HAMBURG, Germany -- Marcelo Lippi lavished praise on his "first class" defense after the Italians' 3-0 victory over Ukraine gave them their fourth clean sheet in five matches.
The Italian coach had to reshuffle his backline after losing Alessandro Nesta to injury and Marco Materazzi to suspension, but captain Fabio Cannavaro and 'keeper Gianluigi Buffon were in brilliant form on Friday.
"What's special about this defense is that we have champions, all first class," Lippi said before singling out reserve center-back Andrea Barzagli.