Buffon rues missed chances

Gianluigi Buffon of Italy in action during the UEFA EURO 2012 group C match between Italy and Croatia

Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon was left ruing his side’s missed chances in the first half as the Azzurris were held on to a 1-1 draw by the Croats. The veteran goalkeeper also stressed the need to defeat the Republic of Ireland in their final group match. He told Rai Sport:

“It is a shame that we drew the match, we defended really well and we suffered a goal in one of the few chances that Croatia had. We should have taken the chances we had in the first half, but it is true that Croatia are a good side and it is not easy to score against them.”

The 34-year-old Juventus man however seemed satisfied with his team’s performance. A free kick from Andrea Pirlo in the first half gave Italy the lead but a mistake from Chiellini allowed Croatia to equalize through Mario Mandzukic in the 72nd. Buffon added:

“We had a good approach to the match and we wanted to win. We only depend on ourselves to progress, I am sure we will go through if we defeat Ireland. We are satisfied with our approach and we played a good match.”

Meanwhile, coach Cesare Prandelli has quashed Croatia coach Bilic’s claims that Luka Modric is a better player than Andrea Pirlo. The 54-year-old voiced his opinion in a press conference and commented on Modric’s inability to win trophies with both club and country.

“In order to be great, you must win important trophies first.”