[Jager]

Canna blasts Lega decision Thursday 23 August, 2007

Real Madrid stopper Fabio Cannavaro has angrily attacked the Lega Calcio after the Azzurri’s 3-1 defeat in Hungary.

A sluggish Italy side fell to a shock defeat in Budapest and looked worryingly short of the fitness required for international football.

With crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers against France and Ukraine in September, a number of players had asked the Lega Calcio to move the start of the Serie A season forward to aid preparations, but the request was refused.

Although Cannavaro plys his trade in Spain, where the season also kicks off this weekend, he is livid at the fact that his teammates’ appeals were ignored.

“We asked to play on August 19, but we count for nothing,” the ex-Juventus defender raged. “It’s no good looking for excuses, but we did ask to start earlier so that we would be ready.”

Although Coach Robert Donadoni admitted that the performance was inexcusable, the former Livorno tactician reiterated Cannavaro’s point in his post-match Press conference.

“We wanted to start a week earlier and now it is clear to see that we had good reasons to do so,” he stated ruefully.