Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro has defended his squad’s unity and attacked the Italian media for their failure to support the national team.
Over the last few days the Italian team has been rife reports of conflict between players.
On Tuesday, Gattuso spoke of his despair at being left out of the team. Yesterday Alessandro Del Piero expressed his anger after the press described him as second rate compared to Francesco Totti,
Breaking with tradition, coach Giovanni Trappatoni, tried to ease speculation by announcing his team four days ahead of their opening encounter with Denmark.
Press intrusion has become so distracting, the Italian FA are considering a complete media ban, allowing the players to concentrate on their football.
“I have a message to give on behalf of the team. We keep reading about discussions, when we are, on the contrary, a well united group,” said the captain.
“We are here to do something important, not to destroy anything. If you help us, OK. If not we’ll continue as always.”
