nesta because he was holding his groin and signalled to us that he wanted to come off. I would tell you that it was so I could bring on Marco Materazzi to score but that would be a lie (smiles).

I’ve been asked a lot whether the team have been distracted by things happening at home in Italy at the moment, but that’s not the case. The only pressure the players feel comes from the big match nerves. We have a solid, close-knit squad. They know this is a unique opportunity to achieve something and they’ll give their all to do it.

Source: WCoffsite