Defeated Italy see bright future

Italy may be out of UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ after Friday's 2-1 quarter-final defeat by Germany but striker Melania Gabbiadini and midfielder Tatiana Zorri have their heads held high.

England praised
Runners-up in 1997, Italy fell in the 2001 and 2005 eight-team group stages but made progress this time, beating 10-player England 2-1 in their opening game to finish second in their pool and only losing to Sweden. Having then been narrowly defeated by Germany in Lahti, it means Italy faced all the three pre-tournament favourites and certainly feel they have met the two eventual finalists. "The strongest team here is England," Gabbiadini told uefa.com before Zorri said: "I like the way the English play and I think they will be in the final with Germany."

Improvement
The Azzurre departed without a point in the last finals four years ago, and Zorri – a veteran of that campaign in England – is optimistic after their improved display this time. "We gained a lot of experience here and it will be useful for the next tournaments," the 31-year-old said. "We have already improved a lot in the last four years and I think that we will do even better. We have more experience now because we know when we made a mistake – and we also know when we did things right."

Last chance
Despite facing the six-times European champions on Friday, Italy might possibly have gone even further in this competition. Captain Patrizia Panico, who had already pulled one goal back, forced a stunning save from Germany keeper Nadine Angerer with a close-range header in the closing seconds of the game at Lahti. Gabbiadini said: "We are really disappointed because after our goal we really believed we could equalise, but Angerer made a fantastic save." However, Zorri reckoned that Germany deserved to go through, saying: "We have to compliment them, and I wish them good luck."