Football: Sacchi suffers 'worst moment' as manager: Italy is shocked after defeat by a part-time team. Fiona Leney reports from Rome
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Your support makes all the difference.Graham Taylor would have sympathised with Arrigo Sacchi yesterday. Sacchi, the Italian coach, woke up to a chorus of disapproval as the country came to terms with the latest disappointing performance from the national team.
Successive defeats by France and Germany earlier this year were bad enough, but on Wednesday it was much, much worse. Italy, who remain one of the favourites for this summer's World Cup finals, were beaten 2-1 by Pontedera, who play in Serie C2 B, equivalent to the GM Vauxhall Conference.
Pontedera's coach is Francesco d'Arrigo, which was too much for La Gazzetta dello Sport to resist. 'Send Pontedera to America, with d'Arrigo, instead of Arrigo,' it suggested.
Corriere della Sera described the performance as 'shameful' and said Italy showed a lack of fitness and tactical awareness only two months before the start of the World Cup.
The Serie C side had shocked the national team by scoring twice, in the 19th and 22nd minutes, which prompted a chant of 'We're not giving you any of our players' by the 50 or so Pontedera fans who had turned up to watch the practice game.
Italy pulled a goal back in the second half through Milan's Daniele Massaro, but it was not enough. Taylor would no doubt have identified with Sacchi as he paced the sidelines shouting: 'You're supposed to be shooting at the goal'.
Sacchi, who has been in charge of the national team for two and a half years after a successful stint with Milan, urged patience: 'You are always keen to tell a good story,' he told reporters, 'but it's better to wait just a bit, because we'll see what the real story is at the end (of the World Cup).' He did say, though: 'This is my worst moment since I became manager.'
For the moment there are no serious calls for Sacchi's head. But the defects in the national team are rapidly becoming embarrassing: lack of speed, lack of attack, a bit of a lack of everything - and he has been put on notice by the fans and the press that he is expected to have remedied the problems by the time Italy begin their World Cup travails on 18 June.
For Pontedera, Wednesday's victory was the high point of a memorable season. They remain unbeaten and look set for promotion. 'The national team is a good one,' D'Arrigo said. 'They just didn't take us seriously, that's all. They didn't think we could play with such determination. Now we have to try and forget this game and concentrate on our next match against Montevarchi.'
ITALY'S 1994 RESULTS
16 Feb: France (h). . . .lost 0-1
23 Mar: Germany (a). . .lost 1-2
6 Apr: Pontedera. . . . .lost 1-2
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