11 February,2009 08:38 AM IST | | PA Sport
Italy coach Marcello Lippi conceded his side are not as good as Brazil after the 2-0 friendly defeat yesterday and has targeted an improvement.
Manchester City duo Robinho and Elano scored the goals at the Emirates Stadium, where Brazil ran out comfortable winners against the reigning world champions.
"At the moment Brazil are stronger than Italy," said Lippi. "But we'll have to see in a year and a half. We could be stronger.
More skilled
"It certainly wasn't a question of desire, we also had that. They have players with specific characteristics, very skilled technically and they can put you in difficulty.
"We are not as strong yet as we would like to be and we seemed a bit intimidated.
"We are rebuilding our team at the moment. We struggled, we suffered and Brazil's supremacy cannot be questioned."
Italy had the ball in the net twice but both efforts were ruled out. Lippi admitted Luca Toni's 65th-minute strike was correctly disallowed for handball but questioned the offside decision which ruled out Fabio Grosso's early effort.
"The first goal was a valid goal and it would have been a different match had it been allowed," added Lippi. "Apart from the two goals they did little else."
Dunga delighted
Brazil coach Dunga, who has been under pressure because of Brazil's stuttering World Cup qualifying campaign, was delighted with the victory. "It's a great start to the year for us," he said. "It was nice to see us play a more free-flowing style which has been lacking sometimes.
"It also means more because we were playing Italy who haven't lost for more than 30 matches.
"We finished last year very well and we have started the new one well. It was one of the best matches since I became manager.
