Buffon Keeps Italy Afloat

Romania coach Victor Piţurcă declared himself "satisfied" with Friday's 1-1 draw against Italy at the Letzigrund Stadion, although he felt the Azzurri were "lucky" to escape with a point after Adrian Mutu's late penalty was saved by Gianluigi Buffon. His Italian counterpart, Roberto Donadoni, said his team had the better of the Group C game and apologised to the 'tifosi' "because we did not get the three points we deserved".

Victor Piţurcă, Romania coach
We didn't win but this is a good result for Romania. We have played the champions and the runners-up of the last [FIFA] World Cup and we still have a chance. If we play as well in our next match [against the Netherlands] we can qualify. It was a fair result, and though we should have scored our penalty, we can be satisfied with 1-1. Of course you could say Italy were lucky. When you have a penalty against you and the player doesn't score, that is a lucky thing for Italy. I wasn't surprised we made so many chances – Italy are not at their best and I counted on this.

The fact Mutu missed a penalty is part of the game, it is nothing new. I am more upset by the way they were able to score against us than by the penalty miss. Penalties have been missed, are missed, and always will be missed. I told Mutu to focus and concentrate and hit the ball very hard but maybe he was influenced by the fact Buffon is one of the greatest goalkeepers in the world. He didn't miss – it was Buffon who made a great save. We did have our moments and passed the ball around well. We had some bad moments too, as far as our defence was concerned, but it was a more spectacular game today because both teams needed a win.

Roberto Donadoni, Italy coach
We played well, we were determined and I am pleased with the performance. We pushed forward but we also suffered at times because Romania are a team to be reckoned with. They don't concede much space as you saw against France. We were hurt [after losing 3-0 to the Netherlands] and sorry for hurting so many Italian fans. We are sorry tonight as well because we did not get the three points I think we deserved. In terms of chances and general play, we were better than Romania. Their defence is very good so my congratulations to Romania, but I think we had more openings. Just because [Alessandro] Del Piero and [Luca] Toni were top scorers in their leagues you can't expect them to score all the time. I'm not worried about it either. They haven't scored so far but this happens.

I didn't see any bad defending from us. [Gianluca] Zambrotta's [misplaced header which led to Mutu's opening goal] was more of a mishap, an accident. In fact, Zambrotta deserves a word of praise. He did well in all areas of the pitch and linked up well in attack. I liked Toni's performance very much – he gave everything. He fought and he also created for others. Alex [Del Piero] sacrificed his attacking instincts to make passes for his team-mates. He had to ask for a painkiller because he was having a few problems which is why I replaced him, he seemed tired. The next game will be very important and we will use this adrenalin to prepare for France. The players are disappointed because they did not get their rewards, but the disappointment is short-lived. It only lasts overnight because tomorrow we focus on the next game.