© Reuters 2002

Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni has come under fire for his side's lacklustre 1-1 draw against Yugoslavia in a Euro 2004 qualifier in Naples on Saturday.

"Enough Trapattoni! Bring back Zoff," read the headline on the front page of Sunday's sports daily Corriere dello Sport.

"Until the Federation (the Italian FA) changes its coach, this national side has neither a present nor a future," wrote Corriere's editor Xavier Jacobelli in an article below.

After Italy's edgy 2-0 win over lowly Azerbaijan in their first Euro 2004 qualifier last month, only a victory would have been enough to stave off criticism that has dogged Trapattoni since his side's disappointing performance at the World Cup.

But the Italians were made to suffer. Ex-Fiorentina striker Predrag Mijatovic gave Yugoslavia the lead in the 27th minute, before Alessandro Del Piero equalised from a free kick 11 minutes later.

After the match, Trapattoni apologised for his team's performance, but blamed the sodden pitch as much as his own selections.

"We wanted to give something exceptional to Naples. We thank this wonderful public for their support and apologise for not being able to win."

"But I'll tell you something," he added. "The ground conditions penalised us. Our team is built for quick manoeuvres and speed."

It was always going to be a difficult match against a physical Yugoslavian side, who harried the Italians in midfield, causing them to launch fruitless long balls upfield in the hope of finding strikers Filippo Inzaghi and Del Piero.

Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was relieved to have survived the match and looked forward to Wednesday's away match against Wales.

"I'd say that against Yugoslavia we had more of an idea of the game compared to other recent matches," he told reporters. "Then, in the second half, tiredness came into it a bit - it wasn't easy to play on this flooded pitch.

"The opposition defended a lot of the time. They marked man to man. This shouldn't happen in Cardiff. Wales are playing at home, they'll concede more space and we'll have to take advantage of that".