Italian coach turns disciplinarian

Duisburg: Italy is preparing to face the United States with some good old-fashioned American discipline.

Coach Marcello Lippi ordered players to perform 10 push-ups or sit-ups for every goal that their team allowed in a half-field intra squad training game on Wednesday.

Italy opened the World Cup with a 2-0 win over Ghana on Monday and the Azzurri's next Group E game is against the United States on Saturday.

Lippi began the training session with a 10-minute talk to his team at midfield, beyond the hearing range of nearby media.

"We talked about what we did against Ghana and the game with the United States, how we have to stay focused," said midfielder Andrea Pirlo, who scored the first goal against Ghana.

"We haven't accomplished anything yet."

Lippi had his entire 23-man roster at his disposal.

Midfielder Gennaro Gattuso had another exam on his torn right thigh muscle before training.

Team physician Enrico Castellacci said Gattuso remains questionable for the United States game but the AC Milan workhorse took part in the intra squad scrimmage and appeared close to returning.

With Simone Perrotta in form, Gattuso may not start even if he's ready.

Perrotta was one of Italy's top performers against Ghana and he appeared fine on Wednesday.

Reserve forward Alessandro Del Piero continued to struggle.

For the second day in a row, several of Italy's players practiced long-range shots.

Pirlo scored through a crowd from beyond 20 meters against Ghana and he said the new ball being used at the World Cup is especially effective on such shots.

"It really accelerates," Pirlo said.

With a heat wave hovering over Germany, Castellacci worked with the players to make sure they remained hydrated.

"They have to find a way to keep their systems balanced," he said.

"Fortunately, we planned for heat and had air conditioners installed in all the players' hotel rooms."

That's a good thing, because it seems Lippi hasn't let the team out much.

Asked how he was enjoying Germany, Pirlo couldn't really respond.

"We're always in the hotel," he said.

Lippi's discipline is working, though.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter called Italy's performance against Ghana the best of the tournament so far.

And 23.4 million people watched the game on TV in Italy, the second biggest audience for the Azzurri's opening match since 23.9 million tuned for a 1-0 win over Austria in the 1990 World Cup that Italy hosted.

Pirlo was pleased that fans were not turned away by the corruption scandal that has cast a shadow over Italian soccer for the past two months.

"We've got to bring the cup back to Italy for the fans," Pirlo said. "That's the goal. We didn't come here to finish 10th or 11th."