Italy veteran Gianluca Zambrotta insisted on Tuesday that the world champions have not even contemplated the possibility of being knocked out of the World Cup.
Having drawn their first two Group F matches, Italy face the very real danger of suffering the ignominy that befell France in 2002 when as holders they failed to negotiate the group stages.
Italy know that only a win against Slovakia in Johannesburg on Thursday will ensure they take their place in the second round.
And AC Milan full-back Zambrotta, 33, says that is a scenario that doesn’t even bear thinking about.
“We haven’t thought about it and we’re not thinking about it,” he said from Italy’s Casa Azzurri here just south of Pretoria.
“If it happens we’ll think about then, it doesn’t even enter our heads. We’re looking at the glass half full, not half empty.
“It’s not the first time we’ve had this type of game, we know the importance and we’ll give it everything.”
This kind of slow start to a tournament is nothing new for the Italians.
When they won the World Cup in 1982 they opened up with three draws in the group stages and only just scraped into the next round. In 1994 when they reached the final they only scraped into the second round as the 16th of 16 qualifiers having finished third in their group. — AFP