"I take full responsibility," Lippi said. "If I was part of the success in 2006 I have to take the blame for this failure too. If a team shows up at an important game with terror in its heart and head and legs it must mean the coach did not train them as he should have done. I thought the men I chose would have been able to deliver something different, but obviously I was wrong.
"The players didn't play right, they didn't press, they didn't build, they didn't do anything. I still have belief in the players but no one would believe that was the real Italian team, the one you saw out there. I don't want to play the victim, but the leader is always responsible. I refuse to believe we are as bad as you saw tonight – I didn't think we would win the World Cup but I thought we could perform better than that – but this is clearly not a fantastic moment for Italian football.
"I deeply regret not being able to prepare the team properly or find the right mix of motivation. I don't know why we only played in the last 10 minutes and I am sorry for the choices I made, what else can I say? I am extremely sorry for all the fans who came to watch us, and I can hardly express how sorry I am to end my time with the association in this way. I really would have expected anything but this."
"The players didn't play right, they didn't press, they didn't build, they didn't do anything. I still have belief in the players but no one would believe that was the real Italian team, the one you saw out there. I don't want to play the victim, but the leader is always responsible. I refuse to believe we are as bad as you saw tonight – I didn't think we would win the World Cup but I thought we could perform better than that – but this is clearly not a fantastic moment for Italian football.
"I deeply regret not being able to prepare the team properly or find the right mix of motivation. I don't know why we only played in the last 10 minutes and I am sorry for the choices I made, what else can I say? I am extremely sorry for all the fans who came to watch us, and I can hardly express how sorry I am to end my time with the association in this way. I really would have expected anything but this."