Italian midfielder Gennaro Gattuso has defended coach Giovanni Trapattoni after he was blamed for letting Sweden come back to snatch a 1-1 draw at Euro 2004. Trapattoni's second half substitutions, largely defensive, in last night's Group C game were criticised by Italian newspapers who said the coach threw away the game after a superb Italian first-half performance.
Gattuso said: "It's not right to put the blame on Trap. We were simply unlucky at the end. When it ends badly I suppose we have to talk about something to produce an analysis but there really is very little to analyse. If it had ended 1-0, no-one would be talking about Trapattoni."
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's heeled volley in the 85th minute earned the Swedes a point. This leaves Italy needing to beat eliminated Bulgaria in their final game and hope that the game between Sweden and Denmark doesn't end 2-2 or in another high-scoring draw.
Filed by Mark O'Neill-Cummins
