Football
ESPN staff 8y

Belgium coach Marc Wilmots says Italy 'did not play real football'

Belgium coach Marc Wilmots criticised Italy for "not playing real football" after the Azzurri's 2-0 win at the European Championship on Monday.

Goals from Emanuele Giaccherini and Graziano Pelle allowed Italy to take all three points, but the Belgium boss didn't think much of Italy's tactics.

"Italy specifically played on the counter-attack. They did not play real football and when faced with everyone sitting back, it becomes difficult," Wilmots told reporters.

He later added: "They were pretty much there on the sofa... they were pretty relaxed."

Wilmots said he was let down by his team's performance, though he saw some promising signs for their upcoming games against Republic of Ireland Sweden.

"This is a huge disappointment for the whole group," Wilmots said. "In the first half-hour we allowed absolutely no chances and we created a few ourselves, albeit from distance.

"Then we made a small mistake in defence and Italy scored. The communication went wrong between [Toby] Alderweireld and [Laurent] Ciman.

"You know it's difficult to get back into the game then, especially against Italy because they have so much experience. We played a lot better after the break, though it was still not easy against the Juventus bloc in defence.

"We had some excellent scoring opportunities, but if you don't take them at this level, then it becomes very difficult to get a result."

Belgium's big names failed to spark with Romelu Lukaku enduring a torrid evening, missing their best chance when he lifted the ball over Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon but wide of a gaping goal.

"Lukaku didn't have a great night and [Kevin] De Bruyne can do better too, but now is not the time to talk about that," Wilmots said. "We now need to club together to qualify for the last 16.

"If you make mistakes at this level, you pay dearly. But nothing is lost. We've got two games to reach the knockout stage, which is the aim when you are in the group, and that is what we are going to try to do."

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