GROUP CREPUBLIC OF Ireland assistant manager Marco Tardelli believes the Italians are weaker, both physically and mentally, than they were two years ago but the Azzurri's former midfielder still reckons Roberto Donadoni's side can make it to the last eight of these European Championships.

In the wake of Monday night's remarkable defeat by the Netherlands, Tardelli conceded he was surprised by how poorly his compatriots had played.

"There are many problems in the team - in the defence, in midfield and in attack," he observed.

"There are two sources for this - psychologically and physically. I don't think this team is mentally strong enough at present. There's not the right amount of determination and strength to win games.

"But Italy can reach the quarter-finals, as Romania are a weak side and Italy can beat them. After that, it's a shoot-out between Italy and France for the last eight."

Tardelli believes that what he views as an ageing Italian side look short of motivation at present, a problem compounded by the absence of their inspirational skipper Fabio Cannavaro from the tournament because of injury.

"It's an old side that needs younger players to come into it while the injury sustained by Fabio Cannavaro has been a major blow for he is the natural leader of the defence and the team," he said.

"Fabio is also a very clever and uses his mind when he is on the pitch to great effect. Everybody respects him, his strength and the fact that he is a team player."

In Cannavaro's absence, Donadoni turned to Marco Materazzi, who had a torrid evening against the Dutch, but Giovanni Trapattoni's assistant has sympathy for the coach's plight.

"Marco was not fit going into this tournament after picking up an injury near the end of the Italian season. But with Cannavaro injured, Roberto Donadoni has had no alternative but to use him. I don't believe he is ready to play at the moment so it is a dilemma for Italy."

In attack, though, Tardelli does feel that Donadoni should review his options ahead of Friday's game against Romania.

"Luca Toni is a fantastic forward and a real danger to opponents but he was not in top form against the Dutch," observed Tardelli. "But he received very little support from Antonio Di Natele or Mauro Camoranesi and the ball seldom reached him. Without the ball, no forward can do well.

"I feel that Donadoni must think about changing these two players for the next match and I would love to see Alessandro del Piero in the attack.

"Del Piero is an older player but he still has ability and class. We saw that when he came on as a substitute against the Dutch. Certainly, I think he should be in the team ahead of Camoranesi."

"Italian Shambles, Humiliated by Holland"; "A Donadoni Disaster" - when it comes to 3-0 defeats, Italian headline writers do not mince their words, and the 3-0 drubbing by the Netherlands inevitably prompted a nationwide barrage of bitter criticism yesterday.

Italians had gone into these finals with high hopes. After all, they are the world champions. Yet the defeat in Bern set a whole plethora of new, negative records.

You have to go back to the 1970 World Cup final in Mexico (and the 4-1 defeat by Brazil) to recall such a heavy defeat in a finals tournament, whilst the last time Italy lost 3-0 was in a European qualifier against Sweden in Naples in 1983.

Furthermore, in one night in Bern, Italy conceded more goals than in the entire World Cup finals in Germany two years ago.

Whilst many critics argue Holland's first goal should not have been allowed, nearly all of them refuse to see that controversial refereeing decision as a valid excuse for an Italian performance, considered too bad to be true.

Villain of the piece for some is the Italian coach Donadoni.

"Even if the referee got it wrong, our coach did even worse with one mistake after another," commented the Rome sports daily Corriere Dello Sport.

"He picked a dreadful defence in which Materazzi was like a fish out of water and in which, without Cannavaro, all his shortcomings were all too evident.

"On top of that, he picked a fragile and absent midfield in which - record of records - there was no place for Roma's De Rossi, the most in-form Italian midfielder of the moment."

The daily La Repubblica offered "complimenti" to Holland but was no less critical of Italy, declaring: "For most of the first half, Holland did as they liked, looking much sharper and fitter than Italy and above all with their ideas clear as to how to stop our game, with either Kuyt or Snjeider always ready to block our playmaker Pirlo."

Like every other commentator, La Repubblica mourned the absence of Cannavaro, who watched Monday night's game from the substitutes' bench, having been injured just last week in training in Vienna: "In the end, our best player was Cannavaro, who showed a sprightly turn of foot as he hobbled over to the bench on his crutches.

"Our coach should have sent him on - even with his crutches, he would have been more effective than the blue wall that passed for a defence out there"

Given that France and Romania drew in the other group game on Monday, most commentators argue that all is not lost - yet.

"And that's the point. We'll have to see if in just a few days the side can regain the self-assurance it has lost. For make no mistake, this was a hard lesson," concludes La Repubblica.