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Cabrini implores Italy to make possession count

A "satisfied" Antonio Cabrini nonetheless pleaded with Italy to be more ruthless in front of goal after his side drew 0-0 with Finland, whose exhaustive homework bore fruit.

Cabrini implores Italy to make possession count
Cabrini implores Italy to make possession count ©UEFA.com

Antonio Cabrini, Italy coach
I'm certainly happy with the performance, let's not forget this was our first game and the first game is always difficult. All we lacked was a goal and we know we need to improve in the final third. We must be more clinical and put the ball away, but we've got to be happy.

They played the way we expected them to. We'd seen them and expected this type of game from Finland, with a classic 4-4-2, so we had prepared ways to counter it. I will see whether I need to make any changes to the formation, but overall I'm satisfied with this performance.

We will continue to play in the same way unless something else comes to mind on seeing our next opponents that leads us to make different decisions. The Finland goalkeeper [Tinja-Riikka Korpela] made the difference, above all doing very well with the chances we created. Everyone can see she is a very solid goalkeeper who is very sure of herself.

At half-time I asked the girls to carry on trying to play the way we had prepared, which was trying to keep the ball on the ground with lots of movement. Playing this way, we thought sooner or later the goal would come, but, although we pressed hard, it didn't.

Andrée Jeglertz, Finland coach
A point is OK for us. Coming into the game the goal was to win, but during it we realised that our way of playing was not going to prevail, while our defending was quite solid. It was a good performance and one point is extremely important for us because it means we have everything in our own hands no matter what happens at the weekend.

Italy played exactly how we were expecting. We studied them and knew a lot about their key players and handled them quite well. Tomorrow we'll start working towards the Sweden game. The players are relieved because they are inexperienced. Even if I said they were relaxed beforehand, it is never that easy.

We have the quality and the midfield, in particular, is key, but I also felt many of them rushed [things] a bit, which meant they put each other in difficult situations. It's about giving them the courage to do the things that they are good at.

Everyone cheering for us is important, players have friends and families and that gives them an extra incentive for the games. Sweden will be a tough and interesting game and we have our ideas about how we would like to attack that match and put our skills to use.

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