Italy coach Marcello Lippi blamed their shock 1-0 defeat by Egypt on a bad 20-minute spell and said he was now focusing on beating Brazil to advance to the Confederations Cup semi-finals.
Lippi noted that his team had created three or four good chances, mostly in the second half of their Group B game on Thursday. "I think we deserved at least one goal," he said.
"I think Egypt have played two great matches here," he added. "We are in a very difficult group, very different from the other group. Their goalkeeper had a fantastic game and things just did not go for us."
Lippi said his team now needed to beat Brazil in Group B in Pretoria on Sunday. "We've simply got to win," he told a news conference. "We will try to take the initiative."
Lippi said he thought his team played well for the first 25 minutes but lost the initiative in the final part of the opening period, conceding a goal in the 40th to Mohamed Hommos.
"We weren't very aggressive. We didn't play like we had planned at that stage. When Egypt started to play and scored, it all unravelled and we stopped playing. We didn't go for the ball."
But Lippi said his team improved after the break. "We played well in the second half and created chances. Egypt played a fantastic second half against Brazil and an excellent first half against us."
