Tonight we showed we can play with three strikers.

It's one thing to play little, another not to play at all. If I had to choose the team based on who was on the bench in the first round of Serie A, I wouldn't have called up [Rino] Gattuso and [Christian] Vieri either.

First of all because we play them first, second because they have great players.

It would be a mistake to consider this match simply a formality,

That was a Ghana in disguise, because it was missing several players. They're going to want to surprise us.

After the win in the Netherlands we said we would have liked it if the World Cup began right away. Three months later we have the same energy. Games like these help convince us that we're strong and not inferior to anyone.