Italy have done extremely well in the recent major tournaments and they are one of the favourites to do well at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. They have qualified for this competition automatically by winning the group. Due to the recent imperious form, they were expected to take all three points in the match against Armenia. However, Italy could only manage a 2-2 draw against the minnows much to the disappointment of manager Cesare Prandelli. He said after the match that his team were too sloppy and they need to learn from these mistakes as quickly as possible.
He has also said that this result was embarrassing for the Italians, who had won the World Cup back in 2006. Denmark have finished second in the group as a result of the good run of form they have carried in last few qualifiers. Italy were coming into the match on the back of yet another 2-2 draw in the previous match and it was against Denmark. Movsisyan opened the scoring for Armenia after just five minutes, while Florenzi managed to equalise for the 2006 champions in the 24th minute. Mkhitaryan’s goal in the 70th minute appeared to have won the match for Armenia before Balotelli rescued the game for the Italians with a late goal.
“We started really badly with an embarrassing opening 20 minutes. I saw players who never gave up and that was a positive sign. I told the lads they had to play good football and that now the World Cup campaign begins, so I’ll judge every single game. We qualified for the Euros and World Cup without defeat. Clearly these last games make you think it won’t take much to win, but the truth is you need great concentration and grit,” Prandelli told Rai Sport.