Roberto Mancini and Leonardo Bonucci acknowledged there is room for improvement from Italy, despite kicking off their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign with a routine 2-0 win over Northern Ireland.
Domenico Berardi scored for the third international running and Ciro Immobile doubled the Azzurri's lead before half-time in Thursday's Group C clash at Stadio Ennio Tardini.
After managing five attempts on target in a dominant first half, however, Italy dropped off in the second period and failed to test Bailey Peacock-Farrell on a single occasion.
Northern Ireland went close to pulling one back through strikes from Gavin Whyte, Michael Smith and Steven Davis, while Paddy McNair blazed over from a good position late on.
The victory was Italy's fourth in a row without conceding and extended their unbeaten run to 23 matches.
But Mancini was not pleased with what he saw in the second half of the game in Parma, which he put down to the lengthy break between matches for his side.
"After four months, the first half was excellent and we should've scored more goals," he told Rai Sport.
"We'll have to review the second half with the team, because we must do better than that. The first half was perfect and we should've had more goals.
"Perhaps we started to take a few too many touches after the break and the ball moved slowly, but that can happen after four months of not seeing each other.
"We could've won by a bigger margin in the first half, but we knew Northern Ireland were a physical side who could cause us problems. We made too many mistakes.
"The ball can go long at times, especially when we're pressed like that and the opposition are defending in numbers."
Italy's possession count dropped from 72.6 per cent in the first half to 59.6 in the second and they regularly gifted the ball to their opponents.
Bonucci, who became the eighth player to win 100 caps for Italy with his appearance on Thursday, accepted lessons can be learned from the contest.
"It's important that we kept a clean sheet, even if we made a lot of mistakes in the second half and need to improve, especially when we're in possession," he said.
"But what I've always liked since Mancini took over is the attitude. We face everyone without fear, we keep our nerve and go out there to win every game.
"It means there's a lot of hard work behind it, from the players and the staff, because the ideas are clear and we drill them in very quickly.
"The young players here have a lot of talent, along with the spirit of sacrifice and hard work, so these are the results."
With his 14th-minute strike in Parma, Immobile has now been directly involved in seven goals in his last seven starts for Italy - four goals and three assists.
It was a rare goal from open play, however, and the Lazio striker celebrated wildly at the empty ground.
"I felt a weight off my shoulders because I hadn't scored from open play for a year and a half in the Italy shirt," he told Rai Sport.
"I slipped on the first chance, the goalkeeper was there on the second, so I was feeling frustrated and let it all out after the third chance went in.
"Having competition for places only makes you more determined to find the net and help the team. [Andrea] Belotti scored last time, I got the goal this time, so there needs to be more faith in this Italy side."
Italy join second seeds Switzerland on three points at the top of Group C and travel to Sofia on Sunday to face Bulgaria in their next qualifier.
Mancini, who is one of only three coaches to stay unbeaten in his first 15 home matches in charge of Italy after Enzo Bearzot and Marcello Lippi, hinted he will heavily rotate his side for that match.
"We need to change something. We need some fresh players," he said at his post-match news conference. "Nothing should change on the pitch, even if we were to alter five players."
Young Reggae Girlz end Concacaf U-20 Champs with 4-1 win over Panama
Jamaica’s young Reggae Girlz gave head coach Hugh Bradford something to smile about, as they concluded their failed Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship campaign on a high with a 4-1 beating of Panama, at the Felix Sanchez Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Tuesday.
Natoya Atkinson (16th), Davia Richards (32nd), Maya Raghunandanan (37th) and Amelia Van Zanten (74th) were on target for the Bradford’s side, while Meredith Rosas, got Panama’s consolation in the 79th minute.
With the win, the Girlz ended Group A in third on three points scoring four goals and conceding nine, behind United States and Canada, to whom they suffered identical 0-4 defeats. Panama finished at the foot of the standing without a point.
It was a dominant performance by the Girlz, who for the first time in the tournament played with some degree of freedom and bossed possession throughout.
In fact, they were so fluent in attack, particularly in the first half, to the point where they held a high line, got significant numbers forward and camped out in Panama's quarters.
After firing a few warning shots, the Girlz inevitably broke the deadlock when Atkinson fired home from close range, after Destiny Powell’s initial effort came back off the crossbar.
Though they continued to apply consistent pressure, the Girlz had to wait until minutes past the half-hour mark to double their lead. Richards converted from the 12-yard spot, after Mireilis Rojas was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the 18-yard box on the VAR review.
Panama was not without hope, as they tried to play their game and even stringed a few good build ups together to remind the Jamaicans of their potential but couldn’t get anything on frame.
