Zola backs Prandelli

Gianfranco Zola believes Cesare Prandelli is the right man to take Italy forward after their shock exit from the World Cup.

Prandelli has been appointed as successor to Marcello Lippi, whose Italy side were eliminated in the group stages in South Africa following a 3-2 defeat against Slovakia.

"I definitely like him," Zola, who won 35 caps for Italy, told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme. "He is a young manager with ideas and energy and I think it is the perfect assignment. I think he will bring the fresh air of youth to the team and that is a good thing, something we have to work on."

Zola added: "There will be moments where we will struggle but it is a path we have to go through.

"I am expecting him to select some young players and to work downwards in the national teams, restructuring our youth system which right now is the one which is struggling the most."

Italy's failure at this summer's World Cup comes four years after they won the tournament in Germany, although Zola believes there were problems even at that point.

"We knew we didn't have a big team this year but I think nobody was expecting that," Zola said.

"But I think it summarises our moment right now. It is a difficult time for Italian football and it goes back in time.

"I think the win in the World Cup in Germany somehow covered all the problems we were going through and I think this shows everybody now that it is a difficult moment.

"But in difficult times, Italian people get together and produce something good, so I think this is an opportunity for us to get better, to see what is going wrong and to try and improve."