Milan  - There was neither desperation nor anger in Italy on Monday after the national team's elimination from Euro 2008 in a dull quarter-final that saw Spain advance in a penalty shoot-out.

La Repubblica's headline - "A narrow defeat, but who did more goes through" - well described a game on Sunday night during which the Azzurri entirely failed to live up to their world champions fame.

A 3-0 drubbing from the Netherlands at the start of the group phase showed that the Azzurri were a far cry from the gritty squad which only conceded an own goal and a penalty at the 2006 World Cup.

At the tournament hosted jointly by Austria and Switzerland, the Azzurri qualified for the knock-out phase by beating World Cup finalists France 2-0, but their game never improved, particularly in a sterile attack package led by an indifferent Luca Toni.

The Bundesliga top scorer, who in the past season was crucial for Bayern Munich's triumphs in the league and the German Cup, became one of the symbols of the Azzurri involution.

Slow, heavy and too often alone up-front, Toni was a parody of the impressive goal-getter of the past seasons.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport reported, Toni was the target of Spanish fans who celebrated in Madrid chanting "Toni, were are you?"

There was "Too much fear of losing," according to la Repubblica, whose commentators accused coach Roberto Donadoni "mostly because he did not give character to the attack, which was the real weak spot of the Azzurri squad."

Four games with a single on-action goal, scored by defender Christian Panucci, showed the squad's poor scoring ability.

Italy's offensive actions throughout the tournament were for the most part vague crosses from the midfield to Toni.

There was very little pressure on the flanks, with Gianluca Zambrotta playing far below his par on the right and the in-form Fabio Grosso given few chances to burst on the other side.

Donadoni's faults may be mitigated by the absence of captain and star defender Fabio Cannavaro, who injured himself a few days before the first game, and, against Spain, by the suspension of midfielders Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso.

But with a squad largely similar to that of the World Cup, the football federation, who named him when Marcello Lippi quit after the World Cup success, expected a far better performance.

As the contract he renewed just before Euro 2008 included an escape clause if Italy failed to make the semi-finals, many now forecast a comeback of Lippi.

Federation president Giancarlo Abete said that "we are all aware that we did not show our abilities at the level we expected," which seemed to hint at a change of leadership to be decided in the coming days.

In this case, it could be "back to the future" for the world champions who in the fall begin qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. (dpa)