However, the Jamaicans pushed further ahead through Raghunandanan, who pounced on loose ball and lashed a one-time effort from a distance past Alejandra Garay, in goal for Panama, to make it 3-0 at the break.
Panama was never expected to overturn the deficit, but they were certainly more purposeful on the resumption with Sherline King forcing a fingertip save from Jamaica’s goalkeeper Katie Oakley in the 58th minute.
The Central Americans grew in confidence in the attacking third as the game progressed, especially as the young Reggae Girlz briefly became complacent and overconfident.
When they regained composure, the Jamaicans added a fourth courtesy of Van Zanten from the penalty spot, after the fleet-footed Shaneil Buckley was taken out by Garay inside the danger area.
But Panama responded shortly after with a 12-yard conversion of their own. Substitute Andrene Smith felled Aaliyah Gil in the 18-yard box, shortly after entering the pitch and Rosas was cool, calm and collected in firing past Oakley.
The Jamaicans could have added to their tally in the latter stages, but lacked composure in the final third, while it took some brilliance from Oakley to deny Gil, from a distance, four minutes from time.
Manchester United’s Anthony Martial ruled out of FA Cup final through injury
Manchester United forward Anthony Martial has been ruled out of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester City due to a hamstring injury.
Martial picked up the problem in United’s final Premier League game of the season after stepping off the bench on Sunday against Fulham and scans have revealed the full extent of the damage.
United said in a statement: “Anthony Martial is out of Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup final against Manchester City due to injury.
“The France international strained his hamstring towards the end of Sunday’s 2-1 win against Fulham at Old Trafford.
“Assessments have since revealed a muscle tear that rules the 27-year-old out of the Wembley showdown.”
Martial missed United’s first two Premier League games this season due to a hamstring problem, while other small injuries since have restricted him to 29 appearances in all competitions in which he has scored nine goals.
Only 11 of his 21 league appearances this season have been in the starting line-up, but he had been hoping to be in contention to start at Wembley against City, who are looking to complete a domestic treble.
The former Lyon winger, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Sevilla, joined United from Monaco for £36million in 2015 and has made almost 200 league appearances for the club in total.
‘We are two great teams’ says Jose Mourinho ahead of Europa League final
Roma boss Jose Mourinho said Sevilla’s six previous Europa League trophy wins will count for little against his side in Wednesday’s final in Budapest.
Sevilla are bidding for a record-extending seventh triumph at the Puskas Arena, in a match the Hungarian media have dubbed ‘The Specialists against The Special One’.
Mourinho has yet to lose in five major European finals as a manager, while Sevilla have won all six of their Europa League finals.
The Portuguese told a press conference: “History does not play. My colleague (Sevilla head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar) thinks otherwise, I have respect for him.
“He believes that history makes Sevilla favourites, I respect that. We are in the final because we deserve to be.
“They have a history that we do not have. For them to play the final is a normal thing, for us it is an extraordinary event.”
Mourinho is aiming to become the first manager to win the Europa League with three different clubs after previous successes with Porto (2003) and Manchester United (2017).
The 60-year-old former Chelsea boss added: “We are two great teams, with high-level players.
“It’s curious because we talk about coaching experience, but we face a Sevilla side that has very accustomed players.
“They are a bit more experienced in finals, but my team comes here ready. We have played a lot of European games in the last two seasons.”
Mourinho’s latest European trophy triumph came last season when he led Roma to victory over Feyenoord in the inaugural Europa Conference League final.
Roma finished second in this season’s Europa League qualifying group behind Real Betis and overcame RB Salzburg, Real Sociedad and Feyenoord in the knockout rounds before edging past Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 on aggregate in their semi-final.
The Italian side, currently sixth in Serie A with one game remaining, could be boosted by the return of former United defender Chris Smalling (hip), while Argentina’s Paulo Dybala is hoping to play some part despite an ankle injury.
Sevilla head coach Mendilibar, 62, will become the oldest manager to win the Europa League if the Andalusians seal a record-extending seventh tournament win.
He said the side which makes the fewest errors on the night at the Puskas Arena will prevail.
The former Eibar and Alaves boss said: “Mistakes are what you pay for in games like this and it’s about making the fewest mistakes possible.
“We’ve eliminated big teams, but the most difficult one is ahead of us. Whoever makes the fewest mistakes will win.”
Mendilibar has transformed Sevilla since replacing Jorge Sampaoli at the end of March when they were two points above LaLiga’s relegation zone.
They have risen to 11th in the table, 10 points clear of the drop zone with one game left, and won their Europa League quarter-final and semi-final under Mendilibar against United and Juventus respectively.
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