Donadoni's "real" debut came in the
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers; Donadoni had solace in the fact that
Marcello Lippi's first match in charge of
The Azzurri resulted in defeat to
Iceland in a friendly match. Despite this, the Italian media did not express this comfort after the following two matches were deemed as negative results: a home 1-1 draw with
Lithuania, followed by a 3-1 defeat against
France.
Italian newspaper
La Nazione's front page featured "How to reduce Lippi's masterwork to pieces in just three weeks" requesting the return of former coach,
Marcello Lippi. However, despite all the critics, Donadoni led Italy to five wins in a row to
Georgia (3:1),
Ukraine (2:0) and
Scotland (2:0), the former being controversial for his omission of star
Alessandro Del Piero from the squad. One of the main critics addressed by the media on Donadoni is however his alleged lack of pressure in persuading
Francesco Totti to play again for the
azzurri. Recently, following a question regarding a possible call-up for the
AS Roma star in the June matches, Donadoni jokingly claimed not to know him.
Italy qualified for Euro 2008 after a successful campaign, in spite of the shaky start, Italy topped the group ahead of France. Defeating Scotland 2-1 in Glasgow to confirm their qualification.
